Leftover Spaghetti Ideas and 5 Meal Prep Tips for busy Families
We love spaghetti in our house and it never fails that I always make too much. I mean, it’s so hard to judge the right amount especially, if you’re using angel hair spaghetti! My hope is this month’s blog post will provide you with some meal prep tips, some leftover spaghetti ideas and help make the famous question, “What’s for Dinner?” A little easier.
These 5 meal planning tips will be especially helpful, if you’re a parent with kids heading into the back to school season. Implementing some or all of these tips will save you time, energy and how to use your leftover spaghetti! Plus, you’ll love that your family is eating well.
5 Meal Prep Tips for Busy Families
1. Delegate those kitchen tasks
Kids love to participate in food prep. No matter your children’s age, they can help at some level with meal prep and lunch packing.
Whether it’s cutting up ingredients, packing sections of their bento lunch boxes or stirring muffin batter, giving them some responsibilities will help your child to eat their meals if they’ve had a role in their creation!
Kids are also more likely to try new foods – even fruits and vegetables – if they’ve helped to prepare them. My kiddos especially love helping me make muffins for breakfast. My son may not eat zucchini on its own but he knows it’s the main ingredient in one of his favorite muffins and he eats them happily.
2. Plan and prep ahead
It’s hard for any of us to make the best decisions when we’re tired or frazzled – even a dietitian! Having a plan A and even a plan B helps to keep meals running smoothly, no matter how the day unfolds.
Using a meal planner as a guide can be REALLY helpful. It doesn’t mean that you have to make every meal on a meal planner but it can help to get started with preparing healthy meals the whole family can enjoy.
Select three dinners and a few snacks for each week of the month. Stick with it until you have a repertoire of at least 10 dinner meals you can put into rotation – this can take up to 4-6 weeks. Dinners such as soups, stews, and roasted proteins make excellent lunch box appearances when paired with non-prep items such as fruits, vegetables, cheese, and crackers.
Use Leftovers! My favorite dinner leftover combinations include:
- Chicken Noodle Soup – using leftover spaghetti
- Chicken or tofu Teriyaki with broccoli and using leftover spaghetti or ramen or rice
- Grilled kabobs using chicken, pork or tofu tofu with yogurt sauce
A helpful tip to leveraging dinner as lunch is to increase your recipe amount to ensure you have enough for lunch the next day. Another helpful tip, pack lunches BEFORE you eat dinner to avoid adding burden to your already busy morning schedule.
3. Batch
We talk about batching work with tasks at the office, but what about in the kitchen? Same time-saving principle applies!
For example, if your kiddos love smoothies for breakfast, batch your smoothie packs in cups or bags in the freezer so that breakfast is as simple as dumping the ingredients into the blender and adding their favorite milk or juice to blend.
Or – if your child loves having crunchy red bell pepper sticks in their lunch, don’t cut up a new pepper each and every night. Once or twice a week, cut up bell peppers (or have your kiddo do it!) and store them in baggies that are ready to toss into the lunch box.
And if you know that you’re cooking two different dinners that call for chopped onions and celery, chop up enough veggies for both dinners. You’ll be thankful for less chopping when the time comes to cook the second recipe!
4. Use a template
How else can we reduce your mental load? Follow a template whenever you can!
If your child uses a bento box to pack their lunch, assign a food group to each section. Whole grains go on the left, fruits below, a protein on the right, and so on. Discuss what “counts” for each section of their lunch and brainstorm choices that fit into each category. From there, your child can pack their lunch with less input from you.
And for dinners, have some regular meals that you can depend on to be quick and delicious, without needing too much brain power.
For example, Taco Tuesdays! Use the crockpot to cook your favorite taco filling and dinner will be mostly ready when you and your crew get home hungry. A few other ideas are breakfast for dinner, pizza Fridays and getting a rotisserie chicken on Mondays.
5. Adjust your expectations
When your circumstances change, so too does your patience and bandwidth. This is completely normal! In this back-to-school season, remember to be gentle with yourself. If you have more activities to attend and more to-dos each day, it is reasonable to look for ways to simplify and delegate. You do not have to do everything yourself, or create meals in the same way as when you have more time. You can have a happy and healthy family, even with a few shortcuts.
To recap; The 5 tips to meal prep success:
- Delegate
- Plan and prep ahead
- Batch
- Use a template
- Adjust your expectations
Change always comes with a bit of stress, and back-to-school is full of changes! Be patient with yourself and your family as you establish new routines. Consider what steps you need to take to ensure that you’re eating the meals that help you to thrive. Plan ahead and don’t forget to make that plan B!
Download a copy of my Family Dinner Meal Time Strategies E-Book for more helpful tips.
If you’re ready to connect and talk about meal planning for your family, prenatal nutrition, postpartum nutrition or menopause nutrition, feel free to contact me here. I can’t wait to connect with you!
