Easy Dinner Ideas For Your Family

When I asked for Instagram and blog suggestions a couple weeks ago, dinner recipe ideas was suggested several times! If you follow me on Instagram, you know that my husband is an amazing cook. He cooks basically every night, and I am so thankful for that. I help him in the kitchen though and obviously suggest meal ideas! 😂

In this post, I wanted to put together a few easy dinner ideas and ways to keep clean up to a minimum. Our least favorite thing is cleaning the kitchen, so anything that helps keep the dishes down makes us extremely happy! Most of the recipes listed below were created by other people, so I will link the recipe that takes you to that person’s page or blog where the recipe is located.

Marinated Chicken with Roasted Veggies

Last night I made marinated grilled chicken breast, grilled squash, and hashbrown casserole. Here’s what I did-

I marinated the chicken for about 6 hours in Kraft Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette dressing with some Cavender’s, garlic, onion powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. I eyeballed everything, so I apologize for not listing specific amounts.

Seasoned the squash with oil, salt, and pepper.

Seth grilled the chicken and squash while the hashbrown casserole cooked in the oven. Here is the recipe I used. If you don’t feel like using a grill, just throw the chicken and squash on a foiled, greased baking sheet and throw it in the oven to bake at 425 for about 20-25 minutes!

Pro tip: Foiling your baking sheets makes for super easy clean up!

Chicken and Rice Casserole

I love this recipe so much. It is so easy, and I always recommend it to friends and family when they are stuck on something to fix for dinner. You basically dump everything in a bowl, mix it up, add it to a baking dish, and cook it for an hour. That’s it! Linking the recipe here. Sorry I don’t have a picture of this meal. 😢

Fish Tacos

One of our favorite meals is tacos, because duh. Some people may not like fish, so beef, chicken, or shrimp will work just fine too. We like to use cod because it is super mild and not fishy at all. We season the fish with our favorite Mexican spices such as chili powder, cumin, and coriander. However, you can add whatever you like. First, cook it in a skillet over medium-high heat until it’s finished, then break it apart. Then, heat up your shells and add whatever toppings you love! We like cabbage, onion, cilantro, tomato, and any sauce we have on hand. Super easy and quick!

Sausage and Peppers

This is one of my favorite recipes and it is sooo good too. Seth’s mom cooked it a lot growing up and now it is one of our favorites. You’ll need a Kielbasa sausage link or two depending on how many you are feeding, 2 bell peppers, and 1 white onion. First, slice the sausage into rounds. Then, cube the peppers and onions into a similar size as the sausage. Oil your pan and cook your sausage first. We season it with cumin and Cajun seasonings. Next, take it off and then cook your peppers and onions. Once they are almost done, combine everything together and serve over rice. So delicious.

Penne alla Vodka

I know this sounds intimidating, but I promise it is not at all! If you don’t have vodka or don’t want to use it, you can omit. First, saute 1/2 a white onion, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes in a medium pot with butter and oil. After the onions are translucent, add 1 28 oz crushed tomatoes to the pot, 1/2 cup of vodka, and let that reduce for 10 minutes. Then, add 1/2 cup of heavy cream to the sauce and any fresh basil or oregano. Add your cooked noodles to the pot (we like penne) and serve! You can add grated Parmesan on top and serve with crusty garlic bread.

If you end up making or trying any of the recipes on this post, please let me know if you like them! I tried to think of things that Seth and I eat often, love, and that are easy. Obviously, you can substitute any of the ingredients in these recipes and include something your whole family loves. I have previously written a blog post titled “What I Ate For Dinner Last Week”, which has several recipe ideas as well. You can check that post out here for more recipe ideas. Happy cooking!