Growing up, my family almost always had dinner around the table. My mom would make dinner at least five times a week (if not more), and we would sit around her round wooden table and eat. More importantly, we would fellowship. We would catch up about each of our days, joke, and laugh.
Several months ago, my dad told me that his favorite thing in the world is to eat dinner with our family at the kitchen table and end up staying there long after our plates are empty, just talking and laughing.
My sister and I are both moved out now – she’s married and I’m a single mom, so we each have family units of our own and homes of our own – but returning to the kitchen table at our parents’ home is something happens fairly often for us. It’s a tradition that I think our whole family values and cherishes.
In my own home, I am very conscious about getting dinner set up each night that my son is home. He’s only 22 months old, but having him sit at the table with me, thank God for our food (and yes, he prays in his sweet little voice and it’s amazing), and talking to him while we eat together is so important to me. I’m grateful for all the people in my life – my parents, sister and brother-in-law, boyfriend, and close friends – who help me ensure that my son always gets to experience dinner in this fashion – with prayer and fellowship and good (and healthy) food.
But let’s be very real and transparent here: dinner is not always easy to get on the table when I’m alone with a less-than-two-year-old. He constantly wants to see what I’m doing on the stovetop, what spoon or spatula I’m using, or wants a snack minutes before dinner is going to be served. So I’ve had to come up with some easy-to-make dinners that allow me to be as mobile and versatile as a toddler-mom needs to be.
One of our favorite easy meals is the one-pan chicken and veggies dinner. Even better than being easy to make – it’s really inexpensive. I can usually make this meal for under $10!
At Walmart, I picked up Great Value frozen carrots and Great Value frozen broccoli for $0.78 each, a bag of frozen Tyson chicken breasts for $4.50 (on sale – regularly $5.84), and a loaf of Italian bread from the in-store bakery for $1.00. I typically have the seasonings needed in my cupboard and fridge already.
Here’s an easy ingredient list for reference:
- 1 bag frozen broccoli
- 1 bag frozen carrots
- 2 chicken breasts (thawed)
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Salt
- Pepper
Preheat your oven to 375F.
While your oven is heating, lightly spray a baking sheet. Then, cut up your raw chicken into cube-like, bite-size pieces. I use kitchen scissors (just be sure to use a LOT of germ-fighting soap to wash them afterwards!) to cut mine, and I usually cut them into nickel or quarter-sized pieces. Scatter them around the pan. Then, open up your frozen veggie bags and spread those out on the pan, too. I use the entire bag of each.
After your pan looks evenly dispersed (which is easy to tell with such vivid colors), lightly pour olive oil over it. It should be a slow, steady drizzle and you’ll want to move in a zig-zag pattern across the pan. Then, do similarly with your lemon juice – but use slightly less unless you just LOVE lemon flavoring – the lemon flavor will be stronger than the olive oil, so I use it a little more sparingly. Salt and pepper lightly across the entire pan.
Cook on 375F for 18-20 minutes.
Before you turn the oven off when your timer rings, cut into one of the larger pieces of chicken to confirm it’s done. It should be white throughout.
Once done, I usually cut up some of that Italian bread I mentioned and warm it in the oven for just a few moments while I’m plating the chicken and veggies.
Serve & enjoy!
This recipe usually feeds my son and I with leftovers for us each to eat for lunch, so we could probably feed three people for dinner with it. If you want to make it stretch further for a family of four, I’d suggest making rice or pasta as a base. We love just the veggies and chicken with warm bread, but an additional starch base would certainly help it be more filling and stretch the main course a little further.
I have also made it with a California-style vegetable mix (frozen bag of broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower) and that can work well if you like cauliflower. I discovered that my son is not the biggest fan, so more broccoli and carrots are better for our kitchen table!
For my low-carb friends, make this dish without any rice, pasta, or bread – the only carbs should be the natural sugars in the carrots. It’s not necessarily Keto because of that, but it’s definitely a great lower-carb option.
What easy, affordable dinner options do you love?
If you try this one-pan dinner, let me know how it goes in the comments! Happy cooking!
Kate with a Twang 