Hi, good morning, and happy Monday! Now that summer is beginning to wind down and we are getting back to our homeschool rhythm, I’m back sharing our weekly meal plans. See all previous weekly meal plans here. I’m also tracking grocery spending again to share and don’t know how it’s possible but my kids seem to continually need more and more food. Lunches seem to show it most as those tend to be thrown together snack plates and random combos. Why are lunches so hard? This week I bought some bread and cheese and pulled out the old panini maker for easy and hot lunch entrees. Time to start feeding my sourdough starter, too!

But first, here are our recent dinners; hope they offer you some inspiration and ideas. If you have a dinner (or a lunch!) you’re loving lately, please feel free to send some inspiration back my way. Bon appetit!

Sunday

A winning dinner is always any kind of “make your own” meal. This one was a salad bar set up with grilled chicken. I pull out all our salad dressings and everyone gets what they want.

Monday

This was a fun experiment! I roasted Roma tomatoes, carrots, onion, zucchini, bell peppers, etc and then blended it in the food processor with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Then I poured it over meatballs in the slow cooker and served over penne. Lots of potential here, but need to play with it to make in a thinner consistency.

Tuesday

I love how easy this meal is- slow cooker creamy chicken burrito bowls. I throw it all in the slow cooker, make rice in the rice cooker, then pull it together with guacamole, sour cream, and chips.

Wednesday

David grilled these sirloin steaks and I roasted peewee potatoes and cauliflower- tossed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 425 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Thursday

An oldie but a goodie, this red lentil and carrot curry cooks up in less than 30 minutes and is so flavorful. I add sriracha to mine and the kids scoop theirs up with naan bread.

Friday

Whoops- forgot to snap a picture of the cocktail meatballs and spinach dip that I ate for dinner at a friend’s launch party for his new business.

Saturday

Pizza night! It’s been a while since we had one of these. Kaitlyn was in charge and made two batches of bread machine pizza dough, then topped them with pizza sauce, mushrooms, onions, pepperoni, and mozzarella. I miss my countertop herbs and will be planting a new batch of them soon!

Sunday

Chicken thighs have my vote as the most flavorful cut, and paired with lemon, oregano, and red onions in this recipe takes them to the next level. Plus, the sauce it creates… I could drink it! It goes so well over rice and with these simple lemon garlic green beans that the kids loved, too.

Odd & Ends

Resources

• Find all previous weekly meal plans here.
• Our meat comes from Butcher Box. I’ve used them for years and trust their quality and consistency.
• Fresh herbs brighten up every meal I have two countertop gardens that I grow them in: see the comparison between the two here. AHS will get you 10% off of Click & Grow.
• See what we spend each month on groceries here.
• Print off your own free weekly meal plan printable from the resource page.
• Daily Harvest offers easy frozen organic veggie-heavy heat and eat meals.
• You can find all my favorite kitchen tools here.