Week 3 Meal Plan

Ellen Estes
Aug 8, 2020
5 min read

This week's meal plan has some of my personal favorites. For one, these meals are ridiculously easy. For two, one of them involves Zach cooking. For three, they're surprisingly good. And for four, one of them involves the kids' help, which they love! It's a win-win! I think some of these will end up in your regular rotation.

I know I said last week that I'd get better about taking pictures of my meals so you can see what they look like, but guess what? I still forgot pictures on one of the meals. I've told my family to remind me to take a picture every night when we sit down so here's to hoping that I have pictures for all the meals next week. Without further ado, the week 3 meal plan...

MONDAY: SMOKED BOSTON BUTT

We started off the week with some yummy BBQ! This is the meal that Zach made so I don't have a recipe. But you can buy pulled pork BBQ at the store pre-made and it's pretty good. Zach smoked the Boston Butt all day on Sunday and shredded the meat Sunday night so it was ready for us on Monday night. We heated up a can of baked beans to go with it. Also on Sunday night, we made corn on the cob on the grill and that heats up super easily in the microwave so dinner took maybe 10 mins to prepare on Monday. Do you ever grill corn on the cob? If not, try it! We shuck the corn, smear butter on each cob, sprinkle it with Lawry's Season Salt, and grill. It's delicious. [INGREDIENTS/GROCERY LIST: Boston butt & BBQ sauce OR pre-made pulled pork, corn on the cob, butter, Lawry's Season Salt, baked beans.]

TUESDAY: EGG ROLL IN A BOWL

This meal is a new fav of ours and can be made with pretty much any ground meat you have on hand. And remember last week when I said to buy the ingredients for the Tuna Poke Bowl because you'd be using the sauces again soon? Now's the time for those sauces to shine! We use ground turkey for this meal but you could also use ground chicken, ground beef, ground sausage, pretty much any ground meat you want. I didn't have edamame this time, but it makes a great appetizer for this meal so I'll include it in the groceries. [PREP: I didn't prep for this meal because it is THAT easy to make the night of. You can cook your ground meat ahead of time but that's pretty much it for prep. INSTRUCTIONS: 1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 1.5 tablespoons of garlic. Once it's hot, let that cook for 2-3 minutes. 2. Add ground meat and cook all the way through. 3. Once the meat is cooked, add 1 teaspoon of ground ginger, and 1/4 cup soy sauce (feel free to add more, up to 1/2 cup, if you like soy sauce), and a bag of coleslaw mix. 4. Stir the sauces, coleslaw, and meat together, sautéing for about 10 minutes or until your coleslaw is soft. 5. While that is cooking, chop the green onion. 6. Serve in individual bowls and top each bowl with green onion, a little more soy sauce, sesame seeds, spicy mayo, and a little sweet chili sauce. All of these sauces can be bought at Publix, but if your family doesn't love all of these sauces, then leave one, some, or all of them off. It's delicious either way! INGREDIENTS/GROCERY LIST: edamame, 1 lb ground turkey (or any type of ground meat), sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce, ground ginger, 1 bag cole slaw mix (or broccoli slaw mix), green onion, sesame seeds (optional), spicy mayo (optional), and sweet chili sauce (optional).]

WEDNESDAY: HOMEMADE FLATBREAD PIZZA

My kids love when this is on the menu because they get to help cook! They have so much fun making homemade pizza and this one is low carb so it's a great guilt-free option. Plus, the kids love eating it too. We love these flatbreads and use them for more than just this pizza recipe (burritos, sandwich wraps, etc). Obviously, the recipe will vary if you guys want different toppings for your pizza. We made one flatbread that was half margarita and half cheese and another flatbread that was pepperoni and sausage. [PREP: If you're making a sausage pizza, prep by browning your sausage and stick it in the fridge until the night you're ready to make pizzas. INSTRUCTIONS: 1. On a pizza stone or cookie sheet, spread a little bit of olive oil and put 2 flatbreads on the pan. Bake at 350 for 7 mins to make the crust crispy. 2. Spread pizza sauce on the flatbreads and top both with shredded mozzarella cheese. 3. On one flatbread, add shredded colby jack cheese on half and shredded basil and chopped tomato on the other half. 4. On the other flatbread, top with pepperoni and cold browned sausage. 5. Turn broil on low and bake pizzas for 7-9 minutes or until the cheese is melted. GROCERY LIST/INGREDIENTS: Flatbreads, olive oil, pizza sauce, mozzarella shredded cheese, colby jack shredded cheese (optional), basil (optional), 1 tomato (optional), pepperoni (optional), Italian sausage (optional).]

THURSDAY: RED BEANS AND RICE

This meal is so delicious. I've been making it for years- long before I was married- and now my family asks for it. My kids love it too! I make this meal more regularly during the winter because it's a warm comfort food, but my father-in-law was coming into town and it's his favorite meal. So I made it. And I'm so glad I did. It's just so yummy. And did I mention that it's a crock pot meal and requires no prep?! Plus I use frozen chopped onion instead of chopping my own (yall know I love frozen fruits and veggies that are already chopped!). It couldn't be easier. This recipe will makes a BIG pot and easily feeds 6 with some to eat for leftovers. [PREP: No weekend prep is required if you're using frozen pre-chopped onion. If you're not, you could dice your onion ahead of time, but that's about it. INSTRUCTIONS: You'll need to start this meal before you go to work or early the morning that you plan to have it. But that's probably what you expected since it's a crock pot meal. 1. Chop 2 smoked sausage links both long ways and sideways (so the sausage will be cut in half long ways and then diced). 2. In a crock pot, add 6 cans of dark red kidney beans, 1 cup of diced onion, the chopped sausage, 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce, 3 tablespoons garlic, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme, 2 bay leaves. 3. Stir. 4. Cook on low in crockpot for at least 4 hours or until you get home from work (you can't over cook this). 5. Right before serving, cook white rice according to instructions on the box. 6. Serve individual bowls of white rice and top with the bean and sausage mixture. 7. If you like Tabasco sauce, add some on top. I don't like Tabasco so I don't use it, but Zach does. You can't go wrong either way. GROCERY LIST/INGREDIENTS: 2 smoked sausage links, 6 cans of dark red kidney beans, 1 cup of diced onion, 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce, 3 tablespoons garlic, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground tyme, 2 bay leaves, white rice.]