Weekly Meal Plan

Thankfully I have a 4-year-old who will eat almost anything (or at the very least try new things). I am a big believer in introducing as many kinds of foods as possible to my kids, not to mention I just like to try new things. So really, by default, my family kind of has to try new things. Here are the meals I cooked recently:

Loaded Steak Nachos 

[recipe from Delightful-E-Made]

This meal was a winner with everyone in our family. It was a quick and easy mid-week meal. Daniel had to eat it rewarmed because he worked late, but it still tasted good reheated in the oven an hour later.

BBQ Salmon and Crispy Chickpea Salad

[recipe from How Sweet It Is]

Jack is rarely interested in soups or salads, so for him I typically make a deconstructed version of our meal. In the case of this meal I let him skip the salad part and served it with a side of rice along with the corn and roasted chickpeas. 

The salmon had a pretty strong BBQ rub on it, so I was surprised that Jack gobbled it up. Daniel and I both really enjoyed the combination of flavors in this dish.

Mexican Tortilla Casserole
[recipe adapted from A Cup of Jo] 

For a twist on Taco Tuesday, I made this Mexican Tortilla Casserole and it was a hit. I made it to share with a friend and it was easy enough to double the recipe at the time of assembly. Instead of doubling the beans, I chose to add browned ground beef instead. This dish works great as leftovers.

Rotini With Butternut-Sage Sauce
[recipe adapted from A Cup of Jo]

When making this dish I decided to add crumbled sausage for some extra protein. Also since Isaac is in the beginning stages of learning to eat, I saved some of the pureed butternut squash and onions for him to have separate from the pasta. He ate a decent amount but made a face every time I spooned it into his little mouth!

This dish is a healthier version of homemade Mac-N-Cheese. The pureed squash serves as the sauce instead of cheese. I barely noticed that there was no cheese in this dish and Jack gobbled it up without a second thought.

Naan Personal Pizzas

So this recipe was a repeat from a couple of weeks ago. This time I used Naan bread instead of Pita. I think I prefer the Pita. Both are delicious though. I chopped up mushrooms as small as I could before sauteing them, in an effort to sneak them onto the pizza. Both Daniel and Jack noticed. You win some, you lose some. 

This meal is great if you need to make something quickly (plus it is easy to customize). I actually ran out of cheese and had to grate little packets of cheese – oops!

Chai Latte 
[recipe from Live Simply]

I recently dug out an espresso machine that I received for Christmas several years ago. I have been treating myself to daily lattes. I decided to try out a Chai Latte in my machine. It worked out fairly well – I just placed the tea bags and spices in my coffee filter and then steamed my milk as usual. It turned out pretty well. The linked recipe tells you how to make this drink on the stove top without an espresso machine.

Menu Monday

I just started to spell Monday as Munday... either I have too much on my plate or I am losing my mind just a little.

I actually have quite a few projects going on right now. Hopefully I won't completely forget how to spell in the course of meeting deadlines over the next couple of weeks!

Monday: Toasted Sesame Ginger Chicken served with a side of Rice and a Salad {the salmon was so good last week, that I thought I would try this recipe again, but with Chicken}.

 

Tuesday: Grilled Steak with Roasted Garlic Brussel Sprouts

Wednesday: Barbacoa Burritos using leftovers from last week's Burrito Bowls
 

Thursday: Grilled Garlic Dijon Herb Chicken with Rice and a side Salad {using Gina's Skinny Tastes recipe for salmon}.
 

Friday: Date Night

Saturday: Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Pizza {recipe from How Sweet It Is}

Sunday: We are getting together with our class from church. I will be taking a dessert, though I haven't decided what yet. A strong contender is this recipe for Girl Scout Cookie Tagalong Cake Bars from Kevin and Amanda.

Menu Monday

I am a very laid-back, go with the flow, kind of gal. But I am also a notorious planner and list maker. Always have been, always will be. 92% of the time, I stick to my menu plan {we break the plan for impromptu social outings with friends or if I am not feeling up to cooking}. As for my grocery list, if it's not on the list, I'm not buying it. This drives my husband crazy when he happens to shop with me – he inevitably finds something not on the list and I will put my foot down {unless it is a need and not a want}. I try not to be too much of a dictator, but the meal planning and grocery list making has helped us to be consistent with our spending for nearly a decade now.

Monday: Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon {recipe from How Sweet It Is} with Rice and Asparagus
 

Tuesday: Homemade Sausage, Bell Pepper and Olive Pizza {using the Garlic Bread Crust recipe from How Sweet It Is}
 

Wednesday: Barbacoa Burrito Bowls {recipe from Gina's Skinny Recipes}
 

Thursday: Date Night
 

Friday-Sunday: Hubby is on his own {probably leftovers} as me and the baby head to the city to hang out with my sister and her family {and to do a little consignment sale shopping}.

My parents will be in town for the next couple of days, so I am also planning on making Pioneer Woman's Blueberry Baked French Toast but with a twist... I think I am going to use bananas instead of blueberries. This one of my favorite recipes, so I hope the bananas don't ruin it.

I will also be making my favorite Peach Cobbler for dessert tonight {recipe from Pink Parsley}. Hopefully the leftovers will last us a couple of nights.

Cheesy Chicken, Spinach and Orzo Casserole

This dish was going to be a vegetarian meal based on the Three Cheese Orzo and Spinach Dish by How Sweet It is. But Daniel complained about the number of times we have ate meatless dishes this week, so I decided to tweak the recipe and add chicken. The end result was a rating of 4.8/5 stars from Daniel. We are big fans of orzo, so I need to find more recipes that include this pasta.

Cheesy Chicken, Spinach and Orzo Casserole

serves 2-4

Ingredients

1 cup orzo pasta

2 cups water

2 tbsp chicken stock

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 chicken breast, diced

1/4 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 cup Fiesta style cheese (or whatever you have on hand)

1 6-ounce bag of spinach

Directions

Boil water and chicken stock. Add orzo and cook for 9 minutes.

Meanwhile heat a skillet on medium heat and add olive oil. 

Saute the onions and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. 

Add chicken breast to the onion/garlic mixture and cook until browned, about 7 minutes.

Add the spinach and cooked orzo, cooking until spinach wilts.

Finally, stir in the cheese, mixing until melted and combined.

This is great comfort food.