Happy Sunday everyone!! I hope you guys all has a wonderful weekend!
WEEKEND RECAP
I was very excited about having yet another chill low-key weekend at home as I’m still recovering after the busy travel filled holidays… anyone else? Casey, Blakely and I had a cozy night in on Friday and I binged the rest of White Lotus season 2. If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely one to watch (without kids around if you know what I mean haha). This series was so addicting and I can’t wait for season 3!
Saturday morning we woke up slow with lots of coffee to help, then ventured out to meet some of our friends at Braves fest at Truist Park! I was initially surprised by how many people were there, but it definitely made sense by how many fun things there were to do. Players were out and about signing autographs, they were giving out free posters and items left and right, and we even got the chance to go out on the field, throw around a baseball, then take a photo with one of the players on home base! It made for a very fun Saturday morning outing and wore Blakely out for her afternoon nap (always a plus haha!).
Today we had plans to go to both church and the gym, but ended up all sleeping in and having a very lazy day! Sunday’s are my day to “get life together” before the week. This usually looks like sitting down and meal planning all the meals, washing the sheets, catching up on laundry, and if I’m feeling really ambitious, dusting, vacuuming, AND deep cleaning the bathrooms! We’re hosting my older sister and her fiance on Wednesday night as they make their way to New Orleans for a wedding, so I did all the cleaning things today to make life easier during the week.
MEAL PLANNING
One of my goals this year is to be more strategic in meal planning so there is less food that goes to waste! By that, I mean if one meal calls for lettuce, incorporating another lunch and/or dinner meal in the week that also uses lettuce so it doesn’t just sit in the fridge and end up in the trash the next week. It definitely takes more time and planning which is why it’s great to do over the weekend!
Speaking of meals, let’s get into the weeknight dinner ideas. I started this weeknight dinner series in August of 2022 to share some of my family of 3’s easy, low-stress, realistic weeknight meals. I hope that it inspires you to change it up and maybe add a new meal to your menu. Or if nothing less, I hope it offers you solidarity in that eating healthy and balanced doesn’t have to be expensive or hard!
Last thing- would you guys be interested in a post on how I budget and meal plan + grocery shopping tips? That’s something I am very passionate about and would love to share if it would help you guys! Definitely let me know in the comments.
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.
Now let’s get into the meals!
MONDAY NIGHT – GREEK CHICKEN BOWLS
I shared this meal back in my October dinner ideas, and that just goes to show how often we make it… it’s that good! I’m a sucker for ANYTHING Greek food, & this recipe taste better than restaurants in my opinion.
The KEY is to add your own tzatziki and hummus to the bowl and mix everything in. We buy our tzatziki sauce from Trader Joe’s, but any store-bought or homemade one will do the trick!
TUESDAY NIGHT – BAKED TACO SKILLET
Another Half Baked Harvest meal? Is anyone surprised? My mom gifted me this HBH cookbook for Christmas & I’ve been loving it since. This is the first recipe I tried from the cookbook and it not only came together so quick and effortlessly, but was SO tasty. We all went back for seconds and almost licked the skillet clean!
WEDNESDAY NIGHT – BAKED CHICKEN THIGHS & VEGGIES
For the nights you don’t feel like cooking, this one is a breeze! You could even make it one pan if you wanted to make clean up even easier. I’ll also let you in on a secret ingredient to make the sweet potatoes taste heavenly… toss them in salt, paprika & (secret ingredient) honey before roasting!!
THURSDAY NIGHT – LEFTOVER NIGHT
We always incorporate some kind of leftover night throughout the week to help clean out the fridge before the weekend! Sometimes this looks like cooking a meal from the freezer, warming up leftovers, or even breakfast for dinner (no complaints there!).
FRIDAY NIGHT – BAKED ZITI + SALAD
You can’t go wrong with a delicious baked ziti for dinner. It makes for TONS of leftovers you can either freeze or enjoy for lunches the next day! The arugula salad is super simple staple in our house with only 5 extra ingredients: toss the arugula with olive oil + juice from lemon + salt + pepper + Parmesan!
QUESTION: What is your favorite weeknight dinner to make at home? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
Leave a Reply