Set your family up for easier meals this month with 4 weeks of healthy family meals to share with the kids. Each of these recipes is full of delicious and nutritious ingredients—and uses budget-friendly ingredients too.
Easy Family Meals
Here we are in a new month and I feel right on the line between excitement about all of my kids going back to school (YES!) later this month and also a little bit of sadness that summer is coming to an end. And since I know many of our afternoons—and likely yours—will be spent outside enjoying the weather, this meal plan is here to help.
My goal with my monthly meal plans is to help you use a simple system to plan meals so you are never standing in front of the fridge staring and wondering what to make.
And to offer recipe inspiration for seasonal, yet affordable, ingredients that are appropriate for everyone in the family. I can’t guarantee that each of these will be a hit with your kids, but if you plan to add 1-2 simple sides to most meals, you can approach feeding your family with a little more confidents. (I hope anyway!)
How to Use this Meal Plan
This plan is built on the idea of themes, so there are general categories that rotate throughout the month. This builds in familiarity for the kids and narrows down the decisions that we have to make. Which is so much easier for our brains!
You can use my plan, make your own, or pick and choose as you like. There’s no one right way!
TIP: My Happy Family Meals ebook is a full guidebook with grocery lists, tips, and schedules. Check that out if you need more guidance!
August: Week 1
Make good use of fresh summer produce in this week’s meals and add a side of Roasted Zucchini or boiled sweet corn to any meal.
Breakfast Ideas
Peach Banana Smoothie (with Cottage Cheese)
This simple smoothie is easy to make and is super creamy without many ingredients. You can even share it with your kiddo! Be sure to blend it very well to ensure the best creamy texture.
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Baked Oatmeal Recipe with Blueberries and Coconut
This recipe is adapted from Brown Eggs and Jam Jars: Family Recipes from the Kitchen of Simple Bites. You can use either fresh or frozen berries in this.
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Healthy Zucchini Muffins (Vegan and Easy!)
I like to make half of the batch with mini chocolate chips and half without so I have options. They’re still sweet enough for little ones without the chocolate though!
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Lunch Ideas
Easy Mac and Cheese Bites (aka Mac and Cheese Cups)
Learn how to make quick and easy Mac and Cheese Bites for an easy kids lunch or dinner. These bites are fun and a nutritious kids meal that can easily double as an appetizer! You can even add in veggies like broccoli for the most delicious mac and cheese cups.
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Easy Spinach Quesadillas
You can also do this with full size spinach if that’s what you’re able to find. Just discard any stems before starting the recipe.
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Favorite Yogurt Muffins (6 Ways!)
This is an epic of a basic muffin recipe that you can then add flavor to in all sorts of ways—from fruit to veggies to chocolate chips. The batter is packed with protein too, so the muffins are great for breakfast or snack. (The allergy-friendly substitutions are listed in the Notes section at the bottom.)
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TIP: You can find all of my best lunches for school here, whether that’s daycare, preschool, or big kid school.
Snack Ideas
Instant Homemade Frozen Yogurt
Blend two nutritious ingredients into a thick and creamy treat to share with the kids! Double this to make additional servings.
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Easy Fruit Cups
Transform diced fruit into delicious homemade fruit cups that rival store-bought in terms of flavor and cost. You can make more cups or less, according to your preference.
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Dinners
Easy Zucchini Burgers
Stretch your ground beef and add a veggie right into moist burger patties with this simple family dinner recipe.
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Easy Pasta with Summer Squash and Beef
This dish is easy to pull together in a short amount of time and is a nice alternative to tomato based pasta dishes.
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Easy Breakfast Burritos
These are called “breakfast” burritos since they have eggs, but you can serve them for any meal of the day!
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Best Healthy Mini Meatballs
Classic Italian meatballs with kale tucked inside to help toddlers eat their greens! (You can of course use the more traditional parsley instead of kale if you prefer.)
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Quick Teriyaki Shrimp with Zucchini and Rice
We like this with rice or rice noodles, but you can adjust how you serve it to fit your family!
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Favorite Pizza Rolls (with Spinach and Cheese)
Be sure to grease your pan well and roll the dough up fairly tightly around the fillings for best results. (But it's okay if they don't look perfect when they go into the pan!)
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Easy Stuffed Peppers Skillet
You can use whichever type of rice your family likes best. We rotate through short grain brown rice, basmati, and jasmine. Adults may want to top their portions with shredded fresh basil and/or crushed red pepper.
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Week 2
Breakfast Ideas
Easy Carrot Cake Oatmeal
This is a nice breakfast option to share with the kids starting around 9/10 months and up.
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Strawberry Banana Bread (Healthy and Easy!)
Bursting with fruit and the moistness you expect from a classic loaf, this lower-sugar Strawberry Banana Bread is a seriously delicious breakfast or snack to share with the kids.
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Strawberry Smoothie with Veggies
Make the simple base recipe or try one of the variations with a veggie and more nutrient-dense add-ins. All are delicious! Freeze the banana ahead of time.
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Easy Kids Lunches
Mac and Cheese with Peas (Fav Shortcut Toddler Meal)
With an easy method and a yummy, satisfying result, this quick toddler meal is one of our go-to shortcut kids meals.
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Easy Turkey Wrap Recipe (to Share with the Kids)
Roll up a few simple ingredients to make this delicious Turkey Wrap recipe in minutes. It's a great lunch wrap for home or school, and you can easily adjust the ingredients to suit the preferences of your child. This makes one wrap, so scale up as desired.
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DIY Pizza Lunchables
You can plan for the kids to eat these cold or you can warm the bread ahead and pack it in a thermos so it’s warm at lunchtime. So easy!
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Snack Ideas
No-Bake Chocolate Granola Bars
With about 10 minutes of prep time, you can make the most delicious homemade granola bars to last for many snack times to come. These bars are easiest to slice after chilling a bit, so plan to let them firm up in the fridge before you cut them.
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Easy Fruit-on-the-Bottom Yogurt
Scale this up or down according to how many servings you're planning to make. The directions here are for one small toddler-size serving. (It's okay if your kiddo wants more or doesn't eat a whole serving though!)
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Master Trail Mix Recipe
Mix and match ingredients to customize this mix for your kids.
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Dinners
Crispy Baked Tofu Nuggets (SO Good and Easy)
Tofu is typically sold in 14-16 ounce blocks. If yours is 16 ounces, you may need 1 ¼ cup panko. The garlic powder is optional, but adds nice flavor.
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Easy Tomato Sauce from Fresh Tomatoes
This slow cooker tomato sauce method is the easiest way to transform fresh tomatoes into delicious sauce. Scale the recipe up or down for a smaller or larger slow cooker. You don't have to be precise! And the chopped tomatoes can be very roughly chopped.
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Sheet Pan Black Bean Quesadillas
These easy quesadillas can be made with pumpkin puree, sweet potato puree, or butternut squash puree. You can also skip it and just go with beans and cheese! I make these as half moon shapes since it helps contain the mess a little when feeding these to kids.
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Easy Cheesy Rice (with Veggies!)
Choose one veggie to add from the flavor options below according to what you have on hand or what your family likes best.
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Easiest Instant Pot BBQ Chicken
You can double this recipe and use 2 pounds of chicken if desired. Just do your best to spread it into an even layer in the instant pot. (Note: The nutrition facts will vary based on the bbq sauce that you use.)
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Fluffy Zucchini Pancakes
These fluffy pancakes are a yummy way to serve vegetables for breakfast and use up zucchini should you find yourself with extra. These can be served plain or with a side of yogurt or applesauce to babies and younger eaters, or with maple syrup—they are very versatile!
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Week 3
Breakfast Recipes
Favorite Yogurt Drinks, 6 Ways
Learn how to make homemade Yogurt Drinks to save money, customize them just for your kids, and make a nutritious breakfast or snack to share with the kids in under 5 minutes. See the Notes at the end for the 6 flavor options.
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How to Make Oatmeal with Fruit
The base recipe makes a large amount so you can use it throughout the week. Feel free to cut it in half to make less, or just make one serving at a time using the instructions in the NOTES section below.
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The Best 2-Ingredient Pancakes (Baby and Toddler Approved)
This recipe makes one small batch of super tender 2-Ingredient Pancakes. It usually makes 1-2 little-kid-size servings. To make more, simply double the recipe. These are delicate pancakes with a texture that's sort of custardy like French toast, so be gentle when flipping them. See the NOTES at the bottom for the flavor variations.
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Lunch Ideas
Refried Bean Taco Roll Ups
This makes 6 rolled up tacos, so you can adjust this as needed for your family. Taste the refried beans before you make the roll ups and adjust the salt and/or cumin if needed. You can also serve the ingredients in separate bowls and let your family serve themselves.
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Easy Kale Pesto (to Share with the Kids!)
Try this healthy pesto with your favorite pasta or in place of pizza sauce on pizza! It's a kid-friendly way to serve up kale and you don't have to worry about it turning brown if you store it.
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Best Banana Yogurt
This recipe make enough for 2-4 servings of yogurt, depending on the appetite of your child. See the Notes at the bottom for storage tips if you have leftovers. You can also cut the recipe in half to make a smaller amount.
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Healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins
Loaded with whole grains and protein, these healthy Chocolate Chip Muffins are a really great standard recipe to turn to whenever you're in the mood!
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Snack Ideas
Fresh Watermelon Sorbet
Transform fresh watermelon into the most refreshing sorbet with one simple technique. It's a great dessert or hydration strategy to share with the kids!
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Easiest Animal Crackers Recipe
If you use larger cookie cutters, you may need to bake on the longer end of the baking time—and mini cookie cutters on the shorter end. This makes a relatively small batch, so double it if you want extras to last all week!
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Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
Super moist and packed with zucchini, these Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins are great for breakfast or snack.
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Dinner
Serve any of these with a simple side of fresh summer fruit to round things out.
Easy Baked Salmon Cakes (Salmon Patties)
These tender fish cakes make a quick and easy pantry meal when you haven’t planned ahead for dinner. Recipe updated slightly to ensure moistness in June 2021.
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Easy Spaghetti with Sausage and Green Beans
Finish the adult servings (and more adventurous kid plates!) with a squeeze of fresh lemon and maybe crushed red pepper. Note that you’ll want to reserve some of the cooking water, so plan to take some out in a cup before you drain the pasta!
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Slow Cooker Chicken and Bean Tacos
The combination of vegetables listed below delivers really nice flavor and consistency to the sauce, but if you want to simplify, you can just use 2 of the options. This recipe was updated in September 2019 to add an Instant Pot option.
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Easy Carrot Hummus
Taste the hummus and adjust for salt as needed. You may need more depending on whether or not you started with canned beans, and sometimes after the hummus sits in the fridge, it needs another sprinkle of salt.
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Vegan Tomato Soup (5-Ingredients!)
Taste the soup after pureeing and add a little more salt if needed. The sweet potato adds creaminess without dairy—and so much flavor!
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Italian Lentils with Rice
We like this with rice, but you can also serve this with pasta if you prefer.
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10-Minute Flatbread Pizza (Just 3 Ingredients!)
For delicious homemade pizza without the work and in a lot less time, Flatbread Pizza to the rescue. Adjust this for allergies as you need.
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Week 4
Breakfast Ideas
Baked Banana French Toast Sticks
You can use any sliced bread that you like. I typically use whole grain or sourdough. You can also bake full slices of bread, then cut into sticks with kitchen scissors. See Notes for allergy-substitutions.
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Easy Overnight Oats with Applesauce
You can easily double (or triple!) the recipe to make more servings. It uses a 1 to 1 ratio of yogurt to applesauce so you can easily scale it up. Mix these up the night before you plan to serve them.
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Best Chocolate Smoothie (with Veggies!)
Be sure to blend this super smooth for the best texture. Use any or none of the optional ingredients. See the Notes for how to make this with regular milk.
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Lunch Ideas
Cheesy Baked Kale Bites
You can use curly kale or flat kale in this recipe—both work well.
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Easy Egg Cups (with Zucchini and Cheese)
Feel free to double the recipe to make a full 24 mini muffins! We like to stash these in the fridge to eat all week, so having more is usually helpful in our house.
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Quick Sandwich Roll Ups (2-Minute School Lunch)
Pair a soft sandwich bread with your filling of choice to make this easy toddler lunch or school lunch. You can even make them the night before.
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Snack Ideas
Corn Muffins with Yellow Squash and Raisins
You can sub in regular zucchini squash if that’s what you have on hand, though it won’t blend in as seamlessly!
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Easy Peach Sauce
Transform fresh (or frozen) peaches into the most delicious peach sauce with this simple method. It's a delicious fruit puree to share with a baby or toddler that you can serve on its own or mixed with yogurt or oatmeal.
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Peach Crisp Recipe (with Lower Sugar)
This crisp recipe feeds a crowd and it’s one of my go-to party desserts. You can always cut the amounts in half and use a 9-inch pie plate to make a crisp that serves about 6.
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Dinner Ideas
Try serving some of these meals family style to give the kids the chance to decide what to put onto their plates.
Easy Ratatouille with Pasta
This recipe makes enough for two meals. You can cut it in half if desired, but I like to make the larger batch and keep on in the freezer for a future meal—it's the same amount of cooking effort, so why not!
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Healthy Baked Sheet Pan Nachos
You can add some of the ingredients to some of the areas—leaving the spinach off, adding more salsa or spice—to customize for everyone at the table. I usually leave about a ⅓ of the pan for the kids with less greens and salsa and then pile it on for my husband and I.
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Homemade Chicken Nuggets with Sweet Potato
You can double this recipe to feed a family of 4-6. Or make this smaller batch and serve to your toddler throughout the week. Try serving these with ketchup, ranch, or marinara sauce.
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Quick and Easy Sesame Tofu
This simple pan-fried tofu is a perfect match for sauteed veggies and rice, or pasta, or even potatoes and roasted veggies!
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Sesame Green Beans
You can use green or yellow beans in this recipe. Cut the beans smaller if serving to an older baby who self feeds so they are smaller, pea-sized pieces.
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Fresh Apple Pancakes
These apple pancakes are hearty and filled with freshly shredded apples and oats, so expect them to have a lot of texture!
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Related Recipes
If there’s something that would be helpful, or you’d like to see more of specific types of recipes, please let me know below in the comments!
This meal plan has been a serious game changer these last four weeks. Thank you for your easy, flavorful, and adaptable recipes!
I’m so glad!