Coming up with dinner every.single.day. can be such a struggle. My weekly dinner plans are created to help you get one thing off your to-do list and have less stress at dinner time!
Visit the WEEKLY DINNER PLANNER archive for more meal planning ideas!
Table of Contents
Dinner Plan #32
Meal Prep Tips
These are some basic prep ideas you can do before the week starts to get ahead of the game! Do some, do them all, whatever works for you! I just barely make it to the grocery shopping part, so actual meal prep is a stretch for me personally …. but I hear it’s super-efficient 😬🤪
| Skirt Steak with Chimichurri | Make chimichurri sauce. |
| Spicy Sausage, Spinach, and Mushroom Gnocchi | – |
| California Roll Sushi Bowls | Dice cucumbers. Prepare sriracha mayo. |
| Cheesy Taco Pasta | Make meat sauce. |
| Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Peaches & Hot Honey | Cook bacon. |
Recipe Links, Side Ideas & Helpful Tips
Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
from Grandbaby Cakes
Let’s make some juicy grilled steak and chimichurri this week! Have you ever tried Chimichurri? My hubs makes one that is killer and frequently requested by friends, family, coworkers, clients… but it’s his top-secret recipe that he won’t let me share (yet, lol.) The recipe linked is pretty darn good too though.
Chimichurri is an Argentinian herb sauce used on grilled meats. And the fresh zippiness of it is FABULOUS on steak! Like everything, there are a bunch of variations, and though it’s originally used on meat, it can also be used as a marinade and/or for other foods (chimichurri potatoes are particularly delicious.)
FYI:
- Feel free to try out the delicious steak marinade listed in this recipe from Grandbaby Cakes too, but what I really want to emphasize this week is the chimichurri sauce.
- Use any cut of steak of you like, you’re not limited to flank steak. However, chimi does have a special flavor bond with grilled meats.
SIDE IDEAS:
- White rice
- Potatoes (fries, roasted, baked)
- Grilled corn
- Grilled asparagus
Spicy Sausage, Spinach, and Mushroom Gnocchi
from Table for Two
A fantastic flavorful dish that comes together in no time! Honestly, this is a keeper for weeks you know you’ll have very little time to make dinner but still want something delicious and homemade.
FYI:
- Easily sub turkey sausage for the pork sausage if you prefer.
- You can also use fresh spinach instead of frozen.
- Zucchini or peppers are a good add-in to this dish if you want to get more veggies in.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Don’t make this one complicated, you’ve got it all in one bowl.
California Roll Sushi Bowls
from Simply Homecooked
Get your sushi fix without breaking the bank. Easy at-home California Sushi Roll Bowls can be made for lunch or dinner and are also a great meal prep recipe.
FYI:
- Sushi rice – a Japanese short-grain white rice that is technically used for all sorts of rice dishes, but in America is often labeled as such for marketing purposes. “Sushi rice” is actually the method in which the short-grain rice is prepared which includes using vinegar, sugar, and salt to give it that familiar sticky consistency. If you don’t prepare it in this method, then you simply end up with regular rice. Most people don’t know that when talking about sushi rolls, you’re actually referring to rice rolls. The word sushi does not mean raw fish.
- Check out this awesome post from Just One Cookbook to easily learn step-by-step how to make perfect sushi rice.
- Seasoned Rice Vinegar – that post from Just One Cookbook also gives you the ingredients to make seasoned rice vinegar without having to buy specialty rice vinegar as posted in the original recipe from Simply Homecooked.
- Many grocery stores, Walmart, etc sell sushi rice nowadays in the rice aisle but if your local store doesn’t, you can also buy it online.
- Furikake – a mixture of seasoned sesame seeds and dried seaweed; it adds flavor, but isn’t necessary in this dish if you don’t think you’ll use it much.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Salted Edamame
- Gyoza (or potstickers or wontons)
- Quick Salted Cabbage
- Japanese Miso Eggplant
- Japanese Cucumber Salad
Cheesy Taco Pasta
from Dinner then Dessert
Cheesy Taco Pasta is one of those quintessential easy weeknight meals. This recipe is basic, quick, and comforting, reminding you of childhood (or for me, college years when Hamburger Helper was on a weekly rotation!)
FYI:
- You can also make this into a one-pot type meal by adding about a cup of water and dry pasta to your cooked meat and sauces and boiling for about 15-20 minutes.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Simple side salad
- Spanish tomato salad
- Cheesy broccoli
Grilled Chicken Sandwiches with Peaches & Hot Honey
from Two Peas and Their Pod
Because last week’s hot honey chicken is still on my mind, let’s make these INCREDIBLE grilled chicken sandwiches with peaches, grilled red onion, bacon, and … hot honey! Oh man. This one makes my mouth water just thinking about it.
FYI:
- TAKE NOTE of the instruction on cutting the red onion into wedges. It helps your onion from falling through grill grates!
- Brioche buns are also a solid choice for these sandwiches.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Fries
- Grilled corn
- Grilled squash
- Watermelon slices
- Blackberry cobbler <-love this recipe because it’s a “for 2” recipe that can easily be multiplied as needed.
- Baked peaches
Hope this helps make dinner time less stressful for you this week! If you have questions or feedback let me know in the comments or email me, I’d love to hear from you 💜
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How To Use the Meal Plans
People are typically put off by commitment but if you give yourself a guideline with the flexibility and permission to make changes as needed, you’ll be more likely to stick to it. That’s why flexible meal plans work.
I give you 5 suggestions and you pick 3-5 meals for your week. Each week I scour through my collections of recipes from a variety of amazing food bloggers, recipe sites, cookbooks and personal recipes to thoughtfully create a weekly dinner plan that is easy and delicious. Pick 3-5 of them for your week based on what works for your schedule and include days for eating out, leftovers, etc.
Use the order of the meals as a guideline. You’ll notice dinners are not listed as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. and that’s on purpose. I don’t want you to feel restricted. That sense of “I HAVE to do this” is what makes people stop meal planning. Keep things flexible and be realistic with your expectations and schedule.
Make mindful adjustments. Sometimes, you need to consider foods (i.e. meats) that need to be used by certain days. For example, if you planned on making steak fajitas on Tuesday, but now it’s Tuesday and you can’t or don’t want to, think about your ingredients for a minute. Check your steak, if the date is good til tomorrow then just make sure you make that meal tomorrow. Otherwise, throw it in the freezer and plan to make it on Friday instead (just take it out the day before to thaw.) This will become second nature as you continue meal planning.
Grocery shop for the week. Get all your groceries for the week so you have everything on hand. This will save you so much time and extra money spent on impulse purchases.
