Cooking for Busy Grandkids when Grandparenting is a Challenge but…Where There is a Will There is a Way
Last week, while I was on grandparenting duty, I decided I was going to create and cook some healthy meals for my grandchildren.
My son’s family has seven children, but only two are still living at home. The others have graduated from college and are working, are currently in college, or are heading off to college this fall.
That meant I became the chief cook and chauffeur! I drove my youngest granddaughter back and forth to soccer and tennis practice, while my older grandson—thankfully!—can drive himself.
For dinner, I had planned a simple summer meal: grilled chicken, fresh corn on the cob and watermelon. And if you’ve ever tasted Indiana sweet corn this time of year, you know how delicious it is!
There was just one little problem.
With school starting soon, both grandkids begged to spend time with their friends. Suddenly, my carefully planned family dinner wasn’t much of a family dinner!
Meanwhile, I had a refrigerator full of chicken breasts already marinating. I certainly wasn’t going to let all that good food go to waste, so my husband grilled every last chicken breast.
Now I had a new challenge: What was I going to do with all that leftover grilled chicken?
I started thinking about easy recipes that could use chopped or shredded grilled chicken—and discovered there are so many possibilities!
One of my favorites was Chicken Quesadillas. I used the recipe below, added a few extra ingredients, and they turned out delicious.
The funny part? We still didn’t exactly eat them together!
My 16-year-old grandson warmed up his Chicken Quesadillas when he finally got home, and my 13-year-old granddaughter ate hers for lunch the next day.
And they were both thrilled with them!
So Grandma got her healthy homemade meal into those grandkids after all—just not quite when I had planned.
I also realized that a refrigerator full of leftover grilled chicken isn’t a problem. It’s an opportunity for several more easy meals!
I’ll be sharing some of the recipes I came up with for using leftover chopped or shredded grilled chicken. I hope your family enjoys them as much as mine did.
And as for the grandkids? I’m glad they got to squeeze in a little more time with their friends before school started.
I guess where there’s a will, there’s a way! Ha!
More recipes below:
Note: I used ChatGPT for the graphics and pulling this blog together for this topic, but I also check the information carefully to ensure the health information is correct. In order to get the right answers & the development of these health blogs when using ChatGPT effectively, you must know how to pose the correct questions.
This content was generated with assistance from ChatGPT, an AI language model by OpenAI
Barbara Day, M.S., R.D. is a registered dietitian with a Master’s Degree in clinical nutrition. She is the Chief Blog Organizer for www.DayByDayLiving.net
Barbara worked as a research nutritionist with the military’s tri-service medical school collaborating with Department of Defense, National Health Institutes (NIH), and also United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Barbara worked as a performance nutrition consultant to Navy SEALS’ BUD/S Training Program and West Coast Navy SEAL Teams. Barbara is the former nutrition performance consultant to the University of Louisville Athletic Department.
She is the author of Fast Facts on Fast Food for Fast People and High Energy Eating Sports Nutrition Workbook for Active People used by the University of Louisville, University of Tennessee Lady Vols and the Tennessee football program, the LSU basketball program, the Buffalo Bills, the Cleveland Browns and by the United States Navy SEALs.
Barbara is the former publisher of Kentuckiana HealthFitness Magazine, Kentuckiana Healthy Woman magazine and radio show host of Health News You Can Use and a TV segment on the Local ABC station called Barbara’s Right Bite.
Barbara has over 50 years of experience in promoting healthy lifestyles to consumers. Barbara is a former runner who walks, a spinner, hiker, a pickleball player, a mother and grandmother to 13 grandchildren.
Barbara also serves on the Leadership Team for Moms for America as the Grammy Grizzlies National Group Leader. (www.momsforamerica.us).