Coming up with dinner every.single.day. can be such a struggle. I know so many people have a hard time coming up with ideas and hate putting together a shopping list.
Each week I create a simple meal plan and share it with you to help get one thing off your to-do list. Just get your shopping done and you’ll have ingredients and flexible meal choices ready to go for the week.
What’s a “Flexible Dinner Plan”?
Flexible dinner plans are for those who need a loose schedule of dinners so they don’t have to wonder what to make, but have the flexibility to switch things around a bit when life interrupts their plan.
I started meal planning years ago because I had a stressful job and would constantly be working late. I did not have the time or headspace to stop by the grocery store every night to pick up items for dinner and then get home and cook.
Also, when I’m hungry I get even more indecisive than I already am. Either I want allll the food. Or literally nothing sounds good. There is no in between.
And then I get hangry and things go downhill real fast.
So simple, flexible dinner plans became my thing. Rather than having a rigid 5 or 6 day meal plan that I would never stick to because, honestly, some days are just too hard to have to make dinner. And some days, I really just want some take out food. I would only plan for 3 or 4 meals per week. The other days are for leftovers, drive thrus, date nights … or just some boxed mac and cheese or ramen (because we’re not above ramen over here.)
So How Does it Work?
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 these simple 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 dinner plan that is easy and delicious. Pick 3-5 of them for your week knowing that you’ll have 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 too constricted. That sense of “I HAVE to do this” is what makes people stop meal planning. When I’m making dinners for my family, I generally go in the order of the list so [1] will be on Monday, [2] on Tuesday, etc. but I keep it open and flexible. If we don’t feel like having that particular dinner today, we switch with another day, no big deal.
Make mindful adjustments as needed. Some days, you do need to consider certain foods (particularly meats) that need to be used by certain days but once you start meal planning like this, it’ll be really easy to know how to adjust. For example, if you planned on making steak fajitas on Tuesday but now it’s Tuesday and you can’t/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 on Thursday night and put it in the fridge to thaw.) If your veggies are fresh, they’ll typically last til next week so you can also postpone that meal til then.
If you’re on my e-mail list, you’ll also get a grocery list of ingredients for all the dinners. The ingredients are color coded so you can easily delete or cross off whichever meals you don’t want to make that week. The quantity of each ingredient in the list is per the linked recipe so if you need to adjust servings, you’ll need to adjust the amount in the shopping list too.
What Can You Expect?
- Mostly quick dinners. If there’s a longer one in there it’s because you can make it on Sunday and have leftovers on a weekday.
- Realistic menu. I include basic “go-to” dinners that don’t require a recipe, like tacos or spaghetti to give you ideas without needing to follow recipes every night. We need basic to keep us sane 🙃
- Variety. I don’t want chicken three nights in a row and I assume you don’t either.
- Repurposing ingredients. Using remaining ingredients for another night this week or next week. Like when you only need 2 tbsp of parsley for a recipe but you have to buy a bunch, I’ll make another dinner this week or next week to use up more of that parsley.
- Suggestions and Tips. For add-ons, adjustments, or things to know. Read the notes under each night’s recipe in the post!
What These Meal Plans Are Not:
- Everything from scratch; I don’t have the time for that ish and I presume you don’t either.
- All clean eating, unprocessed, etc etc; I like to eat healthy-ish but I also eat for convenience and availability. Like most things, there’s a balance.
- Vegan or vegetarian; simply because we’re not and I wouldn’t be authentic and doing any justice to include things we don’t actually eat.
Weekly Dinner Plan #1
- Stuffed Shells with Breadsticks & Salad
- Lemon Grilled Chicken with Grilled Zucchini & Yellow Squash, Naan & Tzatziki
- Tacos
- Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta
- Teriyaki Pineapple Pork and Coconut Jasmine Rice
SEE BELOW for Additional Info, Add-On Suggestions, and Pinnable images for linked recipes.
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Stuffed Shells from Stress Baking
pair with Breadsticks & Salad
FYI:
*EASY LEFTOVERS* This one takes a tad longer (about an hour) so if you have time great, otherwise plan to make it on Sunday and have leftovers during the week.
Salad Ingredients in the shopping list are for a generic Italian-style salad but feel free to add or remove what you like! I include:
- Italian Salad Mix, which is chopped romaine and red cabbage
- Tomatoes
- Red Onions
- Pepperoncinis
- Black Olives
- Fresh Grated Parmesan
- Croutons
- Italian Dressing
Lemon Grilled Chicken from Diethood
pair with Grilled Zucchini & Yellow Squash
Pita or Naan with Tzatziki from The Wanderlust Kitchen
FYI:
- GRILLED VEGGIES – Substitute for any grilled veggies you like! Simply drizzle some olive oil, salt and pepper OR I like to use some of the same lemon dressing as on the chicken. Cut your squash and zucchini lengthwise into halves or quarters so they don’t fall through the grates (unless you have a veggie grater .. which I did .. until I lost it 😏.) The veggies should be ready in about the same amount of time as the chicken.
- TZATZIKI – The tzatziki I normally make is most similar to the linked recipe above with the exception that I use lemon juice instead of vinegar. I included vinegar in the shopping list to stay true to that recipe. ALSO, dill. Here’s the thing, if you’re not a fan of dill or don’t feel like buying it simply for the small amount needed for this recipe, don’t. I promise tzatziki is delicious even without the dill! I make it without dill all the time if I don’t have any on hand.
- *SHORTCUT* See if your grocery store sells pre-made tzatziki at the deli or in the dairy aisle. You can also do hummus instead (or in addition to!)
Tacos
Just some good old basic tacos! Shopping list includes sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, ground meat, and store-bought taco seasoning. Change it up as you please!
FYI:
Making your own taco seasoning is super easy. Addelyn doesn’t like spicy foods so my seasoning mix is mild. I never measure these out so this is in order from what I use most of to least.
- Garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, salt, chili powder, pepper, cayenne
Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta from The Shortcut Kitchen
FYI:
*SHORTCUT* This recipe calls for cooked and shredded chicken. To make this a quick dinner consider getting a rotisserie chicken from your grocery store and shredding it. Or you can buy ready-to-eat grilled chicken strips in the refrigerated or frozen sections.
ADD ON SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Peas
- Mushrooms
- Corn
Teriyaki Pineapple Pork and Coconut Jasmine Rice from Pinch of Yum
FYI:
- There is some marinade time involved but you can throw the pork & sauce into a dish/zip top bag in the AM. If you forget to do it (like me), don’t fret it’s still tasty. You may want to just add a little more sauce at the end.
- Don’t like/have coconut milk? Plain Jasmine, Basmati, White or Brown rice are great too!
ADD ON SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- I added red bell peppers. Edamame would be a great choice too.
And that’s it for this first week of simple meal plans! Hope this gives you the inspiration and motivation for dinner time! If you have questions or comments let me know below or email me, I’d love to hear your feedback 💜
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