Last week I talked about making a master meal list to get through busy times, like the upcoming back-to-school season. And then I promptly did not post mine. Ahem. Life gets busy. So here we go, organized by protein, these are my go-to meals that I know everyone will eat. Yes, we get tired of eating the same-old, same-old, but I like to save trying new recipes and “thinking” for other times of the year. My Family’s Master Meal List:
Beef/Ground Turkey:
Crockpot Beef & Broccoli with brown rice noodles
Hamburgers with sauteed mushrooms, baked potatoes and green beans
Turkey & Parmesan Pasta (made with ground beef or ground turkey) with salad
Slow Cooker Italian Sloppy Joes with salad
Beef Tacos with corn shells and toppings
Turkey Spinach Burgers with corn on the cobChicken:
Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with broccoli slaw or salad
Chicken Sausage sauteed with veggies over pasta or rice
Chicken Fajitas (either made in the DCB or on the stovetop), rice and beans
Grilled chicken on top of green salad
Slow cooker Salsa Verde Chicken with brown rice, black beans and corn
Chicken Sausage Pesto Pizzas with saladPork:
Balsamic Mushroom Pork Chops with baked potatoes and salad
Pineapple Pork Chops with brown rice and green beansMeatless:
Crustless Italian Spinach Pie with cornbread and salad
Veggie Pizzas made with pita breads or homemade crust with salad
Baked Mac & Cheese Casserole with broccoli
Breakfast for dinner–scrambled eggs with rosemary potatoes and fruit
Spinach & Feta Pasta Salad
Black Bean and Corn Dip with brown rice
Those 20 meals are easy for me to shop for (I know the recipes almost by heart), and then I can fill in the rest of a month with a new recipe or two, plus a few nights of leftovers.
What are your go-to meals? Same as mine? We have a busy week (do I say that every week?), so here’s what’s happening in my kitchen this week (not much!):
Sunday–leftovers to clean out the fridge (yay)
Monday–eating at a Swim Meet
Tuesday–Corn, black beans, and Ro-Tel over brown rice
Wednesday–eating at a Swim Meet (blargh)
Thursday–breakfast for dinner–scrambled eggs, rosemary potatoes, and fruit
Friday–Chicken Sausage, zucchini, mushrooms and onions sauteed over angel hair pasta
Saturday–eating at our swim team’s Year End Party
Find more recipes, meal plans and inspiration at Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.
Oh, fond memories of swim team consuming your whole life all summer long and the AHHHHH feeling when you leave the year end banquet!!!
My go-to-meals include:
easy peasy Chicken Cacciatore I make in the crock-pot and served over wheat pasta
Chili all year long ~ in a bowl topped with sour cream, cheese and lettuce most of the year, but over crisp romain lettuce in the hot summer time! ~ again, crockpot
Inside Out Tacos (came up with that name when camping many years ago when my girls were little) and our taco shells got sat on ~ I had already made the rest of the meal so we just scooped up the meat and toppings (sour cream, cheese, lettuce, could add tomatoes if you like ‘em) with round tortilla chips ~ I even threw the corn in their bowls ~ they ask for this STILL!
Pot roast ~ with veggies (made with onion soup mix) ~ crockpot OR, our new favorite, without veggies cooked in the crockpot still, but with about 1/2 a cup of Dr. Pepper (NOT diet) and 2 T of brown sugar…YUM!
Whole chicken ~ again, crockpot ~ usually with veggies OR our new favorite way ~ just with Rotisserie seasoning ~ not even any water…delish and falls right off the bone!!
anything we can grill outside ~ chicken, fish (the only way I can get my girls to eat salmon is grilled and topped with BBQ sauce!), sausages, burgers and dogs, steak ~ we grill all year!
and I make whole wheat english muffin bread every week ~ easier than individual muffins!
I, too, LOVE my crockpot ~ I use it at least 3 – 4 times a week!
Thanks for the great list ~ will have to try some of your favorites!!
Tammy
also in NoVA
I’m just stopping by from Organizing Junkie today!
Looks like you’re going to have some wonderful meals this week. I’ll have to set some time aside to look at the recipes you linked. I’m always looking for new inspiration.
It’s hot and humid in Las Vegas. I’m actually wishing for our usual dry heat!
Enjoy your day!
I have a new best friend in the kitchen–an Instant Pot. it’s an electric pressure cooker/slow cooker/rice maker that’s awesome. Now with it my go to meals are whole roasted chicken (done in 45 minutes), frozen chicken breasts put in with Pork Barrel BBQ sauce (from Costco)–also done in 45 minutes for shredded bbq chicken sandwiches, frozen chicken breasts in Trader Joes Double Roasted salsa–serve in tortillas or over rice with sour cream (also done in 45 min!), baked potatoes are great in it, corn on the cob, the chipotle barbocoa beef copycat recipe from skinnytaste.com (also done in 45 min!)
Seriously the thing is the best. I will make a whole chicken in it, take off all the meat throw the carcass back in with water and veggies and close it back up and and it makes the best chicken broth. I’ve not yet made beans in it yet but people rave about it. It makes an awesome chili too (again the skinnytaste.com site has an awesome 3 bean one.)
It’s made the long baseball/soccer seasons so much easier and this summer it’s been put to good use too. It makes dinner while we hang out at the pool. It keeps food warm for up to 2 hours after cooking too so it’s ready when you want it. Best $120 bucks (on Amazon) I’ve ever invested in for the kitchen!
Thanks for sharing your favorite meals–I love hearing what other people are eating! It sounds like these couple of tools are very helpful.