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Plan ahead to feed your family well this month with 31 days of healthy family meals to try. Each is kid-friendly and parent-approved and includes straight forward ingredients and easy methods…because I know we can all use as much help as we can get these days!
Easy Family Meals for Fall
I hope this meal plan helps give you some ideas for what to feed your family this month. There are ideas for each meal of the day, and a simple system to reduce your mental load in the planning process too.
My goal with my monthly meal plans are to offer ideas that might work for this time of the year, and to share my approach of using a “meal rotation” as a way to simplify the process.
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!
October Week 1
I always aim to have 1-2 foods on the table that the kids usually likes to ensure a happy dinner for everyone…even if that’s just a simple side of a fruit they like. So round these meals out with simple sides (and condiments!) as needed for your crew.
Breakfast Ideas
These apple pancakes are hearty and filled with freshly shredded apples and oats, so expect them to have a lot of texture!
You can make this in about 15 minutes on any morning, or make the whole recipe ahead and simply warm right before serving. See the Notes for variations to make it with other types of oats.
These bars are tender when warm out of the oven, so do be sure to let them cool completely before slicing.
Lunch Ideas
You can vary the beans if you like in these simple burritos. Serve them with salsa and/or sour cream.
Below is the recipe for the Sesame Noodles. The rest of the ideas are in the Notes so you can print them all for easy reference.
Snack Ideas
We like these apples warm or cold out of the fridge, so see what your kids like best!
You can also use plain Greek yogurt and sweeten to taste with maple syrup.
Dinner Ideas
Add some warmed frozen peas, whole grain toast, or a side of fruit to add a few simple sides if desired. This recipe was updated in September 2019 to ensure the rice cooks through.
You can make as few or as many of these easy quesadillas as you like.
You can use frozen peas or broccoli in this recipe according to what you have or prefer. See the Notes for vegetarian options.
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!)
When serving this to a little one, I like to drain off much of the broth. This makes it a little easier (and less messy) for them to eat. If your family likes spice, add in a dash or two of cayenne pepper.
Moist and nutritious, these easy cornmeal muffins are an easy side, breakfast, or yummy snack.
October Week 2
Add a favorite veggie (even warmed frozen peas) to round out any of these easy family dinners.
Breakfast Ideas
If you make the roasted sweet potato ahead of time, this balanced snack or meal component comes together in minutes.
Share a batch of flourless chocolate baked donuts for breakfast, snack time or dessert. They’re easy enough that the kids can help make the batter!
You can make this overnight the and enjoy it for breakfast the following day, or make a whole batch ahead and eat it throughout the week.
*To do this overnight, choose the LOW heat option and cook time.
Lunch Ideas
Choose one veggie to add from the flavor options below according to what you have on hand or what your family likes best.
We use homemade relish in this recipe but you can use any that you like the flavor of.
You can use canned squash or whole squash that you’ve roasted and pureed.
Snack Ideas
We like to have these granola bars as a snack or toddler breakfast with milk or a smoothie—and they’re an excellent lunch box component too. You can make them plain or choose a flavor to add!
These healthy cookies are perfect for a special snack or dessert to share. (This recipe was updated in August 2019 to streamline the process.)
Plan to prepare the sweet potatoes at least an hour—and up to 3 days ahead—before you start making the muffins so it has time to cool. See the Notes for options for the sweet potato. These are very lightly sweet. Add ¼ cup brown sugar if desired to make them sweeter.
Dinner Ideas
Try this quick family dinner the next time you’re craving healthy comfort food—and want to please the entire family!
Serve these quesadillas with salsa, sour cream, and/or guacamole as desired. You can leave them as simple vegetarian quesadillas or add in a protein like chicken or beans.
To make these with panko breadcrumbs, use 1 cup and stir ¼ teaspoon salt into the flour before you dredge the chicken.
Serve small portions by the spoonful or in a reusable pouch to babies and toddlers.
You can do a big family-style platter or individual ones for the kids depending on your preference. Add anything else that sounds appealing and know that the nutrition info will vary according to what you use.
October Week 3
Try serving some dinners family style and allow everyone to help themselves to the foods they want to eat.
Breakfast Ideas
Use Sunbutter to make these nut-free. You can cut these into smaller bars if desired. If you want them a little softer, serve them at room temperature rather than chilled.
Transform plain oats into a yummy and easy to eat finger food with this baked oatmeal recipe. You can double the recipe to make more if desired.
These are an easy whole grain cookie to share with the kids—they’re a great baby cookie! Try them for snack, dessert, or as a breakfast cookie
Lunch Ideas
These soft breakfast egg cups are packed with protein and vitamins—and can be made ahead of time! Add any veggie you like, whether carrots, butternut squash, broccoli, or spinach.
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!
Try this easy breakfast-for-dinner idea the next time you need a super easy and nutritious family dinner.
Snack Ideas
If you start with dried beans in this salty-sweet snack, make sure to cook them until they are very tender. If making these for a kiddo under one, use maple syrup instead of honey or skip the sweetener all together.
Made with minimal added sweeteners and fresh apple flavor, these baked donuts are a nutritious breakfast or snack to share.
These moist muffins are great on their own or topped with butter, honey, or apple butter. Try them for breakfast, snack, or as a side for dinner.
Dinner Ideas
Prep the rice, beans, and veggies ahead if you can or want to. They store well in the fridge and simply need to be reheated. The nutrition information in this recipe will vary based on the ingredients you choose to use.
Use your family’s favorite shape and type of pasta in this recipe. (We like elbows or mini shells!)
You can use ABC pasta, orzo, pastina, or ditalini—or any other very small pasta shape in this recipe!
Honeycrisp apple, Jonathan, MacIntosh, or Granny Smith apples all work here.
October Week 4
Challenge the kids to be in charge of setting the table or helping you chop to involve them in the dinner prep.
Breakfast Ideas
These are called “breakfast” burritos since they have eggs, but you can serve them for any meal of the day!
Halloween Toast is the ultimate Halloween Breakfast. Learn how to make it in just minutes using basic ingredients and a super easy method!
This healthy granola recipe uses applesauce for sweetness and bakes at a lower temperature to lower the risk of burning around the edges!
Lunch Ideas
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.
Any pasta shape works in this recipe, so choose your family’s favorite! Omit the garlic if you think the flavor might be too strong for your people. My kids prefer this without the garlic. I like it with it for myself!
I like to prep the veggies and rice ahead of time so that the process of making the nuggets is a little quicker. You can of course do it all at once though!
Snack Ideas
Frozen bananas give the smoothie a creamy, naturally sweet base, though you can make this with a fresh banana as long as the other fruit is frozen. It’s easy to add whatever berries or fruit you have on hand, so customize it for your kiddo.
Try one of these fun ideas for Halloween snack or to share with friends. Below is the recipe for the green smoothie with the face. The rest of the ideas are in the Notes for easy reference.
These store well, so you can make them ahead of time and pull them out of the fridge to serve. (Post updated October 2019)
Dinner Ideas
I like to use vegetables like carrots, broccoli, bell peppers, and snap peas in this easy recipe. Plan to cook the rice ahead of time or to get it started first.
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.
Just a heads up that you’ll need to reserve a little of the pasta cooking water, so keep that in mind BEFORE you drain the pasta. Chicken sausage is usually leaner than pork, so when making this with chicken sausage, I like to add butter or olive oil before serving.
This will make at least two dinners worth of meatballs, depending on how many people are in your family. I like to freeze half of the batch to use in a future meal.
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This post was first published October 2019.
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