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 #2
- Pot Roast with Veggies and Potatoes
- Apricot Balsamic Chicken with Green Beans and Potatoes
- Crispy Baked Shrimp with Pasta and Sauce
- Biscuits and Gravy Casserole
- Pan Fried Chicken Cutlets with Mashed Potatoes and German Cucumber Salad
SEE BELOW for Additional Info, Add-On Suggestions, and Pinnable images for linked recipes.
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Pot Roast with Veggies and Potatoes from Dinner then Dessert
FYI:
- LONG COOK TIME/ SLOW COOKER OPTION AVAILABLE – Not much active time, but a good while for cooking the meat low and slow. If you work from home this one is easy to get going after lunch time and then just let it slowly cook and do it’s thing during the afternoon. Otherwise it could be a good weekend choice or to make in your slow cooker (slow cooker version linked in that recipe.)
Apricot Balsamic Chicken with Green Beans from Hello Fresh
with Fingerling Potatoes (or Almond Rice Pilaf)
FYI:
- CHICKEN STOCK CONCENTRATE – I use Better Than Bouillon Roasted Chicken Base. The recipe lists “1 unit” since this is from the Hello Fresh kits. I don’t recall how much was in the actual kit but when I’ve remade it on my own, I use about 1 teaspoon.
- You can also substitute for a 1/2 cup of chicken broth or stock for similar results.
- THYME – side note: please don’t feel the need to weigh your thyme for the ounces mentioned. Just use a few sprigs and you’re good!
SUBSTITUTE:
- FINGERLING POTATOES – Consider making this dish with Rice or Rice Pilaf. The roasted fingerling potatoes are delicious and this is what I kept in the grocery list, HOWEVER, I’ve also made this with a box of Far East Rice Pilaf with Toasted Almonds and it’s an equally good side dish with less prep work. Besides, we’re having potatoes two other nights so you might want to consider switching it up.
- If you don’t want to turn the oven on just for the Green Beans, steam them in the microwave or put them into the pan at the same step as the shallots.
Crispy Baked Shrimp with Linguini and Sauce
FYI:
The recipe is only for the shrimp but it’s perfect for a quick and simple dinner on top of pasta. And what’s better is it’s totally customizable!
STEPS:
- Get your oven started preheating & some water boiling for pasta.
- Bread the shrimp (if using frozen, get those into a bowl with water running on them before you start getting everything else out and ready. They should be defrosted in about 10 minutes.)
- Shrimp into the oven, pasta into the water.
- Drain pasta, add sauce, place into bowls.
- Take out shrimp, top onto pasta.
Dinner Done!
SAUCE SUGGESTIONS:
Honestly, just about any sauce would pair well with this (except a meat sauce.) I typically used jarred sauces for convenience but you could also make it homemade if you wish!
- Classic Tomato Sauce
- Spicy Red Pepper Sauce
- Vodka Sauce
- Alfredo
- Pesto
ADD ON SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- With Red or Green Sauce: Broccoli, Zucchini, Eggplant, Roasted Peppers, Spinach
- With White Sauce: Mushrooms, Peas, Roasted Peppers
ADDITIONAL SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
Need to stretch out the meal? Add a salad, breadsticks, or a side of veggies like broccolini, or zucchini and yellow squash.
Biscuits and Gravy from Family Fresh Meals
Breakfast for dinner!
FYI:
- The recipe shows 8 servings but when we eat this for dinner we have nice big hearty comforting portions 😬 so it ends up being about 4-5 servings. You could stretch it out with some sides though.
- Easily swap for Breakfast Turkey Sausage
ADDITIONAL SIDE SUGGESTIONS: (not included in shopping list)
- Scrambled or Fried Eggs
- Side Salad
Pan Fried Chicken Cutlets with Mashed Potatoes
and German Cucumber Salad from Cooktoria
BASIC DINNER:
- This is what I call a “basic dinner” – no recipe needed. We’re just adding a refreshing, creamy, easy cucumber salad to serve on the side. Otherwise, make pan fried chicken cutlets and mashed potatoes whatever way you normally would. You’ll notice typical items listed on the grocery list for the chicken and potatoes but as always, adjust as needed!
- DILL – This is a good recipe to use up leftover dill from last week’s meal plan
SHORT CUT:
- Maybe your grocery or deli store sells ready-to-cook breaded chicken cutlets and mashed potatoes. Dinner could be ready within 15 minutes!
- You can either plan to have this at the beginning of the week or pick up the two items the day you plan to make them. If you grocery shop on Sunday, the chicken would normally be good to make the following day, but always check the cook by date when purchasing to be sure.
Week 2 of simple meal plans is done! 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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