Tuesday, January 18, 2022

My Simple Meal Planning Tips & Menu

I am finally feeling like I'm in a good routine again of grocery shopping, meal planning and cooking after weeks and weeks of the chaos of moving.  It was hard to get motivated to cook a big meal when life felt kind of crazy.  Most of the time I really enjoy cooking dinner for my family so it feels great to be back in this routine.  I've got some super simple tips for you that will make dinner prep seem really simple.  I also have some yummy meal ideas for you.

Tip:  Prep your proteins for the week one one day and then refrigerate until you need them.  It makes cooking go so much faster each night when you have the protein cooked and ready to add to you meal.  This week I prepped taco meat, spaghetti meat and cut up a rotisserie chicken for a few different recipes.

Tip: Prep for dinner whenever you have the time.  If that's in bulk on the weekends or in the mornings or at 4:00 when the kids are all playing nicely.  I prepped everything for taco night at 4:00 this day and popped it in the fridge.  I just pulled everything out and reheated the hot stuff for dinner at 6:00.  It worked so well!

Menu idea: Build Your Own Taco Night!  

We all built our own tacos however we wanted - a mix of soft tacos, salads and nachos.  I made homemade guacamole and some pickled red onions to make taco night seem a little more fancy.

Menu idea: Baked Chicken Fettuccine.

Cook your pasta, salt and pepper, add in the chicken and refrigerate.  About 30 minutes before dinner, add in 2 jars of your favorite alfredo sauce.  Top with your favorite cheese.  Bake until cheese is golden brown.  Yum!





I also did a spaghetti casserole.  Same process.  Just add in your favorite red sauce and it's so good!  It's probably my family's favorite way to eat spaghetti.  It reheats really well!

Tip: Buy a bag of your favorite salad mix.  It's already chopped and filled with a variety of things.  Then bulk it up with some extra lettuce and add in your favorite toppings.  It's the easiest way to end up with a big, beautiful salad.  Then let your family or guests top it with their favorite dressings.


Tip: Add something homemade to a regular meal to make it feel fancy.  Crusty bread is my go to!

Menu idea: Pulled pork, broccoli salad, fruit and loaded tator tots.  This was so good!  Everyone added their own sauce and toppings for the tots.

We've been on a salad kick.  I'll make a big family size bowl of salad to go with dinner and then we usually polish it off no problem.  We all like Italian dressing from Olive Garden so I will either toss the whole salad in that or give everyone a chance to pick their own dressing.

Menu idea: BBQ Pizza

We had some leftover pulled pork so I whipped up these really easy BBQ Naan flatbread pizzas for dinner.  We love the small Aldi Naan breads for pizza crust.  Line up all the breads on a baking sheet.  I add salt and pepper to the pieces of bread with a drizzle of olive oil.  Pop them in the oven for just a couple of minutes to warm them up.  Add cheese, BBQ meat and sauce and top with cheese.  They're delicious!  My family loved this combo - BBQ pizza, pineapple, mac & cheese from a box and a big side salad.  The kids don't love BBQ pizza so I just made them plain cheese or plain flatbread like breadsticks.


Would your family enjoy any of these?  I hope you found at least one new meal idea to try!

3 comments:

  1. Whitney, for your beautiful entryway---definitely a nice mirror. When guests arrive, the first thing they want to do is check their wind-blown hair. Works too, for when you answer the door---you'll check to be sure that you are "all together" before opening the door.
    Even better, I may have just the mirror for you---brought from Indy, but not used here at Park Place. Will contact you.

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  2. Great ideas! I just prepped our dinner while making lunch...we love "macaroni casserole" from 100 Days of Real Food cookbook because it's so versatile. I chopped up leftover ham, threw in a bag of frozen mixed veggies, and the cooked noodles. Before dinner, I'll make the cheese sauce, top with bread crumbs, and bake.

    I liked your baked alfredo and spaghetti options! We do the traditional way, or I also do crockpot meatballs in the sauce, but I haven't tried baking it. Do you add extra sauce so the noodles don't dry out?

    Also will you share your guac recipe sometime? I always just make it up as I go and it's never quite perfect, haha.

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  3. Great tips! We do a lot of bag salads and build your own taco nights!

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