It is no secret that we are busy people. By definition, parent’s of multiples have a lot of their plates. The day to day race of life is exhausting especially with multiple young children running around. Some days, it is all I can do to remain standing by the time the end of the day rolls around.

It is on these days that making dinner is the last thing that I want to do. It is so much easier to just pick up the phone and order a pizza or get fast food for the kids. But this really is not the healthiest of options or the cheapest. No matter how tired I am, it really is best for my family and our pocket book, if I make them a well balanced meal at home. Don’t get me wrong, we do our fair share of getting take out but its not something I want to do all the time.


So on days that I am completely exhausted and drained, I need a quick and easy go to meal that doesn’t require a whole lot of brain power. I want to open my pantry and basically have the meal handed to me.

And with a basic box of mac-n-cheese, I can have a meal for my family of six in 20 minutes.

  • Make the box of mac-n-cheese like you normally would expect don’t use the butter.
  • While the noodles are cooking brown a pound of ground beef or ground turkey.
  • Once the meat is cooked, drain off the excess fat and add one can of diced tomatoes and a small jar of pizza sauce.
  • Also add 1 tbsp of Italian Herb Mix (I like to use Mrs. Dash and if you don’t have this in your spice cupboard you can use oregano, basil, rosemary or whatever you have on hand.)
  • Once the sauce is heated through, add the mac-n-cheese and then put it in a 9×9 baking pan.
  • Sprinkle the top with cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 1o minutes or until the cheese is melted.


Serve with a salad or a vegetable and there you go. A healthy, kid friendly meal that will satisfy all in less time than it would take for pizza to be delivered.