Meal Planning Tips for Families On-The-Go

Coming up with weeknight dinner inspiration can be tough. With everyone’s busy schedules, putting a simple, tasty meal on the table that the whole family will enjoy night after night requires some advance thought and planning.

Natalie Richard, Montreal-based author, foodie and mom, has some great tips to help with life’s dinner SOS moments that will make planning a bit easier and much more fun.

• Seek inspiration – With so many great sources for quick, simple and delicious recipe ideas. Perusing Pinterest for recipe inspiration is a great start, seeking out boards that specifically cater to quick and tasty recipe ideas, such as ones from Barilla Canada.

• Make meal planning fun – Create a fun menu planning board that gets the whole family involved. Whether on a chalk board, cork board or white board, visually laying out your meal ideas for the week can make the act of meal planning a bit more fun and creative.

• Leftovers are your friend – When creating a meal, be sure to cook with larger quantities in order to have leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day. That way, you’re taking care of multiple meals in one shot, maximizing your time for other things.

• Less is more – Pick a simple recipe where you can incorporate ingredients commonly found in your pantry. The fewer the ingredients, the better for a quick and simple recipe. A farfalle pasta with sweet bell peppers, chick peas and shredded Romano Cheese from Barilla is a great example of a classic yet simple recipe that still tastes delicious.

Give this recipe a try:

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

1 box Barilla farfalle

4 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 can chick peas, drained

1 Tbsp oregano, chopped

½ cup Romano cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, meanwhile sauté garlic with olive oil until slightly yellow in color, about one minute. Add the peppers and oregano and sauté for 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Add chick peas and sauté for 1 minute. Cook pasta according to directions, but drain two minutes earlier reserving ½ cup (50ml) water, and finish cooking in the sauce over high heat with the cooking liquid. Top with cheese before serving.

More weeknight dinner inspiration can be found at www.Barilla.ca

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Image Credit: newscanada.com