5 Meal Ideas for This Week

Every Sunday, I sit on the couch with my notepad and iPad and rack my brain for what meals to cook for the week. While it helps with our grocery bill and keeps us from eating out too much to meal plan, it's my least favorite chore! Why is it so hard to find something yummy to cook? If I was the only one eating I'd probably cook the same 5 things everyday. Adding our beautiful little munchkins to the mix hasn't helped, as most meals need to be cooked in 45 minutes or less. When I'm able to relax and cook, I enjoy it. When I'm frantically putting a meal together so that I can go help my husband with the babies, it's not quite as fun! I thought that I would put together a little blog post of summer meal ideas to give you inspiration as you plan this week's meals!

(Okay so like most of us, I hate how food blogs blab on and on and put the recipe at the very bottom. However as a blogger, I feel bad just copying and pasting their recipe into my blog and not sending them any traffic. I put the ingredients so you can quickly add them to your grocery list, but you should be kind and click on the link to the full recipe!)

1 // Korean Beef

If you follow my Instagram you saw I shared a reel with this recipe! Korean beef is a super quick, easy, tasty, and well-rounded meal. Here is the ingredient list! (Full recipe above in the header)

• 1 pound lean ground beef 90% lean

• 3 garlic cloves minced

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• 2 cups hot cooked white or brown rice

• sliced green onions and sesame seeds for garnish

2 // Chicken Scampi

We just tried out this recipe last week, so good and so easy to make! I devoured it. It's extra fun to have a glass of wine, I mean, it's part of the recipe, right?!

• 1 1/4 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1-inch pieces

• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp Italian seasoning

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 8 Tbsp unsalted butter, diced into 1-Tbsp pieces

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 2 Tbsp minced garlic (6 cloves)

• 12 oz. thin spaghetti (or standard)

• 1 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

• 1/8 - 1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

• 1/3 cup chopped parsley

• 2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese (or Romano cheese, for serving)

3 // Crack Chicken

Crack chicken is sooo yummy! Throw the ingredients in the instant pot and bam, a delicious meal! We like ours as a dip, on buns, or on bagels! It's delicious hot or cold. (There are recipes for a crock pot too, if you don't have an instant pot!). Life hack: instead of using forks to shred the chicken, throw the breasts in the kitchen aid using the dough paddle and it will shred your chicken quickly and without the mess!)

• 1/2 cup Water

• 2 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts* (about 4 8oz breasts)

• 1 (1 oz) packet Ranch Dressing Mix

• 1 tsp Garlic Powder

• 1/2 tsp Onion Powder

• 1/2 tsp Dill Weed, dried

• 2 tsp Parsley, dried

• 1/4 tsp Pepper

• 1/4 tsp Smoked Paprika

• 1 (8 oz) block Cream Cheese (room temperature)

• 1 cup Cheddar Cheese (shredded, not from a bag)

• 8 slices Cooked Thick Cut Bacon, chopped

• 3 Green Onions, chopped

4 // Chicken Foil Packets

These are a great summer meal! So easy, so delicious! They are on my menu for next week. If you are a divide + conquer house like me, one of you can put the packets together while one grills them! Let me know what you think!

• 6 tablespoons butter melted

• 2 tablespoons ranch seasoning powder

• salt and pepper to taste

• 4 medium sized chicken breasts approximately 4 ounces each

• 1 pound small red potatoes halved or quartered

• nonstick cooking spray

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

• 4 slices bacon cooked and crumbled

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

5 // Sausage + Potato Skillet

No link needed for this one! This is a "I have no idea what to cook, we need to eat in 30 minutes, lemme throw this together real quick" meal.

• Kielbasa (turkey sausage, any kind of sausage)

• Potatoes

• Canned green beans

• Ranch dressing seasoning

• Olive oil

Dice potatoes + coat with olive oil and ranch dressing seasoning. Cook in skillet until browned and soft. Meanwhile slice and cook sausage in a separate skillet. When sausage and potatoes are finished, combine and put one can of drained green beans and heat through. Throw in a bowl and top with shredded cheese!

I hope this inspired you to have some different meals this week and maybe made your meal planning a smidge easier!