Meg's Meal Planning

family friendly meals

Avocado Spinach Pasta

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Creamy and healthy pasta sauce made with fresh spinach and avocados. This is an easy week night meal that will get dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes! 

I could eat pasta all day, every day.  Some of my favorite sauces are traditional marinara, a white wine sauce, and just good fashioned cheese! And now, I’m adding avocado/spinach sauce to the list. This recipe is a great family meal and easy to make in advance or right when you want to eat!

If you have more sauce than you need, freeze the extra. Pour into an ice cube tray, freeze for 24 hours, then pop out and store in a zip lock bag.

 

Avocado Spinach Pasta
 
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Author:
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • 1 box shells
  • 2 avocado
  • 2 cup fresh spinach
  • 2 garlic clove minced
  • ⅓ cup olive oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Cook shells according to the package.
  2. Meanwhile, add all other ingredients to a food processor, blend well.
  3. Add to pasta when done cooking.

 

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Avocado spinach pasta

 

Family friendly meals for baby

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Since my son was born, I’ve always been concerned about his food!  Is he eating enough?  Eating too much?  When should he start solids?  Should I skip rice cereal?  Suffer through breastfeeding or start formula?  It’s exhausting and reading articles on the internet is no help because everyone says something different.  It took a while to figure out (and I’m still learning with every new stage), but eventually I learned my son has all the answers.  If he opens his mouth, feed him.  I started solid foods around 4.5 months because he was up to 40 oz of formula!  I did start with rice and quickly expanded to different fruits and veggies.  I’ve made all my own baby food and had a lot of fun figuring out combinations!  Now that he’s almost 11 months, I’ve started to increase his finger foods.  I started searching for recipes that my husband and I like, but also include ingredients my son can eat! 

Family friendly meals for baby

  1. Crockpot chicken noodle soup – Put the following items into the crockpot: 6 cups chicken stock, 2 cups water, 2-3 diced carrots (peeled) and celery sticks, 1-2 cups diced rotisserie chicken, mini meatballs, 2 bay leafs, salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 6 hours. Add 1 bag of egg noodles and cook until tender.
  2. Pasta and meatballs with homemade sauce – I made rotini for my son, overcooked by 5 minutes to make sure it was very soft and tender. I cut it into bite size pieces for him and he went to town!  I didn’t add the red sauce, but drizzled olive oil instead.  For another variation, I’ve added peas and carrots that simmered for 20 minutes on the stove, then mashed/cut them into smaller pieces and added to the pasta. 
  3. Veggie enchilada casserole – This recipe is packed with vegetables and since you bake it, they are all soft!  I gave my son mashed up black beans and spiralized carrots. 
  4. White bean soup – So far, this is one of my favorite family friendly meals! Not only is it easy and fast to make, but there is also little to clean up – one cutting board, one knife, and one pot gets me all the ingredients my son can eat!! Time for a victory dance! After the soup simmered for 15 minutes, I sliced the carrot and chicken into small pieces for him, mashed the white beans and put everything on his highchair tray! 
  5. Crockpot chicken taco bowl – This is another perfect meal for the family. The chicken is already shredded, so all you need to do is scoop and give to your little one. I gave my son shredded chicken and black beans served over brown rice.
  6. Fish tacos – The fish is seared on a cast iron skillet, not fried, making it flaky and soft, perfect for those little teeth!
  7. Chicken minestrone soup – Your baby will love everything in this soup. Just cut into bite size pieces and it makes great finger foods!