I thought I’d do something off the beaten track and offer something I wish I’d been offered years ago: simple, healthy meal and snack ideas for homeschool moms, all in one place!
I’ve known many homeschool moms who struggle with food prep. It can feel hard and time-consuming, and many moms (myself included) often struggle with ideas! We want to provide good food for our families, but we don’t want to make complicated dishes or spend even more in the kitchen than we already do. We also don’t want to reinvent the wheel every single week.
Below you’ll find some of our family’s common weekday meals and snacks, along with recipes. These are perfect for busy homeschool parents and larger families. You can prepare most of these in a short period of time, with very little prep.
Although some of these ideas are quite familiar, I’ve realized over the years it’s easy to overlook the obvious. I have often caught myself creating more work by trying complicated recipes that were unnecessary, simply because I forgot about the obvious options out there!
These meals are HEALTHY, EASY, and QUICK (my three essentials!). …Oh, and CHEAP!
We often double or triple these recipes.
This list does not include things like hot dogs, mac n’ cheese, chicken nuggets, or any frozen food you buy and heat up. These meals offer a well-balanced diet sure to improve your energy, mood, and overall health.
So go ahead and peruse some of our family’s tried-and-true, delightful, tasty meals and snacks. Enjoy!
Breakfasts:
Oatmeal (add raisins & cinnamon if desired)
Cream of Wheat
Bread (w/ butter/pb/jelly/honey)
Peanut butter granola[1]
Regular granola[2] w/ Greek yogurt and frozen blueberries
Muffins[3]
Pancakes
Overnight oats[4]
Cornbread[5]
Eggs- fried or scrambled. You can throw raw spinach into the pan and sauté if you want. I love adding goat cheese on top if we have it as well.
Lunches:
Cucumber sandwiches with cream cheese
Veggie sandwiches with cucumbers/sprouts/spinach/tomato/red onion
Egg salad sandwiches (hard boil eggs, celery, mayo and salt/pepper)
Power bowls (see dinner power bowls for ideas)
Eggs on toast
Tortilla wraps with any combination of meat/cucumber/spinach/avocado/tomato
Tuna melts (add minced pickles to mixture if desired)
Pasta salad (bowtie pasta w/ fresh cucumber, kalamata olives, feta cheese, fresh tomatoes. For a dressing, use plain olive oil or a salad dressing of your choice.)
Quesadillas – Fill w/ tiny diced & roasted sweet potatoes/black beans/fresh tomatoes/corn or any veggie you have lying around. I’ve even added ground beef to ours before to boost the protein.
Grilled cheese & tomato soup
Turkey club (turkey/bacon/tomato/lettuce on bread)
Salad- Chef or Cobb
Fried or scrambled eggs & ground beef with fresh spinach thrown in to wilt.
Zucchini Fritters[6]
Dinners:
Tacos (Any combo of fish/beef, beans, bell pepper, cabbage, thinly sliced radish, avocado, Mexican cheese and rice)
Risotto made with barley[7]
Power bowls (see below)
Burrito bowls[8]
Slow cooker roast w/ veggies and homemade mashed potatoes[9]
BBQ pork roast[10]
Simple roasted veggies & grain[11]
Greek salad
Cobb salad
Southwest salad
Kale salad with quinoa[12]
Bell peppers stuffed w/ barley, black beans, ground beef, and cheese- no recipe needed! Use proportions of each that sound good to you. Any grain works as well- even simply white rice.
Millet cakes w/ carrots & spinach[13]
Latkes[14]
Coconut millet bowls[15]
Soups:
Simplest option: Add water to a pot, throw in any grain[16], add absolutely any veggies (carrots/broccoli/turnips/celery/etc.), & meat if desired. Seasonings that tend to work well for a classic taste are basil, oregano, garlic, thyme, and rosemary.
Chili[17]
Beef barley soup
Chicken & dumpling soup
Gazpacho soup (cucumber soup, or mint & carrot or ginger & carrot)
Spicy pork with kale
White chicken chili
Squash soup
Pumpkin soup
Corn Chowder[18]
Power Bowls Ideas:
Red onion/cucumber/zucchini/bell pepper/beef/fet/hard-boiled egg/pickled onion/cauliflower/eggplant/sweet potato/charred broccoli/slivered almonds or other nut
Add Any Combo of:
Tofu/beef/chicken/seafood
Beans/lentils/grain
Sauces: creamy, zesty, sweet, or Asian
Snacks:
Popcorn (homemade on the stovetop without butter. Add a little salt)
Energy balls (combine oats, peanut butter, and honey into a bowl. Stir until combined. Form into balls and put in fridge to firm up)
Cut up fresh fruit
Hard-boiled eggs dipped in “Paddington Sauce”[19]
Cottage cheese & fresh pineapple
Apple sauce with cinnamon
Fresh berries
Fresh apples/bananas & peanut butter & raisins
Greek yogurt & granola
Nut mix (homemade)
Hummus & pita bread
Plain oats with peanut butter & honey
Roasted veggie (we frequently roast broccoli, sweet potato, or brussel sprouts for snacks)
Pureed sweet potatoes[20]
[1] 4 cups of oats, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ cup honey, ½ cup peanut butter. Heat honey and peanut butter to combine. Mix all other ingredients. Pour liquid peanut butter and honey over and stir well. Oven temp: 350 for 12 minutes. Done when browned on side and still soft overall. Let cool. This is a massive household favorite and tastes like eating soft peanut butter cookies but there is NO SUGAR!
[2] https://cookieandkate.com/healthy-granola-recipe/ We typically make this without the add-ins to save money, but it’s delicious with them as well!
[3] Blueberry/cornmeal/cranberry orange/plain/banana. My new favorite: banana and cornmeal: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/241303/banana-cornbread/. I cut the sugar in half! And an amazing cheese and garlic muffin recipe can be found here: https://www.recipetineats.com/cheese-garlic-muffins/#recipe
[4] https://www.loveandlemons.com/overnight-oats-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-65537. You can leave out the chia seeds and use regular milk if you want.
[5] https://www.modernhoney.com/the-best-moist-cornbread-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-39591
[6] https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/zucchini-fritters/ These are insanely delicious, and disappeared very quickly. The squeezing the water from the zucchini does make a mess and take some time. And it doesn’t make as many as I would have liked, but due to how healthy and delicious it was, I am including it here.
[7] Similar to how you make normal risotto. Add a veggie like asparagus or mushrooms as you near the end of cooking the risotto.
[8] Rice, beans, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, peppers, corn, cilantro, sour cream
[9] Carrots, turnips, parsnips, and rutabaga all make excellent additions to any roast.
[10] https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/best-homemade-bbq-sauce/#wprm-recipe-container-10448 Insanely good BBQ sauce recipe! Throw it in with a roast of any kind- voila! Dinner!
[11] Take any root veggie like carrots, turnips, etc, or broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower—and wash, coat with a little olive oil, and roast at 420 degrees until done. Add to any grain or quiona. Healthy and tasty ideas include: emmer grain, barley, millet, or Khorasan.
[12] Cookie & Kate’s cookbook has this recipe, but any version you find online will do!
[13] https://www.loveandlemons.com/millet-cakes/ For seasonings, we use: Cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, garlic (chopped), turmeric, pepper, salt.
[14] Bake, don’t fry, if you want less of an oily texture. We throw these together at this point, so I don’t have a recipe, but did find this one that looks similar to what we do: https://preppykitchen.com/latkes/#recipe
[15] https://www.feastingathome.com/coconut-millet-bowl-with-berbere-spiced-squash/
[16] Such as rice, barley or Khorasan
[17] Ground beef, black and pinto beans, olives, 2 cans of diced tomatoes, with garlic and chili powder (lots!)
[18] Super simple. Take corn off the cob and boil with chopped russet potatoes in water (not to much, but to cover) until soft. Puree. Add plenty of canned coconut milk until soup consistency that is desired. Seasonings for this soup are: cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, garlic
[19] We named the following mixture after our favorite bear: Paddington. Combine honey, vanilla, and cinnamon in a bowl, mix. Use as a dip for hard boiled eggs!
[20] Roast sweet potato. Then puree with pumpkin spice seasonings and a little water. Delicious and reminds one of Thanksgiving!
