3 Types of Dinners That Are Perfect for Moving Week

Moving into a new home is an exciting, albeit exhausting, venture. Between unboxing, organizing, and getting acclimated to your new surroundings, cooking elaborate meals might be the last thing you want to deal with.

Thankfully, there are plenty of easy and convenient options that still taste great.

The Challenges of Feeding Your Family During Moving Week

Moving to a new house or apartment is exciting. There’s a certain sense of freshness and novelty to it all – the feeling that something better is on the horizon. But it can also be stressful. Getting settled takes real physical effort and mental energy.

It might sound silly to someone who doesn’t have much experience moving, but one of the more frustrating hurdles is cooking. In the middle of trying to pack up, navigate the logistics of moving, unpack, and get organized, it’s difficult to find the energy to prepare a meal. (And you don’t always have the time or money to do pick up or delivery.) On top of all of this, your kitchen utensils always seem to be packed away in that one box you can’t locate.

Simplify and plan ahead. When it comes to moving, reducing stress for the whole family is crucial. You don’t need to cook an elaborate meal and you don’t need to pack up your entire house in one day. With a little planning, you can combine simple meal ideas for the week with a less stressful moving solution like portable storage so you don’t have to tackle everything all at once. This approach ensures a smoother and more relaxed moving experience.

3 Types of Dinners Perfect for Moving Week

Every family is different. If you’re a single guy trying to build muscle mass, your meals are going to look a lot different than if you’re a mom with toddlers looking for something healthy that kids will actually eat. With that being said, here are some general categories and ideas to think through:

1. One-Pan Wonders

A one-pan meal is exactly what it sounds like. It requires a single pan, cutting down on the number of dishes and utensils you need, which is ideal when you’re still trying to unpack boxes.

Here are some very easy one-pan meal recipe ideas:

• One-Pan Chicken and Veggies: For this recipe, all you need are chicken breasts, assorted vegetables like bell peppers, onions, and cherry tomatoes, olive oil, and your preferred seasoning. Toss everything onto a roasting pan and bake until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the vegetables are tender.
• Skillet Pasta Primavera: This dish requires pasta, a variety of fresh or frozen vegetables, garlic, olive oil, and grated Parmesan cheese. Cook everything together in a large skillet until the pasta is al dente and the vegetables are cooked to your liking. Finish it off with a sprinkle of cheese.
• One-Pan Taco Skillet: With ground meat (like turkey or beef), canned beans, corn, taco seasoning, and cheese, you can whip up a filling taco skillet. You can serve it with tortillas, over rice, or alone.

2. Fuss-Free Slow Cooker Recipes

A slow cooker, also known as a crockpot, is the very definition of convenient. You just toss in your ingredients, wait a few hours, and it’s ready. Not only do slow cooker meals taste good, but they also make your place smell incredible.

Here are a few slow cooker favorites:

• Slow Cooker Chili: This classic dish is warm, comforting, and highly nutritious. Using ground meat (such as beef or turkey), canned beans, diced tomatoes, and a mixture of spices, you can prepare a hearty chili that will serve you for multiple meals.

• Slow Cooker Vegetable Curry: A mix of vegetables, canned coconut milk, curry paste, and a few additional spices make this dish an easy, nutritious, and vegan-friendly option. It’s best served over rice or with warm naan bread.

• Slow Cooker Italian Chicken: This meal only requires chicken breasts, a bottle of your favorite Italian dressing, and some vegetables of choice. The slow cooker will do all the work to infuse the chicken with a savory Italian flavor.

3. Freezer Meals

As long as you have kitchen appliances set up at your new place when moving in, you can cook and freeze certain meals ahead of time. Then, all you have to do is take them out of the freezer, pop them in the oven, and enjoy.

Everyone has favorite recipes so we won’t give you any specifics here. But lasagna, soup, and casseroles are great frozen meals. If you want to get fancy, try stuffed bell peppers. These can be filled with a mixture of cooked meat, rice, and vegetables, then frozen. They can go directly from the freezer to the oven when you’re ready to eat.

Stop Stressing, Keep Moving

Moving is stressful enough. Don’t make it more stressful by worrying about what you’re going to eat. Make moving week more convenient by prioritizing simplicity above all else.