A Weekly Meal Plan {02}

We had a crazy week recently where Mark was working 12+ hour days towards a deadline, so when I did our meal planning I picked out a full week's worth of recipes we've already tried and know we enjoy (and could prepare with minimal time and effort). Since these recipes have withstood the test of time in our house, I thought it would be a good meal plan to share here on the blog as well.

This particular meal plan was a bit chicken-centric, but that's because I had a bag of frozen chicken breasts on hand. We often add chicken to other dishes like pasta and stir-fry, and in those cases we usually split one large breast between the two of us. This saves money and stretches the bag of chicken even further. I think I ended up spending only $68 or so this week on groceries (though I did already have a lot of items like tortilla and pasta on hand, which was an additional factor in picking these particular recipes).

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Monday: One-Pot Creamy Garlic Angel Hair Pasta with Grilled Chicken
This is a super simple recipe that reminds me of those Pasta-Roni boxes that I used to eat in college, minus all the preservatives. This time I used whole milk instead of cream, but I did have to adjust the other liquids accordingly so it wasn't too runny. It's great with either grilled chicken or garlic shrimp. I do wish I would have had some broccoli as a side dish/mix-in to make it a little healthier ;)

Tuesday: Mango Black Bean Quinoa (with jalapeño chicken sausage instead of beans)
I've made this many times per the recipe, but Mark doesn't LOVE black beans so I swapped them out for Trader Joe's Jalapeño Chicken Sausage this time. I also added a little lime juice and honey to the dressing. It made enough for leftovers, though the diced onion got a little bit strong and stinky overnight in the fridge.

Wednesday: Pan-Fried Cod with Bacon Brussel Sprouts Salad
For the salad I used Trader Joe's Cruciferous salad blend (it worked fine) and apple cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar (that just makes more sense flavor-wise in my head). Fresh diced apples would actually make a nice addition to the salad. The cod breading was a new recipe and I felt it was okay but needed more salt and spice.

Thursday: Spicy Kale-Coconut Stir Fry with Grilled Chicken
A staple recipe that I've made about a hundred times. It's really tasty and not too spicy despite the name. It works with almost any kind of meat protein—chicken, pork tenderloin, pork belly, and shrimp are all varieties we've tried, as well as vegetarian per the recipe. I usually make it with freshly-made rice, but it works even better with leftover/previously-cooked rice. I used half a bag of Trader Joe's kale for this, and the other half I used in the pesto later in the week.

Friday: Out to Podnah's Pit BBQ for Mark's belated birthday dinner
Mark had the meat sampler plate and I had the cornmeal fried catfish special. So good!

Saturday: Sweet Potato and Bean Enchiladas (casserole-style)
This is another recipe I've made many times, but we now make it more like a lasagna than enchiladas by cutting the tortillas into strips and layering the filling, salsa, and cheese between tortilla layers. It just saves you the time of having to roll the tortillas and makes the process a touch quicker. Corn and flour tortillas both work. Again, Mark doesn't love black beans, so I often use chickpeas instead, and it tastes fine provided you like chickpeas :)

Sunday: Kale-Pistachio Pesto with Brown Rice Pasta and Grilled Chicken
This is a tasty variation of pesto, particularly for me since I'm not a huge fan of basil. I think toasting the pistachios makes a big difference. For gluten-free pasta, I've been enjoying Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice Fusilli (the one in the blue bag).

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Check out my previous meal plan here, and if you're interested in more of the recipes I've tried and (mostly) liked, I have a Pinterest board where I put all the dishes I've made and what I thought of them.