Bowl Dinners

One of my family’s favorite dinners is when I make Bowl Dinners. These are a great option for the busy mom trying to get a healthy dinner on the table quickly. I will usually make quinoa or rice to place in the bottom of the bowl and then some form of protein and then from their it is left up to the kids what else they place in the bowl.  

I cut up some vegetables and then each person picks whatever they want, but there are always some yummy offerings which allows them to try just a bit and keeps my children from complaining.

One of our favorite bowls is a buffalo chicken quinoa bowl with spinach, celery, carrots, red onion, and microgreens.  And don’t forget some sort of sauce to have on top, this can make or break the bowl so definitely don’t forget it.  Take a look at some of my favorite recipes for sauces here.  I will post a video below of how this was made.

This is a great way to help those picky eaters find something as well, most children enjoy rice so make sure to have that or quinoa on hand for them to use as the base and then allow them to add whatever toppings they would like on top.  Make sure there are items that they enjoy as well, and the key is you can’t complain about what they put or don’t put on top.  In time, you will notice that they start to add other ingredients to their bowl as well, because who doesn’t like a colorful bowl.

When making your own bowls make sure to:

1. Start with the base-get creative with this.  I like to add rice, quinoa, couscous, potatoes, or even oats for a savory morning breakfast.
2. Add protein-again get creative.  Meats are always a great option, but beans, tofu, eggs, and nuts also can help build the protein and make for a delicious bowl.
3. Pile on the vegetables-try using as many different colors for your bowl to make it eye catching as we eat with our eyes first.  Feel free to add fruit as well, I have made taco bowls before and used mango and pineapple as a fun option.  
4. Top it off with sauce-always, always, add some sort of delicious sauce to punch up the wow factor.
5. Go with a theme-we love changing up the theme of our bowls.  We do taco night, greek bowls, sushi deconstructed, teriyaki, and even shish ka bob bowls.  This is where the fun is for the kids, so let them come up with ideas as well.  

Need more ideas for dinners for your family?  Grab our 5 day meal plan FREE to try some of our favorite healthy recipes the whole family enjoys.

Other blog posts you may enjoy:

5 reasons to Make Family Mealtime Happen

Meal Prep for Busy Moms