Modern Parents Messy Kids

We're all about finding ways to make family life better while keeping our sense of humor. Check out our famous MPMK Top Toy Awards, already viewed over 7,000,000 times!

  • Start Here
  • Travel
  • The Kids
    • Our Famous Toy Gift Guides
    • Play Activities & Art Ideas
  • The Home
    • In the Kitchen
    • Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life
      • Cleaning House
      • Meal Planning
      • Decluttering
      • Organizing
      • Schedules & To Do Lists
      • Daily Rhythms
    • The Holidays
    • Photography & Memory Keeping
  • Parenting
    • Parenting Discussions
    • Happy Family Habits
    • The Book Nook
    • Mom Health & Beauty

Easy Summer Eats: Sausage, Potato and Arugula Bake

July 31 by Kristin

Summer is filled with backyard barbecues and potluck Sundays.  The next time you get invited to a summer shindig, think about bringing this easy dish that will take less than 30 minutes to throw together. I love how the arugula brings a lightness to the potatoes and cherry tomatoes add a pop of color.  Chicken versus pork sausage will also summer-ize this recipe. The vegetables and sausage bake to crispiness so they can add a savory oil to the lemony arugula salad.  Get ready to share the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Kristin Tagged With: baking sheet meals, dinner ideas, one sheet dinner, one sheet dinners, potluck meals, summer dinner, summer meal ideas

5 Full Weeks of Family-Friendly Meal Plans (for Free)!

May 8 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Free 5 Week Meal Plan - 35 Family Friendly Dinners, complete with categorized shopping lists!

Who's up for a totally free meal plan just in time for summer?! I realized recently that a lot of you don't know about one of our coolest freebies here on MPMK. It's a deluxe 5 week meal plan that includes: 5 weeks with seven dinner recipes each - no repeats! 5 shopping lists (one for each week), categorized for convenience And the best part is the meals are kid-friendly, nutritious and not-overly complicated... It's just what you need for an easy breezy … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen Tagged With: dinner ideas, dinner meal plan, free meal plan, meal plan, meal plan for families, meal plans for kids

30 Dinner Ideas for Preschoolers

January 7 by Kaley

30 Dinner Recipes to Feed Your Preschooler - this was such a help with my picky-eater kid!

We've covered making your own baby food. And also meal ideas for a 1-year-old. But what happens when that cute little chubby toddler turns into an opinionated preschooler who refuses to eat anything but grilled cheese sandwiches? (Replace grilled cheese sandwiches with buttered noodles, or whatever your little one deems the food of the month.) Even the best of eaters has been known to turn super picky during the preschool years, and the vegetables that they used to gobble up are now fodder … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Kaley, Meal Planning Tagged With: dinner ideas, dinner ideas for preschoolers, dinner ideas for toddlers, easy dinner recipes for kids, easy kid recipes, kid food, meal ideas for preschoolers, toddler recipes, what to feed your preschooler, what to feed your toddler

20 Cook Once, Eat Twice Dinner Ideas

August 3 by Natalie

Cook Once Eat Twice Dinner Ideas - Such a great resource for busy weekdays, love cutting out one whole day of cooking!!

I recently took to our facebook page and asked what type of recipe posts you'd most like to see here.  MPMK reader Rebecca suggested a roundup of "cook once, eat twice kind of meals". I replied, "I want those too!" because how brilliant is it to have dinner ready with no cooking on the second night?! I put our resident food contributor, Natalie, on it and she didn't disappoint... Looking to save some time in the kitchen? Double-duty dinners are a great way to cut down on extra cooking. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Natalie Tagged With: cook once eat twice, cook once eat twice dinners, dinner ideas, double duty dinners, easy dinner ideas, easy family dinners, left-over dinners

In the Kitchen: Seasonal Recipe Round-up

June 2 by Kristin

The best recipes for families using fresh spring produce - the Springtime Pasta Primavera is epic!

Spring produce can't be beat!  After months of apples and all types of squash, a refreshing palette of colors bursts across the produce aisle. I compiled a list of my favorite nine recipes that will use all those delicious farmer's market finds. Maybe you have favorites that you go back to year after year (mine happens to be artichokes).  Hopefully, this list will inspire you to try something new like leeks or prosciutto-wrapped apricots! … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Kristin Tagged With: dinner ideas, fresh dinner recipes, seasonal recipes, spring dinner ideas, spring dinner recipes, spring produce, spring recipes

30 Minute Dinners- A Weekly Meal Plan For Busy Families

May 20 by Natalie

This is a brilliantly system for easy family meal planning - post has lots of 30 min. meal ideas for each theme day too!

Need some dinner inspiration? I am always looking for something new to put on the table without too much fuss. The months transitioning from spring to summer can get pretty hectic, what with end-of-school activities, graduations, weddings, outdoor sports and more. Implementing an easy weekly meal rotation could be just the thing to keep you sane when you're on a crazy schedule. I've created a dinner plan with five meal categories- quesadillas, salads, frittatas, skillet meals and pizzas- and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Meal Planning, Natalie, Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life Tagged With: 30 minute meals, dinner help, dinner ideas, easy meals, fast meals, meal planning, meal planning help, meal planning ideas, meal planning schedule, meal planning template, quick and easy dinners, weekly meal plan

POYEL: 10 Tips for Better Meal Planning

February 19 by Natalie

Some people love meal planning, some people hate it. Whether you like it or not, it can be really helpful for your budget, your time management and your sanity as a parent. Everyone goes about meal planning a little differently, but this is how our resident food contributor, Natalie, sets herself up for success before the actual “meal-planning” time begins. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Meal Planning, Natalie, Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life Tagged With: dinner ideas, how to organize your life, meal planning, organization, organizer, Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life

18 Things You Didn’t Know Your Slow Cooker Could Make

October 25 by Natalie

The slow cooker is all the rage these days (thank you, Pinterest!). I am all about putting my kitchen appliances to work, but I haven’t made much more than the usual pot roasts, soups and pulled meats. I did a little research and found some atypical slow cooker recipes worthy of sharing. Some made sense, but some just blew my mind - I mean, Chex Mix in the slow cooker?? Crazy. Row One- Brownies, Yogurt, Artisan Bread Row Two- Dulce de Leche, Baked Potatoes, Oatmeal Row Three- Lemonade, Chex … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Kitchen, Natalie Tagged With: crock pot, dinner ideas, meal planning, slow cooker

Get your kids' kit

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • xing

Finally Get Organized

Our Famous Gift Guides

MPMK's Famous Gift Guides

Find the Perfect Toy!

Copyright © 2021 · Parallax Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in