Weekly Menu

Ever wish you had a cheat sheet for meal planning? Meal planning is part of my normal weekly routine. I typically enjoy it, but it can definitely be a bit of a chore. Sometimes I just wish that I had a little menu to help me out. So today I am posting a week of dinner plans that you can use as a cheat sheet. If you like this kind of post, please drop a comment below so that I know. If I get positive feedback I will keep these types of posts coming.

First, the menu…

Monday: Burrito Bowls

One of our favorites, these Slow Cooked Pork Burrito Bowls are great on the day of, fantastic as leftovers, and you can even freeze leftover meat to save for a meal later in the month. The meat is great served as a burrito bowl on rice or lighten it up by serving it on greens. It tastes great in both hard and soft shell corn tortillas, and if you have access to low sodium flour tortillas it is wonderful in those as well. Pro tip: Serve this to a crowd; it is easy for each individual to add ingredients to suit their diet and tastes (including salty ingredients like cheese and salsa for those who can).

Tuesday: Chicken Schwarma

We frequently eat the Grilled Chicken Shawarma with Garlic Yogurt from SkinnyTaste. It is fairly simple to prepare, is bursting with flavor, and is great leftover. Just watch out for the inevitable garlic breath. We serve this with cous cous, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, and grilled red onion. Pro tip: Do not skip the grilled red onion; it balances the other flavors perfectly.

Wednesday: Spaghetti & Meatballs

Make Easy Baked Meatballs, and cook them in your favorite marinara sauce. You can either make your own or buy a jar of no salt added marinara (Trader Joe’s is our favorite, but we can rarely get it so we settle for what we can find). I occasionally make the sauce from my Simply Lasagna recipe, but most frequently, I use 1/2 cup of the Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (which I make ahead and freeze), with 1 box of Pomi tomatoes, and a generous tablespoon of Frontier Co-Op Pizza Seasoning. Pro tip: Make the meatballs ahead if you can. They freeze well (both raw and frozen).

Thursday: Teriyaki Chicken

I serve this Grilled Teriyaki Chicken with whatever veggie is in season and on hand, with a side of rice. Pro tip: Try coconut rice. To make coconut rice, simply replace half of the water with unsweetened coconut milk and cook the rice according the package instructions. It goes great with this and other Asian-inspired dishes.

Friday: Burgers & Fries

Grill hamburgers and either serve wrapped in lettuce (our favorite) or on 45-Minute Dinner Rolls. As a side, add these Easy Baked Fries or Sheet Pan Home Fries. No pro tip for burgers, they are basic and I love it that way!

Finally, a couple of meal prep tips…

Leftovers! Leftovers! Leftovers!

We rely on leftovers for our lunches throughout the week. It makes life easier (and cheaper than eating out!). I have three overarching tips for leftovers:

• Prep food that is good leftover, especially for meals early in the week. Some foods are just better leftover than others. For example, I don’t like eating leftover fish, so I won’t cook fish on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday because those are the days where I really want to create leftovers for the work week. I will, however make tacos because I can happily eat a leftover taco salad for several days.
• Prep extra food for leftovers, especially for meals early in the week. Instead of using a pound of ground beef for your tacos, you might need a pound and a half or two pounds. Just be thoughtful as you are buying groceries and prepping.
• Pack up single serve lunches immediately after dinner. When you are putting your food away after dinner, pack it in single-serve containers for easy grab-and-go lunches on busy weekday mornings. This is a lifesaver, especially if you are meticulous about portion sizes (it can take much more time to weigh/measure portions).

Use your weekends

Many meals can benefit from some prep time on the weekends. You can use time on the weekend to chop onions and other veggies; mix, form, and freeze meatballs; make mashed potatoes; or make marinara sauce. Taking this time on the weekend will allow you to throw together really great meals on a weeknight with minimal effort.