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Take some of the work out of feeding your crew this month with 4 weeks of meal ideas you can feed to your entire family—babies and toddlers included! The ideas include breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner, with easy methods and accessible ingredients.
Easy Family Meal Plan
I know this time of year can often feel…very, very long and cold (at least if you live in the Northern hemisphere), so I did my best to add in some new flavors to this month’s meal plan.
My hope is that this meal plan offers you approachable ideas to help you feed your family from breakfast through dinner, and reminds you that simple meals are often the best ones.
Use all of the ideas here, pick and choose a couple to try, or come back to this post throughout the month when you find yourself without a dinner plan. Whatever your approach to meal planning, I’m here to help!
Meal Rotation
I plan my months using the idea of a rotation that narrows my options for each week, but still offers flexibility. The breakfast and lunch categories stay the same throughout the month, the the dinners rotate every other week.
You can adjust this to work for your family, but not having to start from scratch each month is so helpful for my brain that I hope it helps you too!
February Week 1
I like to round out meals with a side of fruit or simple veggies, and milk or water.
Breakfast Ideas
Be sure to use very ripe bananas (with lots of brown spots!) for the best flavor and natural sweetness. (I updated this recipe December 2020 to ensure the most reliable results. The original version of this recipe is the “Egg-free” option in the Notes if you loved that. In the main recipe, I reduced the oil, added an egg, increased the baking soda a smidge, and reduced the baking time. They’re great!)
You can season the cooked egg with a little salt, butter or cheese if you’d like, but it’s very good as is. See the Note about the heat setting when cooking in a microwave.
This is a nice breakfast option to share with the kids starting around 9/10 months and up.
Lunch Ideas
These are called “breakfast” burritos since they have eggs, but you can serve them for any meal of the day!
You can meal prep this recipe to have ready for future lunches or dinners to share with the kids or you can make it as a family dinner. Add flavor to your bowl with the optional ingredients.
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.
Snack Ideas
These are deliberately very moist (and moister than regular muffins) to ensure they are easy for baby to chew and swallow, so expect that from the interior. If you’d like to make them sweeter for older kiddos, add ¼ cup sugar to the batter.
This simple smoothie is thin enough to drink through a straw and thick enough to eat with a spoon. And of course, it’s super creamy!
Classic loaded Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with lower sugar for the whole family. Choose your add-ins based on the kinds you like!
Dinners
With a streamlined method and a quick cooking time, this veggie-packed baby soup (that big kids and parents will also enjoy!) is filled with vegetarian protein and super yummy Italian flavors.
If you can’t find garam masala, you can leave it out, though it adds authentic flavor that you’d expect if you’ve eaten Chana Masala in a restaurant. This will likely make enough for two meals—I like to freeze the second half for a future week.
If using frozen shrimp, transfer it from the freezer to the fridge the night before or in the morning that you plan to make this.
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.
February Week 2
When serving family meals, I aim to include 1-2 foods the kids usually like to ensure that there’s always something on the table that they like. This helps to prevent making them something separate—and me having to get up 17 times during a meal!
Breakfast Ideas
Made with a base of applesauce and whole grain flour, these easy mini muffins are sweet enough to taste like a treat!
The optional Berry Yogurt Spread is a delicious (and protein-packed) variation to maple syrup. Make it the day before or start it before you start the pancakes so the berries have a chance to cool. You can also simplify and warm the berries and serve them as a sauce over the pancakes, skipping the yogurt.
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.
Snack Ideas
These no-bake bites taste like a cross between oatmeal raisin and peanut butter cookie dough. I use natural creamy peanut butter (like the kind from Smuckers) and it works really well. (Recipe updated slightly in June 2021 to ensure the best texture.)
Be sure to use super ripe bananas—the more black and brown spots, the better the flavor and sweetness will be!—for the best results here.
This recipe makes a dozen modest-sized cupcakes or 9 more standard cupcakes. I like the smaller ones for younger toddlers who may not need or be able to eat a larger serving.
Lunch Ideas
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.
These work well to make ahead and warm up for an easy lunch or dinner. These taste best served warm.
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!)
Dinners
Serve small portions by the spoonful or in a reusable pouch to babies and toddlers.
I like to use a small shape to keep this dish as fast as possible.
Stretch your ground beef and add a veggie right into moist burger patties with this simple family dinner recipe.
February Week 3
We do oatmeal twice a week to keep it in regular rotation, which I find helps the kids be open to eating it–but it’s not enough that they have a chance to get bored of it!
Breakfast Ideas
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.
This is meant to be a cheatsheet for the best basic ways to cook eggs. Refer back to the body of the post for links to making egg muffins.
Like a cross between a fluffy blueberry muffin and baked oatmeal, these muffins are moist and packed with yummy nutrition.
Mix and match ingredients to customize this mix for your kids.
Snack Ideas
Moist tender Mini Chocolate Chip Muffins that taste as good as store bought, but have a little extra nutrition? Sign. Me. Up. These muffins are seriously delicious and are a must-make if you have fans of Little Bites in your house!
With a smooth and creamy texture and a nice amount of protein and fats to fuel little bodies, this cottage cheese blend is perfect for spreading or dipping.
These blondies are packed with just-sweet-enough flavor and nutrition. I prefer these chilled, but see what you think!
Lunch Ideas
Try these easy wraps for kids as an easy lunch or meal when you want to change up the usual sandwich options. Nutrition info will vary according to the ingredients you use.
These simple blender muffins pack a serious nutrition punch and are dairy-free, with a nut-free option. I prefer the flavor of these once they are fully cooled and chilled in the fridge.
With an easy method and a yummy, satisfying result, this quick toddler meal is one of our go-to shortcut kids meals.
Dinners
You can use ABC pasta, orzo, pastina, or ditalini—or any other very small pasta shape in this recipe!
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.
You can use fresh or frozen shrimp in this recipe. If using frozen, defrost according to package directions.
This easy recipe makes a big pot of comforting soup to feed the whole family—babies, toddlers, and big kids included. The leftovers store nicely so you can enjoy it for a few days!
February Week 4
Add in some other favorite meals or takeout, leftovers, or snack dinners as you like.
Breakfast Ideas
This makes one small batch which will be 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. They are NOT like regular pancakes in that they are not super bready. Which is to say: Be gentle when flipping them. I broke a few the first time I made them! See the NOTES for the flavor variations.
These taste best with a very ripe banana with brown spots, as they will have the most natural sweetness and flavor. This recipe was updated in February 2020 with small adjustments to the leavening to ensure that the middle of the muffins has the best texture possible.
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.
Snack Ideas
These melt-in-your mouth yogurt bites are a fun way to serve yogurt. Plan to make them at least 2 hours before you want to serve them.
We like these apples warm or cold out of the fridge, so see what your kids like best!
Look for brown rice syrup in the baking aisle near agave nectar and sugar.
Lunch Ideas
You can make one sandwich at a time, or make a batch of a few to stash in the freezer. Adjust this as needed for your preference.
Adjust these portions for the usual appetite of your child. Nutrition will vary based on the ingredients and portions you serve.
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.
Dinners
I like our lentil soup with the veggies pretty blended in, which is why I chop them finely in a blender or food processor. You can also just chop them with a knife. (Recipe updated August 2020 to saute the veggies before simmering to ensure that there’s no raw onion flavor.)
These chicken nuggets have simple ingredients and a pleasantly crispy exterior. Aim to cut the chicken into similarly sized pieces so they bake evenly.
This recipe makes enough for 2-3 meals depending on the size and appetites of your family. See below for storage information!
Use your family’s favorite shape and type of pasta in this recipe. (We like elbows or mini shells!)
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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If you have any questions or comments about this plan, please comment below! I’d love to chat.
This post was first published February 2020.
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