This post is sponsored by Babbleboxx – all opinions are my own. I’m excited to share these fun Back-to-School Weeknight Dinner Ideas, featuring these great products!
Getting your family into the fall routine, once summer is over, is like launching a rocket. Between early mornings, after-school practice and being crunched for time, dinners are difficult. I’ve sharing some creative ideas, and amazing products, to help you with easy Back-to-School Weeknight Dinner Ideas. Hopefully these will inspire your meal prep and family dinners will be enjoyable again.
For our family, the key to a great family dinner is being creative with kitchen shortcuts. You don’t need a fancy dinner every night. It’s about getting the job done, having a great tasting homemade meal, and opening time as a family. I love hearing about my kid’s day, over dinner, and that means a little time in the kitchen is worth it.
These back-to-school weeknight dinner ideas utilize some of my favorite brands. I’m sharing traditional ways of using their products and some more creative ways. I find that selecting the right products when I shop makes a big difference in the kitchen. Any way that helps me save time, but still get a great meal on the table, is a win in my book!
Looking for some more great family dinner ideas? Check out some of my most popular recipes on Savvy Mama Lifestyle that even kids love:
Easy Back-To-School Dinner Ideas
Put these ideas into your family’s weekly rotation. Then, once you’ve got 3-4 recipes that you love, mix it up a bit. Try different pizza toppings, rice flavors or even mixing up your meals – kids love breakfast for dinner! It’s all about being creative.
Pizza Nights Made Easy
Our family loves pizza night and we save money by making our own pizzas at home. Even the kids love to get into the kitchen to throw some toppings on top. Great tasting dough doesn’t mean hours in the kitchen. My favorite shortcut is using fresh dough, made by Jus Rol, that you can find in your grocer’s refrigerated dairy section.
I purchase the Jus Rol Family Size Pizza Crust and the Jus Rol Round & Thin Pizza Crust for our home. It’s so versatile, so I love to stock up on it! It’s so convenient to grab from the refrigerator.
Their pizza crust is non-GMO, with no artificial flavors or colors, high fructose corn syrup, or bleached flour. The dough is rolled in parchment paper, which makes it simple to use and easy to clean up. It’s made in the USA with the finest US and imported ingredients.
We use refrigerated pizza dough for numerous recipe starters (not just pizza). Check out some of our favorite ideas:
- Foolproof Breadsticks
- Casserole Toppings
- Quiches
- Pot Pies
- Easy Homemade Rolls
Additionally, they make Jus Rol Puff Pastry Dough – which is fabulous for desserts and breakfast items. You don’t have to thaw their puff pastry and it’s made with the same high quality standards as their pizza dough! Check out the Jus Rol store locator to find the products near you.
Try Serving Breakfast For Back-To-School Dinners
I don’t know why kids love it so much, but they go nuts when you serve breakfast for dinner. Make it fun and exciting, like a “Whacky Wednesday Dinner” and they can even wear pajamas at the dinner table. Our family loves the versatility of making crepes. Farin’UP is the secret to an easy, but fun, breakfast for dinner night.
Farin’UP Unique French Crepes Mix is easy to use and any notion you had about crepes being difficult to make will wash away once you try their mix! All you have to do is add milk and you have ready-to-pour crepe mix. Plus, you can portion out how much you need to use and re-seal the packaging to put it back into your pantry.
Check out some of our family’s favorite crepe ideas:
- Savory Crepe with chicken, mushrooms & cheese
- Savory Crepe with sliced ham & cheese
- Sweet Crepe with hazelnut spread & strawberries
- Sweet Crepe with apple butter
Farin’UP also makes Protein Balls Mix. I double down when I’m making dinner, by prepping some protein balls for the next day. It’s a plant based & gluten free easy to make no-bake protein balls mix. I mix them up in a few minutes, while making dinner, then snacks are prepped for the next day!
Use code BTS22INF01 for 15% site wide Fairin’UP (Valid from Aug 20 till Sept 22, 2022)
Use The Same Back-To-School Dinner Ideas As Your Mom Did
When all else fails, and you’re running out of creativity, use the tools that worked for your mom (and grandmother)! I love the Minute Rice brand and, just like my mom did, I use it as a little shortcut to put dinner on the table. Ready in just one minute, Minute’s Chicken & Herb Seasoned Rice Cups offer a meal addition that’s big on flavor.
Minute Rice Cups are BPA-free and 100% recyclable, plus you can find a variety of flavors. I don’t have time for home-cooked rice, but I can still enjoy all of the flavor thanks to Minute Rice. Using the microwave it convenient and saves me time.
Minute Rice Cups are a great choice for easy, on-the-go breakfasts, lunches, snacks or a quick side for dinner. Check out some of the ways I incorporate them:
- Serve it as an easy side dish to any meat
- Toss it into soups
- Layer the rice into casseroles
- Make a dinner trifle recipe with rice as a layer
An added bonus to Minute Rice Cups is serving them in my kid’s lunches. My son loves when I heat his rice in the morning and he enjoys it from his thermos by lunchtime. It only takes me a minute to prep!
Hopefully these back-to-school weeknight dinner ideas have inspired you to whip up something delicious, without wasting much time in the kitchen. Home-cooked meals don’t have to be entirely from scratch. It’s the family memories that are most important and the time you spend together around the dinner table.