Weekly Meal Plan July 31st - August 7th

It’s another odd week for our household. Wednesday we drive the boys to Charlotte to stay with my parents while my husband and I go to Kiawah, SC for a wedding weekend with friends - to say we are excited is an understatement, by far.

Thursday through Saturday of this coming week I don’t have to plan a thing. I’m not even planning to take anything to the beach for us - okay, maybe a batch of muffins… something simple. I have faith that we will eat, and eat well, and not have to worry.

This week we are taking advantage of the cooler weather and lighting the grill a few times, and also sticking with freezer favorites and crock pot meals for when I’m rushing around trying to pack. Wednesday night, before our night-time drive to Charlotte, we’ll have leftovers for dinner. And if there’s none, then we’ll have breakfast for dinner.

Let me explain:

Meal 1: You know by now (if you’ve been keeping up with previous meal plans) that we love the Trader Joe’s Rosemary Balsamic Beef Tips. I plan to spend some extra time to cut, marinate and kebab some veggies hoping that a fun and different way to eat them will inspire my little ones - they both seem to be on a veggie strike (but they’ve been under the weather so I’m not super concerned). Perhaps they’ll help with skewering! I’ll make a pasta salad during nap with all the farm stand tomatoes I bought, throw in some basil, balsamic dressing, and mozzarella cheese that’s about to go bad. All that with some bread and maybe fruit and we’ll be set!

Meal 2: I over-purchased veggies this week. Zucchini, squash, and eggplant to be more specific. Ratatouille is a GREAT way to use A LOT of produce. It’s typically a stew, but I like Bobby Flay’s grilled recipe. I just use it as a guide and sort-of do my own thing. I’ll marinate some chicken with a balsamic marinade I made up (recipe coming soon), and layer both the chicken and ratatouille on creamy polenta (grits). I like to make my polenta on the stove with milk and then throw in some corn kernels for texture. It’s really quick cooking - like 5 minutes.

Meal 3: Fancy Fish Sticks with tater tots, fruit, side salads, and veggies and hummus. Enough said!

Meal 4: If you don’t know The Lean Green Bean, go visit her page when you have time. It’s full of great, easy recipes and wonderful guides you can purchase for dinners and snacks. I love her “Snack Spark”. It’s full of healthy cookie, muffin, and bar recipes and has tons of suggestions for store bought snacks. Anyway, I modified her Cilantro Chicken and Rice Bowls and made my own thing based off what I had in the house. You basically combine chicken, lentils, and salsa verde in a crock pot - its delicious with tortilla chips! We’ll have it over rice with veggies, fruit, dips and chips.

Meal 5: I’m thinking we will have leftovers in the fridge to eat Wednesday night before we head out, but if we don’t… no worries! I love breakfast for dinner. It’s a meal where I become the short order cook, but I really don’t care. The boys usually have pancakes that I keep in the freezer, cereal or egg muffins and my husband and I have avocado toast with eggs. Everyone wins.

Have a great week!