Reorganize Your Menu

Back to School time is a busy time, but also a great time to reorganize your routine when it comes to meal planning. And if you have picky toddlers, like me, it might be time to work on introducing new foods to their limited diets!

Tonight I made my own BBQ chicken salad and ranch dressing for my girls from scratch. They can be picky about vegetables, so I was hoping that the homemade ranch would get healthy yogurt back in their diet and help them be more open to eating raw veggies.

The BBQ chicken salad just sounded good (it was 100 degrees here in Southern California today) and it tasted even better!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

1/2 cup Full-fat or 2% Greek Yogurt

1/4 tsp dried dill weed

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp parsley

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp celery seed

Mix all ingredients together. Add more spices as needed to taste.

BBQ Chicken Salad

One bag lettuce mix

1/2 cucumber, sliced and cut into half circles

1/2 red onion, diced

6 small colorful sweet peppers, diced

3 carrots, diced

2-4 chicken breasts, shredded and mixed with BBQ sauce

Balsamic Vinegar

Optional toppings: Black beans, corn, tortilla chips, cheese

Instructions: Place lettuce in a large bowl. Chop and dice vegetables to desired sizes. Prepare Chicken. Combine all ingredients and mix. Place in individual serving bowls. Top with balsamic vinegar and additional toppings as desired. Enjoy!

We enjoyed our salads with french fries and sweet potato fries and the girls paired their veggies and ranch with grilled cheese.

I am a “follow the recipe” type of cook, so it felt great to make up some recipes that sounded good in my head and have them turn out to be just as delicious as I’d imagined!

What’s new on your menu?