What are some meals you make for the entire family.. when not everyone is on a diet?

I have a one year old baby, so obviously she needs extra fats and calories for growth. Sometimes its abit tricky to plan meals that will have the nutrition she needs, but also good for me to eat for weight loss.

Tonite I made a box of pasta-roni.. granted I could have done healthier with whole wheat noodles and making my own sauce, but We ran errands this afternoon and needed something that was "quick and easy" to make for supper when we got home (it was still much healthier than grabbing McDonald's on the way home!). I added some spinache and tomatoes to it while I was cooking.. I figured adding the extra veggies would make it healthier for both of us. I think the veggies added some flavor to it anyways.


Later this week I plan on making some beef stew in a crock pot. I got some stew meat, Im going to cut up a few small potatoes, and a small onion, but the bulk of the stew will be some mixed veggies.. I found some frozen veggies that is corn, carrots, green beans and peas.. I think this will make a good meal.

I make beef stew and beef goulash all the time. I make them with beef broth and do not include any oil. I'll use pasta (rare), brown rice (often), couscous (often) and potatoes as sides. My family loves the healthier meals I make.

I used to give my kids lots and lots of avocado when they were little. I still give it to them, but it's really a super food. I actually make separate meals for my husband and I than for the kids. For hubby and I, I try to really utilize the slow cooker because it involves very little work. I just toss the ingredients in and poof, it's ready by dinner! You can even put all the ingredients inside the removal pot and keep it in the fridge so it's ready to cook in the morning.

My kids, I make them organic burgers, burritos, mashed potatoes and bbq chicken, chicken nuggets (I make them from scratch and sneak veggies inside...there's a book called Deceptively Delicious that has great ideas about that). They will eat pasta with meat sauce or meatballs...these are all things I won't eat.

I try to have a big salad ready for the family. My husband and I will top it with some salsa, while my kids will have it with olive oil vinagrette and maybe some nuts sprinkled inside. So, they're getting the fat they need but still eating healthy.

I absolutely still eat Lean Cuisine lots of times throughout the week, so if I only have time to make something for the kids, I still don't end up going to McDonald's.

I hope this helps!