Hello friends!
It's that time again - time to bring some JOY INTO THE KITCHEN! If you're new here, let me give you the lowdown!
I was struggling as a working mom/family, trying to get decent, delicious, nutritious & fresh meals on the table for dinner. Previous to the plan I'm about to share, I hated everything about meals. Planning them, prepping them, being creative, shopping and paying for them.
So, I've invested some time into creating a system that WORKS, and I'm here to share it! Below you will find a 7 day meal plan for the week with links to recipes and tips and tricks on how to plan, shop & prepare all of your dinners in 3.5 hours!
#1 - Start off by printing or saving the MEAL PLAN OVERVIEW. I find printing works best for our family so everyone can see what the actual "plan" is! They always look at it on Sunday night - it's actually exciting for everybody!
#2 - I like to print the recipes below, but of course if you have a method of saving them digitally, that works too! I'm old school and love working off printed recipes.
#3 - Feel free to print off my GROCERY SHOPPING LIST. I attach and staple together (in order), the GROCERY SHOPPING LIST, the MEAL PLAN OVERVIEW and all of the recipes below in the order I plan on preparing them.
Meal #1 - Pretzel Crusted Chicken Cutlets with a Hot Honey Mustard Sauce & Butter Rice
Wait for this one - it's officially been added to our FOREVER menu!
First of all, if you don't follow @sammymontgoms on IG, or her website - do that NOW! I love her for so many reasons - 1) She starts every cooking video with wine (I want to be best friends, obvi.) 2) Her meals are always fast, practical & delicious, and lastly 3) She lives in our city - which I just found out! I love what she's created!
Ok, now down to the chicken! Super fast, beyond juicy and tender! The sauce takes it over the top - you can adjust the spice to your own liking. We cooked ours in the air fryer and it was total perfection! Paired with a simple rice and some fresh veggies on the side - I promise you won't be disappointed!
Pretzel Crusted Chicken Recipe
PRINT Pretzel Crusted Chicken Cutlet Recipe
PRINT Garlic Butter Rice Recipe
Meal #2 - Glory Bowls
This is another what I thought was "a fire hall recipe", but once I Googled it, lol - I guess it's a thing! Either way - "bowl meals" happen at our house at least once a week. The main reason I love them is everything is easy to prep beforehand (have the sauces pre made, veggies and protein cut up and ready to cook). I also like that each family member can customize their own meal with the toppings they love. The tahini sauce is a nice change from most other sauces we usually prepare.
Meal #3 - Slow Cooker Roast Beef, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Caesar Salad
Take me back home! This is straight from my childhood - every week (well not caesar salad, that was too fancy for our family) - but straight up meat and potatoes ALL the time!
On my meal prep day, I peel and dice the potatoes and throw them in a bowl with salt and garlic and then just pour them into the pot when we need them - I love the ability to prep this. The evening before we're having roast beef, I prepare it in the crock with the seasonings and store it in the fridge. Whip it into the heated crock pot in the morning and come home to a meal that is 95% ready to go!
And the roast beef recipe isn't much of one haha - I throw it in the crock, jab holes in the meat and stuff full garlic cloves all around (about 5 or 6), mix onion soup mix with a bit of beef broth and pour over the beef. That's it!
For the caesar salad, I love healthy alternatives when I can - this recipe is the best one I've found that doesn't "taste" healthy lol...but let's be honest - in a pinch - dressing straight from the jar works too!!!
PRINT Garlic Mashed Potato Recipe
Meal #4 - Creamy Potato Gnocchi with Shrimp
In the little city I live in, an Italian market opened up a few years ago - and my kids forced me to buy gnocchi - I had never tried it before. Well......once I tried it, I realized my life was now complete! It's filling and yummy and soul filling!
This recipe is an absolute hit - cheesy and creamy and fresh all in one pot. We add some basic garlic butter shrimp on the side for protein, but you really could add anything you want - it's a very versatile recipe when it comes to the protein.
Your family will go wild for this - kids and adults!
PRINT Creamy Potato Gnocchi Recipe
Meal #5 - Ham with Garlic Parmesan Couscous
Ham is such a wonderful protein for our family. We love the flavour, it's affordable, amazing for leftover meals, and SO easy to make. It's also a nice substitute from the normal chicken & beef routine.
Once again - there's no official "recipe" for this one. We throw a ham in a roaster, add 1 cup of sprite and 1 cup of orange juice in the bottom, rub the ham with brown sugar and pour warm honey over top! We've done it in the crock pot and the oven - both work well! Most hams are pre-cooked, so you can put it on low for the day while you're at work, or a few hours in the oven at 350 degrees. I did add a link to an official slow cooker ham below if you want some concrete measurements!
Again, trying to make things interesting in the kitchen and at the table, couscous is such an easy way to switch up the carbs. It's a full proof side that is extremely fast to whip up!
PRINT Garlic Parmesan Couscous
Meal #6 - Healthy McChicken Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries
I'm coming clean. I love everything McDonalds, like everything. Filet of Fish is weird to me, but I'd probably eat it in a pinch lol!
So...to find a healthy version of anything McDonalds is my jam! And this didn't disappoint! I prepped the burgers on Monday and threw them in the freezer since they weren't planned until the weekend! So simple and easy - throw them in the oven and you have a quick, healthy dinner!
Sweet potato fries are a staple in our house. Every Monday I cut up a full container of sweet potatoes and the girls eat them as snacks morning, noon and night! They throw a little oil and seasoning on them, whip them up in the air fryer for 12-15 minutes and dip them in Mayoracha (I'm not certain, but I think Mayoracha has minus 10% of nutrition, but it's damn good)!
This recipe adds a little cornstarch to get the extra crisp! Not necessary, but does help!
Healthy McChicken Burgers Recipe
PRINT Healthy McChicken Burger Recipe
Meal #7 - BBQ’d Perogys & Sausage
Here's a recipe-less meal - it's so simple and delicious! And before I get blasted - according to Google there's 17 ways to spell perogy/perogie/pierogie - so don't hold the version I went with against me lol! You get the idea!!!
Every summer our family vacations with our best friend group in Idaho (insert insane amounts of fun), and each family is responsible for one days worth of meals. And....this is ours! This year I'm also doing Big Mach Smash Tacos for lunch from the last weeks meal plan - so easy for a big group, and fun for the kids!
The perogys are insane on the bbq! It totally adds a different element and honestly, I prefer them in the summer over the boiled/fried ones we do in the cooler months! It's SOOO easy - they are crispy and seasoned on the outside and perfectly creamy on the inside!!! Trust me on this one!!!
I don't have an official recipe for the perogys - classic mom! But here's how you do it....tinfoil pan, slather butter on the bottom, throw in frozen perogys, add more butter, salt & pepper (did I mention butter yet), cover with tinfoil, and throw on the BBQ for about 30 minutes! You will have the most amazing, crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside perogys. Serve with all the sides - sour cream, salsa, cheese, green onions!
Sausage is tricky for me - I don't like sausage that has "nuggets" (you know, that crunchy and grissly, mysterious item that you get every once in a while) - ok, maybe it's just me? BUT, I LOVE the Harvest Sausages you can get at Costco. I also LOVE Kielbasa - so whatever your family likes is perfect here! Throw on the grill next to the perogys and you have a delicious meal ready in 20 ish mins (and NO prep).
OK, that's IT! I hope you find some new family fave recipes in this post that help to bring more joy in your kitchen and your family meals!
If this was helpful, or if you try these recipes, please leave a comment below! It's so helpful to know what recipes you love and what content helps you in this crazy journey called LIFE!
Sending you lots of love! xoxo
Leanne
