5 easy meals for busy families

When I returned to working from the office, our lives became a lot more hectic so I’m always on the lookout for easy meals for busy families. Here’s a few that we and other Maine parents have come to love.

easy meals

Veggie Stir-fry with Ramen noodles (Adapted from BudgetBytes) — This colorful recipe is wonderfully sweet and salty, and comes together quickly. It calls for green bell peppers, green onions, cabbage and carrots, but those veggies can easily be swapped with whatever you have on hand. The night we had this, I used broccoli, carrots, onions, purple cabbage and a red bell pepper.

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Sweet potato, black bean soup (Feulner family recipe adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen)– This warm, smooth soup tastes like it’s filled with heavy cream, but it’s actually vegan (!!) unless you add shredded cheese to the top.

Add two cups of broth, two medium-sized (or one large) cubed sweet potatoes, one drained can of black beans and a few sprinkles of cracked red pepper, garlic salt, basil and black pepper to a crockpot. Cook on low for up to eight hours or on high for four. Puree and serve with optional sour cream and/or shredded cheddar cheese.

Smoky Slow Cooker Beef Brisket (recipe by Sarah Walker Caron) — This sweet-smoky beef brisket sounds great for an easy dinner using fresh rolls to make sandwiches, and a bonus, it comes together within minutes. Sarah blogs about other delicious recipes and life in Maine at Maine Course.

Slow Cooker Taco Chicken Bowls — Pattie who blogs over at After the Couch, recommended this easy to prep, two pot meal with this note: “Cilantro makes everything taste like you worked hard on it.” And making it appear like it is way more advanced than it really is, is right up my alley.

enchiladas

Quick Bean and Corn Enchiladas (Feulner family recipe) — The medium heat sauce kicks these easy vegetarian enchiladas up a notch and they only take minutes to prepare.

Mix together one can of drained black beans, 1 1/2 cups of frozen corn, 1 cup of cheese and about 2 cups of enchilada sauce of your choice. Spread a thin layer of additional sauce on the bottom of a shallow baking dish, fill tortillas with mixture, roll, place in pan and cover with more sauce. Top with additional cheese and a sprinkling of fresh green onions, bake at 350 until warmed through (usually about 20 minutes.) Serve with fresh guacamole and sour cream.

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Natalie Feulner

About Natalie Feulner

Natalie Feulner is a journalist and “semi-crunchy” cloth diapering momma to a rambunctious toddler named after a county in California. She drinks too much tea and loves to climb rocks but not at the same time.