Before I got pregnant, I absolutely loved cooking. I grew up in a home where I started cooking at a really young age. While I was pregnant, I hated it. I hated standing for that long, and I hated the smell of food while it was cooking(I had hypermesis, so I avoided anything that had even a remote chance of making me nauseous). I had this vision that when I was no longer pregnant, I would have all this motivation and time to make and serve easy meals every single night. Ha.
They say you don’t really realize how much time it takes up to take care of a sleeping baby until you actually have said baby. So for the past 11 weeks, we ate a lot more take out than I had anticipated. I’m now realizing that that’s okay, and that there’s a balance. Sometimes I make dinner, and sometimes we go to taco bell three times in a row. Balance.
If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that lately I’ve been posting pictures of our meals on my Instagram Story. Now that I’m not pregnant I LOVE cooking again. Hallelujah. But honestly, I don’t really have the time to invest in cooking that I used to. I know I’m not the only mom who needs inspiration for new, easy meals to put on the table. Every single night that I’ve posted our dinner on my Instagram Stories, I’ve had at least one person message me asking for the recipe. I’m definitely not a food blogger, so none of these recipes are mine. But it would seem that a handful of my followers need more recipes for easy meals. I am more than happy to oblige. So, here’s a quick roundup of some of my current favorite easy meals for dinner.
These Caribbean pulled chicken tacos with fresh mango salsa were so good. When Seth started eating them he looked at me and just said, “Holy crap”. So, it has Seth’s stamp of approval. He said this was in his top two favorite meals we’ve eaten in the last week. They’re also gluten free, as long as you use corn tortillas.
We had a big bag of shrimp in our freezer, which is why there are two shrimp dishes in this roundup of easy meals. I’m not a huge fan of shrimp usually. But I really liked this Sheet Pan Shrimp Boil. It was just the right amount of spicy. I was working with flavors that I don’t usually use, which was kinda fun. This one is also Gluten Free!
This Watermelon Balsamic Chicken Salad was Seth’s other favorite dish of the week(not that he didn’t like them all). Seriously, it’s the perfect summer dish. The recipe I found used almonds and blue cheese, but we used walnuts and goat cheese instead because those are flavors I prefer. It’s so light, the only cooking involved is the chicken. It’s Gluten Free, and Vegan if you omit the cheese and chicken.
Here’s our second shrimp dish! Fettuccine with a spicy sun-dried tomato sauce. I usually only cook pasta if we’re eating it with marinara sauce, since that’s my favorite. So I’m glad that I forced myself to make something different haha. This one is Gluten Free, if you swap out the Fettuccine for gluten free pasta. 🙂
This Chicken Enchilada Skillet has been one of my go-to easy meals since Seth and I first got married a few years ago. I found it on Pinterest, it looked easy enough, and we fell in love. So so easy to make,and  it’s ready in under half an hour. Plus the leftovers reheat like a dream. It’s Gluten Free, and if you take out the cheese, also Vegan!