Week 5 Meal Plan

I’ve got some yummy meals for you this week! Four yummy meals, in fact. We had the first one on Sunday night, but it was so yummy that I decided to share it. And one of my meals this week is spaghetti, but with a special ingredient! Read more below. Also, Zach’s favorite weeknight meal was this week. I think it will surprise you. So here we go!

SUNDAY: GRILLED CHICKEN THIGHS

This chicken marinade is SOOOOO YUMMY! Plus, it’s really 3 meals in one. We had it for dinner on Sunday night, then I put it in a Caesar salad for lunches on Monday, and then I used it for our dinner Monday night. The moral of the story is to buy the biggest package of fresh (not frozen) boneless skinless chicken thighs your grocery store sells. Zach grilled it all on Sunday night so it was ready for me to use the rest of the week. We had grilled squash and mashed potatoes with the chicken on Sunday night. I’ll share the Sunday night meal and Monday lunch meal here and then you can read more about the chicken thighs in Monday’s meal details. [PREP: On Sunday morning (or the morning you’re going to grill the chicken), you’ll need to marinade it. Other that that, there is no make ahead details. INSTRUCTIONS: 1. In a zip lock bag or marinade bowl, mix equal parts soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce (I use about ½ a cup of each), 1/3 cup Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, salt, pepper. 2. Add the chicken thighs and allow to marinade for at least 2 hours (I prefer all day). 3. Slice the yellow squash long ways and toss in olive oil and Lawry’s seasoning. 4. Grill the chicken and squash (I have no idea how to operate our Big Green Egg so that’s about all I can say for this step). 5. While that is grilling, heat up Bob Evan’s mashed potatoes in the microwave (because have you ever tasted better mashed potatoes than that? I only have at my grandma’s house and she’s not around anymore so Bob Evans it is.) 6. Serve chicken, squash, and mashed potatoes and Enjoy! 7. When supper is done, divide a bag of Caesar salad into 2 bowls. You can go ahead and add the parmesan cheese that comes in the bag, but hold off on the croutons until you’re ready to eat the salad so they don’t get soggy in the fridge. (You’ll likely have to separate the croutons and the dressing that comes in the bag so that both people can have them in their lunch box the next day). 8. Dice 2 chicken thighs and put them in separate containers. 9. The next morning when you’re packing lunches (the lunch packing NEVER ENDS!!!), include the bowl of salad, bag of croutons, container of dressing, and container of grilled chicken. Enjoy your lunch! It’ll be so good! GROCERY LIST/INGREDIENTS: boneless skinless chicken thighs (a lot of them! Like 10-12), 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce, 1/3 cup Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, salt, pepper, yellow squash, Lawry’s seasoning, Bob Evans mashed potatoes, bagged Caesar salad]

MONDAY: BRUSCHETTA CHICKEN CASSEROLE, CAULIFLOWER RICE, AND OKRA

This chicken casserole made our board of “Weeknight Favorites” that hangs in our kitchen. It was my first time making it but definitely not my last. In all fairness, the cauliflower rice was from the freezer section. I liked it, but Zack wasn’t a fan. If you have a homemade cauliflower rice, you might want to go that direction, but I didn’t have time for all that nonsense. As far as the okra goes, you could probably make it in the oven, but did I mention that I love my air fryer? Okra in the air fryer is just delicious. Reason 100 to buy one! If you didn’t read the Sunday meal plan, you’ll probably want to do that. I used the grilled chicken from Sunday night to include in this casserole. It was so good! [PREP: We had this meal on Monday, so on Sunday I diced 5 Roma tomatoes and kept them in the fridge until I was ready to make this casserole. Also ahead of time (on Sunday), I diced the grilled chicken we made on Sunday night so that it was ready for me to throw in the casserole dish Monday afternoon. INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Preheat the oven to 375. 2. Spray a casserole dish (I’d recommend the smaller casserole dish or the 9x9 casserole dish, not the big 13x9 dish) with Pam cooking spray and add the cold shredded chicken. 3. Top that with the 5 diced Roma tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of dried parsley (or really any herb), 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. 4. Stir and bake for 18 minutes. 5. Toss okra (fresh or thawed if frozen) in olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 6. Cook okra in the air fryer (or oven) for 20 minutes, shaking half way through. 7. Once the casserole is done cooking, add shredded mozzarella cheese and bake until cheese is melted. 8. Cook cauliflower rice in the microwave according to package instructions. 9. Add fresh basil on top of the casserole after the cheese is melted. 10. Serve casserole, rice, and okra. Enjoy! GROCERY LIST/INGREDIENTS: diced boneless skinless chicken thighs (see Sunday’s meal details for the instructions and ingredients we used), 5 Roma tomatoes, garlic, dried parsley (or any other herb), balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, okra, salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic powder, frozen cauliflower rice.]

TUESDAY: SPAGHETTI

I know, it sounds boring, but you’ve got to try it with my special ingredient. And the best part is that it doesn’t require any extra spices! Italian sausage. That’s the key. I’ve been making my spaghetti sauce like this for years and I’ll never go back. Your family is going to love it! Also, I usually make spaghetti squash with my spaghetti but I forgot to buy it at the grocery store. I realized I had a box of spaghetti noodles in the pantry so I decided to just use those instead of going to buy a spaghetti squash. Except once the water was boiling, I realized the spaghetti box was almost empty. It was one of those days. So I had to throw in there a random box of noodles in the pantry. That explains why there are a variety of noodles in the picture. But noodles are noodles and the sauce was delicious so no one in my family complained about the noodle situation. [PREP: On Sunday, brown 1 lb of hamburger meat and 1 lb of Italian sausage. You can do this all in 1 pan. After you've strained off the grease, put the meat in the fridge until you’re ready to cook your meal. INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Heat up the hamburger meat and Italian sausage mixture in a pan. 2. Add your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce and let it cook on low/medium for 10 ish minutes. 3. While that is cooking, boil your noodles according to the instructions on the box. 4. Serve the noodles and sauce together. Enjoy! GROCERY LIST/INGREDIENTS: 1 lb ground beef, 1 lb Italian sausage, spaghetti noodles, your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce.]

WEDNESDAY: ONE PAN SALMON STIR FRY

This is Zack’s favorite weeknight meal. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it (I know no one is surprised), but take my word on it- you've got to try it! It’s a one pan meal which means easy clean-up and requires no prep. We try to eat fish (usually salmon) once a week, but if you don’t have any or don’t like fish, you could substitute chicken pretty easily. The key to this meal is jasmine rice. Remember when I shared the Tuna Poke Bowl recipe with you and told you that you’d re-use some of those ingredients? You likely have white jasmine rice left over and now is the time to use it. It makes all the difference! I buy frozen stir fry vegetables, but you could chop up your favorites ahead of time. The other key to this meal is Lawry’s teriyaki sauce. I love this stuff (I'm pretty sure I'm keeping Lawry's in business right now)!! You’ve got to use it for this recipe. Trust me! PS- Edamame makes a great appetizer for this meal if you’re looking for one. [PREP: There is no Sunday prep for this meal. Win! INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 350. 2. Lay foil on a large baking sheet and spray with Pam. 3. On one side of the pan, add your frozen or fresh or thawed stir fry veggies. 4. Pour Lawry’s teriyaki sauce on top of the veggies and stir it around a little bit so all the veggies get covered in cause. 5. Bake the veggies for 12 minutes. 6. While the veggies are cooking, make the jasmine rice according to the package instructions (after the water boils, it takes about 15 mins for the rice to soften). 7. Once the veggie timer goes off, put 2 salmon fillets on the other side of the pan and top them with Lawry’s teriyaki sauce (at least enough to cover the top or more if you’d like). 8. Bake for 12 more minutes (you’re baking the salmon and veggies on 1 pan at this point). 9. In individual bowls, add rice, then veggies, then a piece of salmon. 10. Top each bowl with white sesame seeds. Enjoy! GROCERY LIST/INGREDIENTS: At least 2 fillets of salmon, Lawry’s teriyaki sauce, frozen stir fry veggies (or fresh if you prefer), jasmine rice, white sesame seeds.]

THURSDAY: FROZEN PIZZA

Haha! Zack was in charge of dinner this night because I had a late meeting. I hope you can figure this one out for yourself. :)

Grocery List if you’re making all 4 recipes:

boneless skinless chicken thighs (10-12)

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/3 cup Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon minced garlic

Salt

Pepper

yellow squash

Lawry’s seasoning

Bob Evans mashed potatoes

bagged Caesar salad

diced boneless skinless chicken breast

5 roma tomatoes

Garlic

dried parsley (or any other herb)

balsamic vinegar

okra

olive oil

garlic powder

frozen cauliflower rice

1 lb ground beef

1 lb Italian sausage

spaghetti noodles

your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce

At least 2 fillets of salmon

Lawry’s teriyaki sauce

frozen stir fry veggies (or fresh if you prefer)

jasmine rice

sesame seeds