Simple Weekly Meal Plan
We are large family meal planning over here for our six kiddos and two adults.
This week we are doing a simple weekly meal plan, but we are also celebrating one of our boys birthdays. Anthony is turning eighteen years old. We always let them pick their birthday dinner and Anthony chose a dinner that has been his favorite since he was about nine or ten years old.
We are going to cook a lot in the slow cooker, pressure cooker and electric skillet this week. I am going to be using up some precooked ground beef that I have in the freezer as well.
Simple Weekly Meal Planning
Slow Cooker Candy Chicken– I made this for the first time almost ten years ago and it has been Anthony’s favorite since that day. I think in part he likes the name and likes the idea that chicken and candy can go hand and hand. We always serve this with rice ( I am going to make brown rice in the Instant Pot), steamed broccoli and rolls. We are having a crowd over for dinner so I am using chicken thighs. I have two packs of twelve. This should be enough. (I would say this is comfort food to my kids for sure!)
Quick Spaghetti Recipe– a stand by recipe that is a go to at our house. Sometimes I use ground pork and sometimes I use ground beef. This time I have a bunch of leftover beef on hand because I bought enough to make two meatloaves as well. I also bought a bulk box of spaghetti noodles and a bulk package of spaghetti sauce at Sam’s last week. So, this will be a super cheap and super simple dinner to make. We love easy meals like this!
Beef Tacos– I know, I know. We tend to have these a couple of times a month. The truth is, if you’re looking for simple dinner ideas, tacos (and spaghetti) should be on your list! Remember about six weeks ago we bulk cooked 10 pounds of ground beef over in our Get Dinner on the Table FB group? I still have some of this beef in the freezer and will just thaw and heat. Make some simple Spanish rice using white rice, water and tomato bullion. I will also heat up two cans of black beans, which I also bought in bulk at Sam’s last week. It was a pack of 8 cans of organic black beans for $6 and some change. That is less than $1 per can, which is a great price for organic. Quick and easy!
Whole30 Chicken Marsala– this will be made in the slow cooker. It’s super easy and uses coconut milk to make the creamy sauce. Clean ingredients and delicious! I will serve it with salad and noodles. Pasta noodles for the kids and a veggie noodle for Lenny and I (maybe using sweet potatoes) if we want to keep it Whole30. We love healthy meals like this!
Pesto Meatloaf– this is so incredibly tasty and so easy to make. I am taking a pesto burger recipe from one of our freezer meals and turning it into a meatloaf instead. Super simple. Serving it with mashed potatoes and dinner rolls.
Glorified Bean Burritos– this are simple meal and so quick to make. They also make a great freezer meal which we have done many times. Super budget friendly meal- always great when you’re trying to save money but eat well. Keep the leftovers to serve for extra days.
Smothered Pork Chops– using up the mushrooms I bought in a large pack at Sams for the Chicken Marsala, we are going to create these chops. So good! Served with mashed potatoes and a green veggie.
Leftover Buffet– use ’em up!
Use Your Instant Pot as a Slow Cooker
I know many of my recipes for this week are slow cooker recipes and/or can be converted to slow cooker. Did you know your Instant Pot has a slow cooker option? It is super easy to use!
Here is a quick two minute video that shows you how to use your electric pressure cooker as a slow cooker.
Online Grocery Shopping
Want to know how I streamline my responsibilities as a mama with many children at home?
I do my grocery shopping online.
It helps me stay on budget- no checking out until my total is on point with my budget.
No impulse shopping. No temptations add cookies and a magazine to the cart.
No distractions. Shop at home while the kids are busy playing.
Want to try Walmart Grocery Pickup? Use my link and get $10 off your first order of $50 or more!
Here is what one of my grocery pickups looks like with five kids in the car.
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