Meal Plan with Recipe Links – 05/15 – 05/21/21

Welcome to my weekly meal plan! Each week I like to share the meal plan that I will be using for my family for the upcoming week. I do this because I think that having a meal plan is really important for many reasons. Some of those reasons include saving money, wasting less food and having less stress when it comes time to figure out “what’s for dinner?”! I try to stick with a meal plan that is simple to make things a little easier during our busy weeks. I hope that this can help you with some ideas of what you might want to make this week.

• Saturday – 05/15/21
  • Now that the weather is getting nice, we will start doing more grilled foods and summer-type salads. Today we will be making grilled chicken, which I like to marinate in some olive oil and white vinegar with Montreal Chicken Season. For sides, we will be having Mexican Bean Salad and Classic Macaroni Salad.

• Sunday – 05/16/21
  • We are having pulled pork in the crockpot today. This is such an easy meal for a Sunday! I don’t have a recipe for the pulled pork because I am just using one of those slow cooker sauce pouches. So, you just pull the meat in the crockpot, dump the sauce on it, and let it cook all day. As a side dish, I am making Hellmann’s Potato Salad. As a side note, one tip that I have on the potato salad is that if you have an instant pot, try cooking the potatoes in the instant pot instead of on the stove. I find it much easier. I use this Instant Pot Potato Salad recipe, just to cook the potatoes, and then I use the dressing from the Hellmann’s recipe.

• Monday – 05/17/21
  • It’s health food night tonight! Hot dogs are on the menu! I also make some Home Fried Potatoes in the air fryer. I just chop up some potatoes, onion, green peppers. Then toss them in a bowl with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and throw them in the air fryer on 360 for about 20 – 30 minutes. Some potatoes seem to cook quicker and some are longer, so I just check them along the way and see how much more time they need. You can also roast them in the oven if you don’t have an air fryer. We use the potatoes to make Italian Hot Dogs. I am also serving a bagged salad with this. I will just pick up one of those that they have at the food store that includes the toppings and dressing.

• Tuesday – 05/18/21
  • Tonight is Chipotle night. No, not take out! Home-made Chipotle-style bowls. Everyone makes their own how they like it! I take some chicken breast and slice it up into bite-size pieces. Then I toss it with a little olive oil, seasoned salt, and chili powder. I then broil the chicken for about 15 – 20 minutes to get it a little crispy. I serve the chicken with some brown rice, shredded cheddar, black beans, salsa, avocado, sour cream, etc. To make it really quick, I use instant brown rice that I cook in the microwave while the chicken is cooking. Just put out whatever you might like to add to your bowl. It’s such a quick easy meal!

• Wednesday – 05/19/21
  • We usually rotate some type of seafood on Wednesdays. This week we are having salmon. I use the frozen salmon that comes in a large bag from BJs. To make the salmon, I just brush it with some olive and then season it with McCormick Smokehouse Maple seasoning. Then bake in the oven at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. I will serve this with buttered egg noodles and some frozen vegetables. For the frozen vegetables, I always keep some type of steam fresh microwave vegetables in the freezer to choose from.

• Thursday – 05/20/21
  • Thursday’s we usually do some type of soup and grilled cheese, or breakfast for dinner. This is the night that I go food shopping, so I try to keep things simple. Tonight we will be having Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with grilled cheese sandwiches. I especially love having a slow cooker soup on this night so that when I get home from food shopping, dinner is basically done (because the grilled cheese sandwiches that still need to be made are so quick!).

• Friday – 05/21/21
  • Tonight I will be making Quick Baked Chicken Parmesan. As the name states, it’s a quick chicken parmesan recipe with no frying. You just bread the chicken breast, bake it, then add the sauce and cheese and bake a little longer. It’s a pretty simple recipe. I will be serving spaghetti with jarred sauce as a side dish. You could also make chicken parmesan sandwiches with this!

Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this meal plan you can find it at Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!