Hello and good MONDAY morning! I’m shifting to sharing these meal plan recaps on Mondays, but remember you can access dinner ideas anytime in the archive.

Last week kind of got away from me. There are a lot of theoretical balls in the air right now, which has me more intwined with life within my four walls. Fortunately it’s good stuff, but just a lot that needs to be figured out on a timeline, and somehow it’s APRIL already. (!)

Sunday

Kaitlyn had been asking to be in charge of dinner one night, and Sunday was it. The previous week she picked her meal, made her grocery list, and went with me to shop for her meal with her own cart. She cooked it on her own with sous chef mom’s help to drain the pasta and pull the heavy dish out of the oven, but otherwise, it was all her. We even made a reel about it!

She made Gus Gus’ Mac ‘n Cheeseburger from her Disney Princess Cookbook. It’s still a favorite after all these years!

Monday

I marinated steak in a honey chili lime marinade for about 30 minutes while I prepped the rest of the meal: cauliflower rice on the stove with a can of drained black beans mixed in at the end, romaine, sauteed onions and bell peppers, and chopped cilantro. Then I cooked the sliced steak stovetop and set up the assembly line for everyone to make their own.

Tuesday

Super simple chicken thighs. I seasoned with a premade blend under and over the skin, then baked at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. I served it with a salad and rice made with Kettle and Fire’s Turmeric Ginger bone broth in the rice cooker.

Wednesday

It had been way too long since I made this soup and I won’t make that mistake again. This sausage, kale, and white bean soup is simple but truly so full of flavor! We, kids included, devoured this with a loaf of fresh sourdough.

Thursday

Thursday was packed full and we were out until 8, so we grabbed dinner at Barcelona Burger in downtown Mooresville. They have great burgers, but the chicken is so good, too, especially with whatever that slightly spicy green sauce is that they serve with it!

Friday

Another packed day and a nighttime soccer game meant grabbing dinner out again. We ate at Ghost Scratch Kitchen, which I would have told you was one of my favorites. However, the Nashville Hot chicken and the bread that came with the whipped feta was deeply fried and super greasy. Neither mine nor David’s stomachs felt right for at least 12 hours after eating it.

Saturday

We hosted friends for “make your own pizza” night. I set up a topping bar, made three batches of bread machine pizza dough, and everyone topped their own. The kids loved it and I loved the Fresh Chef kale salad that Danielle brought to go with it.

Sunday

This brings us full circle to another Sunday- steak night! I used Butcher Box sirloins and the best dang steak method– delicious. Served with baked potatoes (I topped my with cottage cheese because I’m trying to get in more protein anddddd we ran out of sour cream) and steamed broccoli with lemon and butter.

Breakfasts and Lunches

Lots of sourdough, snack plates, and yogurt bowls for the most part. Lunches are my nemesis so most of the time it’s leftovers or snack plates.

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.
• 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.