Back up plan, meals for when you really don't have a minute

I have these days some days where I try as hard as I can and nothing can just go properly. Big sassy is late for school, little sassy cries all day, the house is filthy, dinner isn't planned ahead and big sassy comes home crying and starving. These are the days that I need some kind of back up plan. I need to be able to throw SOMETHING edible together that is filling, tasty and the sassy girls will eat.

Here are my top 10 back up plans. most of these are fairly primal. They are not fancy, but they will help you avoid the drive thru or delivery man. I do not have any salads listed on here but that is an awesome idea as well, the sassies do not view salad as an acceptable main dish item and we tend to serve it as a side item. Fish is also a very easy quick cook, especially when you already have it in your freezer but big sassy thinks that fish and seafood is poison and will not knowingly eat it.

1. Don't cook the veggies. Worry about your meat, chicken legs, meatballs whatever. Just throw some carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and apple slices on a plate. Dip away in whatever is in the fridge, balsamic vinegar and oil, Italian dressing, sour cream mixed with any type of season salt/seasoning, almond butter....seriously don't limit yourself.
2. Speaking of that, just do a tray. For some crazy reason the sassies love this more then words can say. Roll up lunch meat, chunk pieces of ham or salami, slices of cheese or string cheese, olives, raw veggies, pickles, any single item in your pantry, cupboard, fridge that is edible and throw it on the platter. Pour some types of dip out honey mustard, Italian dressing whatever else you love. Set out forks/spoons and dig in!
3. Frozen ground beef. Chuck it into a pot, put about 1/8-1/4 cup water in (depending on pan size, just enough to cover the bottom.) put a lid on it and randomly check on it scraping off the cooked parts. Not very fancy but it gets the job done. I can trick my kids into eating "veggie noodles" by peeling the green off of zucchinis and then peeling them into long noodles (stop before you get to the seeds, then peel the other sides.) boil until just before fork tender. Throw the ground beef on top of these, heat a jar of pasta sauce and pour on top. Always keep this on hand ALWAYS, even if you are crazy like me and make your sauce from scratch each time, buy the best jar you can find/afford and save it for this moment.
4. Frozen ground beef, cook as above but this time season with taco seasoning and serve on either homemade primal taco shells or as a taco salad. I keep some tortilla chips (bad, bad primal mommy) on hand for an emergency such as this.
5. Fajitas either in lettuce wraps or just as a "cooked salad", cut up 2 peppers, 1 onion, 1 zucchini, throw some oil in a large frying pan, start cooking at medium high heat sprinkle with a pepper blend of mixed seasoning. stir frequently. Then take a London broil (or sub chicken), sprinkle with same seasoning as vegetables, heat a large frying pan or better a grill, and throw the meat in/on. (keep stirring your veg) let cook at a medium high heat until it begins to brown (no burning allowed.) Flip and cook the other side. test temp. 155 is prime to remove and let rest for 10 min, then slice and serve with the cooked veggies, sour cream and shredded cheese.
6. Steaks, always the most awesome fast meal. Preferred on the grill but doable in a pan. Season with whatever you have, salt, pepper, rosemary, garlic etc. Grill or pan fry until done. Cut an acorn squash in half, spoon out seeds, put a spoon of butter and sprinkle of cinnamon inside the cavity. Put the squash in microwave safe dish and cover with plastic wrap, microwave for 10 min. Test by poking a fork into the thickest part of the squash (inside!) if it goes in really easily its done, if its really hard still give it another 5 minutes and retest, if its almost there give it another 2 minutes. Once done scoop out the flesh and place in a bowl, add salt, butter and cinnamon to taste.
7. Thai red curry leave out the cornstarch its unnecessary, add in 1/4 teaspoon of fish sauce and 1/4 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil. Not necessary but those are the "secret" Thai ingredients. Also fry in coconut oil not olive! Grate (yes grate) cauliflower or you can cut it into chunks and food process until it looks like grains. Stir fry in coconut oil to give you some faux rice to put this on.
8. Burgers, any which way. Ground beef, worcester sauce, BBQ sauce, fave seasoning salt, smell to make sure it smells "seasoned" if not add more seasoning until it does, if it doesn't smell seasoned it will not taste it. Form into patties pan fry or grill. Steam veggies or quick fry some veggies as a nice side.
9. Stir fry, something i'm not so great at but wish I was. Amazing stir fry breakdown HERE.
10. Primal sausage stuffed squash amazing idea, and so good. Nice creamy squash and the flavor of the sausage is awesome too. I use less greens other wise big sassy insists i'm trying to feed her "grass" and won't eat it.

So there you go, some quick ideas to get you through that slump. These are also fantastic things to add to your weekly meal plan so that you have a really fast meal on those days you are home late or have after school/evening activities.

And to be honest sometimes we do drive thru dinner, yep we do. My kids know the inside of happy meal box, some days that's just our reality. Check out Paleo Fast Food for some ideas to keep in mind for those times you do get stuck in a drive thru line.