Written By: Courtney Byrne 

Sometimes I feel like my kids eat the same thing every night. More so in the winter. In the summer we are out and about more, travel more, cook on the grill and eat outside often. In the winter, it’s dark at dinner time and we sit down at the dinner table the same time, same spot every night. In anticipation of the long month of January, I sat down over break and made a calendar of 31 days of meal ideas for kids. I thought about some of the different things I often make, asked friends for ideas and thought about easy recipes I make for my husband and I that the kids could start to eat too. This is kids dinner calendar but there are also meal idea calendars for the family on the blog that Julie wrote last yer (just search on the side bar).

31 Days of Meal Ideas for Kids

Some of these ideas might be too much work or things you know your kid won’t eat. On those nights, sub in your “standard kids meal”. We all have that one meal we know they’ll eat! I’m hoping this will help me be more organized with grocery shopping and get the kids to try new foods. All of the meals on here are either things my kids actually eat (and they’re not adventurous eaters at all) or suggestions from other moms with young children. Some are super simple, some are recipes.

Notes & Recipes

Below the calendar, I linked to some of the recipes or made notes. To note: in our house, most week nights the kids eat dinner and then my husband and I eat dinner later on when he gets home from work. Then on the weekends, we try and eat as a family. So, you’ll see that the weekend meals are a little more “family” oriented than the kids meals during the week. I hope this helps you cook during the month of January!

January: Kids Dinner Calendar

To download and print the calendar, click here. 

Notes and Recipes: Numbers correspond to the dates

8.) Never heard of ham steak? I thought it sounds super bizarre when I first heard it, but another mom recommended it when I said the only meat my kids eat is the ham on Christmas. This is like one slice of ham. We get the Boar’s Head version and my kids love it.

9. ) Put drumsticks in a baking dish. Sprinkle with olive oil and then sprinkle with bread crumbs. Coo for about an hour at 375.

12.) What’s a Silly Switch Night? It’s when we have dessert first. Sounds like a terrible parenting idea, I know…. but it works for us. Honestly, they are SO excited over it that they usually eat MORE for the “dinner food” portion of the meal than they usually would. For example, I swear ANY veggie I serve on a “switch night” they all miraculously eat… It’s fun!

14.) Panko Salmon” A friend recommended this one and uses this recipe (click here).

17.) Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie: Click here for this SUPER EASY recipe and tips for serving it to both adults and picky kids.

22.) Click here for the Honey Sesame Slow Cooker Drumstick Recipe 

28.) Place a pork tenderloin in the slow cooker. Add olive oil and and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add either some balsamic vinegar or vegetable broth. Place on high and cook until it’s cooked through and shreds easily.

Did you find this helpful? Would you like more monthly kids dinner calendars?