Back to School Season: Busy schedule? Don't sacrifice homemade meals

Hello friend! How is everyone doing with the back-to-school routine? Back to school season means getting back with busy weeknight schedules, "Ubering" kiddos to/from school, and after-school activities? Without good planning, this hectic schedule can really be a great challenge for parents and caregivers to get meals (and snacks) on the table. Also, with the food costs skyrocketing these days, it even stresses out many parents and caregivers to provide healthy homemade meals/snacks. BUT… DON'T WORRY, I have several useful tips to help overcome these challenges.

1. (Ideally) Develop a good habit of weekly meal prepping. ***But many parents and caregivers struggle 'big time' with the weekly meal planning due to being overwhelmed and too confused about the planning

   
   

2. If the weekly meal planning is too overwhelming, we start with stocking up on our kitchen basic staple ingredients (that we are likely to use) that are enough to serve for the entire week: some vegetables and fruits, proteins, as well as grains.

   
   

3. To shorten the time of meal preparation, we can choose prewashed veggies, frozen unseasoned ingredients like frozen corn/ frozen diced carrots/frozen broccoli, or even pre-cooked proteins.

   
   

4. When putting away the groceries, we can pre-prep some of the fresh ingredients by portioning out the ingredients, such as washing off the vegetables, cut/chop/slice the protein and vegetables, pre-marinate proteins, then store them separately in bags/containers. *This step will help ease the preparation process during the week.

5. Try some one-pot/one-pan/one-sheet recipes. Make sure of your microwave, crockpot, airfryer, instant pot, etc. Any equipment/tools that can help save your time during the cooking and cleaning processes.

If you like to challenge yourself on trying to work on weekly meal prepping, there are few tips to share with you.

1. Choose the recipes that fit your time and skills to make the meal during the week.

2. Decide how many meals you will eat at home during the week. Are you eating at home three times a day for five days a week? Or are you making two meals for five days a week? This plays into the factor of how much grocery you need to get for the entire week.

3. Modify the recipe based on your preferences and budget.

4. Choose the recipes that use similar ingredients. For instance, cooked rice can be used to make a burrito bowl or fried rice. Or chicken can be used in pasta recipes or taco recipes. Or broccoli can be used in stir fried recipes or broccoli salad.

5. Creating theme nights: For instance, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Pasta Wednesday, etc. This will help to provide some guidance of meal ideas.

6. Portion out the ingredients for the week.

7. Pre-prep the ingredients: Wash and slice/chop/dice the veggies, pre-marinate the proteins.

I always believe family meals play an important role in promoting healthy eating. At least, it truly affected me. I grew up in a family where both of my parents were busy with their business during the day, but my mom always made sure we had fresh homemade dinner on the table every day (at least five days a week). I remember my mom always involved us (my siblings and I) in the meal prepping process, such as contributing meal ideas, peeling vegetables, stirring the pot, etc. Until now, although I no longer live with them, I have made sure to cook home-cooked meals during the week (of course, it is not as great as my mom's cooking!) The key point is to make family meals a TEAM EFFORT, and get everyone involved during the meal prepping process. I know, it is way too easy to say than done, but HEY, it is a learning experience (for you and your family, including your kiddos). One day, when you look back, you'll see it is TOTALLY WORTH IT! Let's make today the day we eat healthier at home TOGETHER!

If I successfully talk you into trying some home-cooked meals, it is time for the action part! I found five easy but delicious recipes! No fancy equipment needed nor high level culinary skills required!

Sheet Pan Chicken Fajita: The name of the recipe gives it all! We can definitely have no hassle, but homemade tasty meals during the week! I highly recommend this recipe for you to try! The recipe is adapted from Feasting at Home.

Chicken Tacos with Green Sauce: The taco recipe is always a thoughtful meal idea for a busy schedule. We can always modify the recipe based on our schedule, availability of ingredients, as well as food preferences. To complete my chicken tacos, I also included some shredded romaine lettuce, chopped grape tomatoes. The recipe is adapted from Pinch of Yum.

Baked Ziti/Penne Pasta (lacto-ovo vegetarian friendly) : Another one pot meal here. It is definitely a kid-friendly recipe! I used penne pasta when testing the recipe. I love the simplicity of this recipe, but packed with flavors.The recipe is inspired by Feasting at Home.

Instant Pot Tuscan Chicken Pasta: A Pressure cooker is one of my favorite tools when it comes to cooking on a busy schedule. This pasta recipe is so satisfying with the complexity of the flavor! I am truly falling in love with this recipe! You can pair this chicken pasta with some tossed salad, or steamed broccoli to complete your meal. The recipe is inspired by Amy+Jacky.

Easy Lo Mein: Craving for some Chinese noodle dishes? This homemade Lo Mein recipe is meant for you to give it a try. It definitely tastes WAYYYYY better than a restaurant can offer to you. Not just that, you can also add more protein or veggies while stirring the noodles. I made mine with some pan-fried tofu; you can choose the protein based on your preference. That's the fun of a stir-fried dish, as it is so versatile. The recipe is adapted from Feasting at Home.