Happy Wednesday! This is one of my favorite linkups of the month because I am so curious about how other people do things. I try to find great systems for organizing, planning, and creating routines but I know there is always room for improvement. Before I get to the linkup, I want to take a minute to recognize today’s date. While the acts of terrorism that day were most awful and so many lives were lost, I am hoping that we can honor the people who lost their lives by remembering the America of September 12, 2001 and how we came together to help others, heal, and comfort. I hope that all Americans are inspired to think and act like that today and every day moving forward. I am sending out love and good thoughts to you all❤️

In January, we shared our closets. I was excited to see what people wrote because mine had just fallen down.

In February, I shared little things I do every day.

In May, I shared my summer closet staples.

In June, I shared my summer schedule.

In July, I shared podcasts and shows I binge.

This month, I am looking at quick weeknight dinners. Well, that should be pretty easy because every dinner I make during school needs to be a quick dinner!

The first thing that came to mind was shredded chicken. Once every week, I throw a bunch of frozen chicken breasts in the crockpot on low before I leave for school. Justine taught me years ago that you don’t need to add any liquid if you add frozen chicken breasts because enough liquid cooks out through the day. I tend to add some seasoning to the crockpot to give a little extra flavor. My favorites are Trader Joe’s Citrusy Garlic, BBQ, Chili Lime, Everything but the Elote, and Green Goddess seasonsings. I do not coat the chicken, I do not measure the seasoning, I just shake the bottle until it looks good. When I get home from work, I fork shred it and we use the chicken for lots of things:
taco bowls
bbq chicken sandwiches
chicken salad
chicken, rice, and broccoli bowls
nachos
taquitos

You get the idea and those things do not take very long to prepare since the chicken is ready to go.

Pasta is another quick go to. I add ground beef to tomato sauce to make it a bit more filling and we use Banzaa chickpea pasta. For a carb-filled meal, it ends up having a lot of protein. Sometimes I make a baked pasta dish, but to keep it quick we usually just have noodles and sauce.

One of our favorite meals is chicken AF (air fryer, but it makes the kids giggle a bit to think what AF usually means). I use chicken tenders and marinate them in Paul Newman’s classic oil and vinegar dressing, add a little salt and pepper when I put them on the pan and put them in our Ninja Foodie XL 10-in-1. I cook them for 17 min at 350 on the air fryer setting. It comes out perfect every single time. Sometimes, I do two pans of chicken and it still comes out perfect. We add that to salads or have it as the main dish with veggies and a starch.

I love sausage and pepper sheet pans. We use Aldi’s italian sausage and it is a Parsons family favorite. I cut it up and put it on a pan with cut up bell peppers. Then I spray them all with olive oil, add some salt, pepper, and garlic, and put them in the oven until the sausage is done. I cook them at 400 degrees for usually about 25 minutes.

I tried a new sheet pan dinner this week. We had Hawaiian chicken and it was delicious. I used this recipe for inspiration but changed it a bit. I used a little over 2 lbs of chicken, only red bell peppers, no red pepper flakes, gluten free soy sauce, no ginger because I didn’t have any. I added a bit extra soy sauce and pineapple juice to account for the extra chicken. It was delicious with rice or a roll on the side. I reheated the leftovers for lunch two days this week and they were just a yummy!

If it works out, choices is another quick dinner. Choices is my name for leftovers. We open the fridge and everything in there is a choice. Ha! It just sounds better to me than leftovers. It isn’t always an option because some nights the teeange boys eat all the dinner and there aren’t enough leftovers.

There is always the dashboard diner, as my mom called it. Some nights we do carryout or a drive thru, but honestly I don’t find it to be very quick or convenient because we often eat in shifts around practices during the week.

I always keep a few heads of romaine lettuce, cucumbers, frozen veggies, and frozen homemade applesauce on hand to add to any dinner.

I can’t wait to see everyone else’s answers. I am always looking for a new dinner idea! Have a great day full of sunshine and books!