Easy Weekly Meals Your Family Will Love – Week #4

With the craziness of the holidays, the last thing I’m sure you want to be doing is planning your family’s dinners. Luckily, I’ve created a weekly meal plan for you. Below are five new meals and a dessert to keep your family fed this week. Make sure to sign up directly below for access to my blog resource library – then you can download the shopping list for free!

Monday – Meatless Monday

Goat Cheese Salad

If I could only have one type of cheese for the rest of my life (heaven forbid!) I would select goat cheese. I love it. By adding goat cheese is often the only way you can get me to eat a salad. This recipe coats the goat cheese in bread crumbs and bakes the disks in the oven so they are oozing goodness over the salad when you cut into them.

Goat Cheese Disks;

1. Cut the log of goat cheese into six slices.
2. Whisk one egg in a bowl and dip the slices into the beaten egg.
3. On a plate, dump 1/2 cup of Italian Panko breadcrumbs. Take the egg-covered goat cheese disks and coat them in breadcrumbs.
4. Place the disks on a plate and put them in the freezer for about 10 – 15 minutes.
5. Bake the goat cheese at 450 degrees for approximately 8-12 minutes. When you cut into the disks the goat cheese should be melty.

Salad Directions;

1. Wash the lettuce (whatever kind is not recalled at the moment – ha!) and rip into bite-sized pieces (I also always use my salad spinner but that is a personal preference).
2. Sprinkle the salad with dried cranberries and chopped walnuts.
3. Peel one pear and slice it. Place the slices on top of the salad.
4. Plate the salad and add the goat cheese disks to each plate.

Tuesday – Slow Cooker Recipe

Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Cornbread, and Green Beans

Pulled pork sandwiches are a super simple dinner when you throw the meat in the slow cooker with a seasoning packet. This does end up making a ton of pulled pork so I often freeze some of the cooked meat for future use.

Directions;

1. Place the pork shoulder in the slow cooker.
2. Combine the seasoning packet, ketchup (1/2 cup), brown sugar (1/2 c), and apple cider vinegar (1/3 c) in a separate bowl then pour over the pork.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
4. Shred the pork and mix with the sauce once again before serving on pretzel buns.

I like to serve pulled pork with cornbread and green beans. The cornbread recipe calls for buttermilk but I never have buttermilk in my house. Instead, I always mix 1 c milk with 1 T vinegar. If you want to use buttermilk make sure to change the ingredients on the shopping list!

Wednesday – Breakfast for Dinner

Egg Dish, Asparagus, and Strawberries

My husband and I have been eating this egg dish since college because it is fast and easy. Add some asparagus and strawberries and you have yourself a meal.

Egg Dish:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Unroll a can of refrigerated crescent rolls as a single sheet and lay in the bottom of a 9×9 pan.
3. Tear ham into bite-sized pieces and place on top of the crescent roll layer.
4. Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper.
5. Pour the egg mixture over the ham.
6. On top sprinkle the cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.
7. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the eggs are fully cooked (not runny).

Asparagus Directions:

1. Wash and remove the tough ends of the asparagus.
2. Spray a 9×9 pan with non-stick cooking spray and place the asparagus in the pan.
3. Drizzle olive oil and lemon juice over the asparagus and season with salt and pepper. Top with parmesan cheese.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.

Thursday – Leftovers

Friday – Friday Favorites

Tortellini Soup and Bread

One of our absolute favorites is tortellini soup. Anytime I want to make my husband feel better this is the soup I select. I only add 1 cup of broth and 1 cup of milk (otherwise there is too much liquid). Serve with some fancy bread and you’ll have happy family members.

Saturday – Eat Out or Order In

Sunday – Multicultural Night

Chicken Taquitos, Rice, and Guacamole

I started making a lot of taquitos when I was pregnant because I would freeze half the recipe for postpartum freezer meals. This recipe for chicken taquitos is easy and kids like it!

I am currently buying guacamole premade (which I never used to do!) to save time. If you have the time, I would recommend making it fresh. For the rice, I don’t add tomatoes but you can – remember to add it to the shopping list!

Weekly Dessert

Chocolate Chip Cookies

A dessert you can eat all week long is classic chocolate chip cookies.

Are you in need of more dinner ideas? Here is my Weekly Meal Plan #3!