Hey guys! Happy Thursday! How are y’all doing this morning??

I don’t know about you, but there are (many) nights where I am exhausted from chasing a busy toddler around all day that I don’t feel like cooking. Even though being a mama is the most rewarding job in the world, it takes a lot out of me! That’s why on today’s post I’m sharing super simple & time efficient meals from this past month for the busy gal or mama.

I started this series, a week of weeknight dinners, in August to give you guys some meal inspiration for a family of 3! I share real, unedited, & not at all glamorous photos of our dinners from any given week of the month.

After missing September, we’re back for this month’s easy, realistic & always delicious weeknight dinners in October! You’ll see more cozy wholesome meals on this month’s since we have finally entered the fall season (yay!). You’ll also see that I included some meals using either one pot or our crock pot, which always makes life easier.

Reminder that I am not a registered dietician, just a young mama who loves to cook (most nights) and wants to share easy fun recipe ideas with you all.

WEEKNIGHT MEALS – OCTOBER 2022

MONDAY NIGHT – White Chicken Chili

We started off the week full of warm cozy vibes with a white chicken chili + cornbread. This food network recipe is a family favorite of ours that we used all last fall season too!

For a family of 3 or more, I highly recommend doubling the recipe so you can have leftovers for lunch all week long! We didn’t double it this time and finished it off for lunch the next day. Dare I say it is even better the next day!

To make it even more hearty and filling, we put the chili over white rice & added extra cheese on top.

Blakely’s dinner: My 22 month old devoured this meal too (which is really saying something because she is in a phase right now where she throws all her food on the floor…ugh). We gave her a little bit of the chili on her plate with rice on the side.

TUESDAY NIGHT – Ground Turkey Taquitos

I told you guys the photos were not going to be glamorous, but I can promise you they were delicious!! I managed to get a photo of Blakely’s meal tonight too which was a win hahaha.

I found this recipe for ground turkey + black bean taquitos on Pinterest & it did not disappoint! The green salsa from Trader Joe’s was a tasty bonus.

Any recipe that only uses a few ingredients and takes around 30 minutes to make is my kind of week night meal I want to cook!

Blakely’s dinner: A cheese quesadilla, avocado + salt and some of the ground turkey + black bean mix for her to eat on the side.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT – Greek Chicken Bowls

I could eat this meal weekly, if not on the daily. There’s just something about a Greek dish that my body craves!!!

These Greek chicken bowls are a staple in our household. They make for a filling healthy dinner, delicious leftovers, & you can re-purpose the chicken, the cucumber salad, & the rice for lunches all week long. The recipe doesn’t call for it, but the fresh tzatziki dip & hummus totally take this meal to a 10/10 in my opinion.

To make this meal more time-efficient, I’ll marinate the chicken in the morning and go ahead and make the cucumber salad. That way, all I have to do at dinner time is cook the chicken and rice.

Blakely’s dinner: Cut up Greek chicken & tzatziki, rice, and cucumbers & tomatoes. We ended up giving her a banana with peanut butter as a late night snack before bed because she didn’t eat a lot of this dinner.

THURSDAY NIGHT – Leftovers

After a full three nights of meals, our fridge is full of leftovers. I hate hate hate throwing food away so this night will often serve as a fridge clean out!

Whether we make a quesadilla with leftover ground turkey + black bean mix, re-purpose the chicken tzatziki night to a big chicken salad with greens and the cucumber salad on top, or have another night of the white chicken chili & cornbread (yes, please!).

If somehow we ate everything the night of or for lunches, I’ll usually cook something from our freezer this night. This could be one of the many amazing Trader Joe’s items from their frozen section or a frozen pizza. If all else fails, there’s no shame in breakfast for dinner.

FRIDAY NIGHT – Pesto Chicken + Mozzarella Pasta

Ending the week with a crock pot meal we can eat off of all weekend long! This crock pot pesto chicken + mozzarella pasta dish was TOO good. I added fresh chopped spinach into my personal bowl for some good greens that you can’t even taste!

This meal is another fam favorite of ours. It comes in handy on those days that I know I won’t have enough time to make dinner for, so I just put it all in the crock pot in the morning and all I have to do is cook the pasta at dinner time. Again, my kind of easy simple meal!

Blakely’s dinner: I cooked frozen peas & added fresh fruit to hers for a little bit of balance to her meal with the pasta. She loved it too!