A week of meal plans for your convenience. These aren't always my own recipes, as I love to try others out and maybe even tweak them for my own spin. But I aim to have fairly easy, family friendly meals. A downloadable + printable PDF of plans are available below as well as links to all recipes.
This is the beginning of my busiest time of year. Travelling for hockey and tax season... so lots of breakfasts at the rink and pizza at the pool!
I typically make my own lasagna, but it's busy season at work and a hockey night so I cheat with the half pans from Costco. These are great to have in the freezer for when you need an easy meal to throw in the oven. I thaw and throw in on delay bake!
Waffles - We love to buy the premade Kodiak Waffles in the frozen section. They offer a few different flavors but chocolate chip and the cinnamon vanilla are two of our favs!
Homemade Granola
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 heaping cups old fashioned oats
2 Tbsp chia seeds
2-3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 300 and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Whisk honey, oil, salt and cinnamon. Stir in oats and chia seeds. You can add a cup of nuts too if you’d like as well as any other seeds. Then stir in maple and vanilla. Spread on parchment paper and bake for 10 min at 300. Stir and bake for an additional 12 minutes at 325 degrees. Remove from oven, give a good stir and let cool. Break up into pieces and let cool completely. Store in airtight container for up to a month.
Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Cut brussels in half, toss in olive oil, garlic salt & pepper. Roast at 425 for 20 minutes or until they get a nice browning on them. You can also add some bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese to step them up a notch!
Jasmine Rice in the Instant Pot
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
1 1/2 cups water
Spray your insert with oil, add in rice and water, stir & cook on manual for 4 minutes. Natural release for 10 minutes or more. Voila! The perfectly cooked white rice!
Chicken Fried Steak & Brown Pan Gravy
2 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp lawry's black pepper seasoning
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
4 cube steaks
oil for frying
14.5 oz can beef broth
In a bowl or dish, whisk buttermilk, eggs, hot sauce and worcestershire. Add steaks and marinate for an hour. Not too long or your steaks will be very hard to handle.
In another dish, mix flour, cornstarch, garlic salt, lawry's seasoning, smoked paprika and cayenne.
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and get your skillet going on medium high heat with about a 1/2 inch deep of oil in your pan.
Dip your marinated cube steaks into the flour mixture, back into the wet mixture and once more into the flour mixture. Pressing in the flour to make sure it sticks then place into your hot oil (make sure it's good and hot, but not burning) and fry until each side is golden brown. Then drain on a paper towel lined plate and move to a parchment paper lined baking sheet and keep warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Pour about 1/4 cup of reserved flour mixture into your pan with oil and whisk. Cook for a couple minutes then pour in a can of beef broth and simmer until thickened. Season with salt + pepper. If your gravy needs a little more flavor add a small spoonful of beef base or some worcestershire to taste.
Serve with rice or mashed potatoes and lots of gravy! Enjoy!
Zuppa Toscana
1 pound sausage
1 tsp minced garlic
1 onion - diced
1 tsp teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound yukon gold potatoes, chopped
1 cup carrots, sliced
6 cups chicken broth
salt + pepper to taste
bunch kale, stems removed and chopped
1 cup heavy cream or 1 can full fat coconut milk
red pepper flakes
Cook sausage and remove some fat. Add in onions, garlic & oregano and cook for a couple minutes. Then pour in chicken broth and potatoes and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes then add in your carrots. Continue to simmer until potatoes and carrots are fork tender. stir in kale and cream until heated through and kale is wilted. Season with salt & pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste and enjoy!
Paprika Chicken & Rice
5 chicken thighs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp minced garlic
heaping spoonful chicken base
salt + pepper to taste
In a gallon ziploc bag or large bowl - mix salt, pepper, paprika & oregano. Add in chicken thighs and shake/stir til chicken is coated. Heat skillet over medium high heat, pour in olive oil. Once pan is hot and oil is shimmering, brown chicken on each side and remove to a plate. Stir in rice and toast for a couple minutes, add in garlic then pour in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Stir in a spoonful of chicken base then add chicken thighs back in, cover and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until chicken and rice is cooked through.
Stuffed Cheeseburgers
2 lbs hamburger
3 tbsp brown gravy mix (a packet)
1 cup water
shredded cheese blend
1 can pizza dough
salt + pepper
1 egg, mixed
Brown hamburger, remove fat. Stir in gravy mix and water and cook until thickened. On a prepared baking sheet, roll out your pizza dough and top with some shredded cheese, then pour the hamburger/gravy mixture down the middle and top with more shredded cheese. Fold sides of pizza dough over til you have a sealed roll. Brush with egg mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Slice & enjoy!
Lasagna - When you don't want to make homemade, this is a great alternative. They are half pans and great for smaller families or those with smaller appetites. This easily feeds my family of 4 with leftovers and it's nice to not have a giant pan leftover!
Click the buttons with the recipe title below to be taken to the link!
Comments