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 #33
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 đŹđ€Ș
| Salmon Salad Bowl with Stone Fruit Salsa | Make marinade for salmon. Make Lemon vinaigrette. Shred kale. Cook quinoa. (Make enough for the Butternut Squash skillets too!) Dice peaches, red onion, and jalapeño. |
| Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Honey Mustard Coleslaw | Prepare chicken coating. Make honey mustard coleslaw (up to 2 days ahead.) Slice jalapeños and red onions. |
| Garlic and Herb Baked Cod | Chop parsley and basil. |
| Butternut Squash and Chicken Sausage Skillet | Cook quinoa. Peel and dice butternut squash. Cook butternut squash. Dice onion. Chop sausage. Chop kale. |
| Spicy Italian Crescent Roll Stromboli | – |
Recipe Links, Side Ideas & Helpful Tips
Salmon Salad Bowl with Stone Fruit Salsa
from What’s Gaby Cooking
Deliciously fresh and flavorful, this salmon salad bowl with sweet, juicy peaches is a perfect meal to round out the end of summer.
FYI:
- MARINATING TIME REQUIRED >> 2 Hours. As always, this is for âbest resultsâ but if youâre pressed for time, get 30 minutes in and youâll still have decent flavor.Â
- Kale. This recipe calls for âDinosaurâ kale while the Butternut Squash Skillet calls for âTuscanâ kale. If youâre unfamiliar, theyâre the same thing! If your store sells large or double bunches of kale, just save 4-6 stems for the skillet recipe and the bulk of the kale for this salad.Â
Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Honey Mustard Coleslaw
from Kitchen Sanctuary
If you’ve never made your own crispy chicken sandwiches, you must try these! Perfectly crispy and juicy chicken topped with cool, creamy, tangy coleslaw. YUM!!
FYI:
- MARINATING TIME REQUIRED >> Min. 1 Hour up to Overnight. In this instance, the buttermilk helps tenderize the chicken and make it extra tender and juicy. If you donât have time to marinate before dinner, get this prepped the night before. If you forget, donât fret, youâre dinner isnât ruined. Again, itâs a good/better/best scenario.
SIDE IDEAS:
- Tator tots
- Sweet potato fries
- Watermelon
- Corn on the cob.
Garlic and Herb Baked Cod
from Lauren’s Latest
An easy peasy dinner that comes together in no time. I love to make this with a box of Near East garlic and olive oil pearled couscous and steamed broccoli for a simple dinner everyone loves.
FYI:
- Mayo. If youâre one of those crazy people that doesnât like mayo, Iâve heard people try this with greek yogurt and claim they like it. I personally refuse to waste fish trying it đ. If you donât like mayo, Iâd suggest mixing the herbs with softened butter instead.Â
SIDE IDEAS:
- Garlic mashed potatoes
- Garlic and olive oil couscous
- Fried okra
- Side salad
- Roasted asparagus
- Lemon rice
Butternut Squash and Chicken Sausage Skillet
from Greens & Chocolate
Not only does this dish look BEAUTIFUL, but it’s also hearty, healthy, and full of flavor! A perfect combination of sweet and salty in one delicious bowl! And it’s a great choice for make-ahead lunches for the week.
FYI:
- A Note on the Cooking Time. So this recipe lists a 1 Hour cooking time, but I *think* they were combing all the times separately. In reality, you would have your squash in the oven, quinoa in a pot, and sautĂ©ed stuff in a pan simultaneously, cutting your cook time down to about 35 minutes.Â
- Time saver: Fresh or Frozen pre-cut butternut squash is a big prep-time saver.
- Use it Up! Use up the saved kale from the salmon salad for this recipe. (If you donât have a full 4 cups, itâs fine.)
Spicy Italian Crescent Roll Stromboli
from Graceful Little Honeybee
A great way to end the week with a simple, fun take on stromboli. You’d normally see stromboli with pizza dough, but the flaky buttery crescent roll dough is a nice light alternative that pairs really well with the spicy cheesy fillings.
FYI:
- Do the âOPTIONALâ step listed, it shouldnât be optional đ
- I like to serve this with some marinara sauce for dipping.Â
SIDE IDEAS:
- Caesar salad.
- Sautéed garlic broccolini.
- Balsamic tomatoes.
- Carrot sticks and ranch.
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 đ
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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.
