Meal Planning For Dinner

Meal preparation seems more important than ever right now. I've been cooking for my mom, who has been living with us, in addition to my husband and myself at the moment. The easiest part, however, is preparing for one more person. Because we all have various eating habits, it might be challenging to come up with meals that we will all appreciate. My husband and I prefer to eat meat only once or twice a week and lean toward healthy-ish plant-based meals, whereas mom tends to stick to a small menu of simple meaty meals.

We can all agree on foods we like ahead of time when we create a weekly meal plan. Additionally, it has been the most beneficial method for us to maximize the usage of the ingredients we have on hand and determine any required substitutes before cooking.

I've been sticking to quick and simple meals that allow for plenty of substitutes because we're balancing work and taking care of a 10-month-old.The five dinners I'm preparing this week are listed below.

Meal Planning For Dinner

Creamy Broccoli Pasta in One Pot on Monday

Pasta Mondays were one item we all agreed upon without question. Although this dish is heavy and extremely creamy, it nevertheless seems healthy since it uses Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream and contains one pound of veggies. Since fusilli cooks in around the same amount of time as shells, I'll switch things up a bit. In the final minutes of cooking, I'll add frozen broccoli and a couple handfuls of wilted baby spinach in place of the fresh broccoli. 

Read also: Dinner Party Recipes To Impress Your Guests

Tuesday: Casserole with Ground Beef Tacos

This loaded casserole's greatest feature is that it's quite adaptable—you can use whatever type of beans you have on hand or even substitute ground chicken or turkey for the beef—and it makes enough leftovers for lunch. We'll serve the casserole with a couple taco salad kits for supper, and we'll garnish them with tortilla chips and a dollop of Greek yogurt. Later in the week, we'll cram the leftovers into soft flour tortillas for lunch.

Wednesday: Half an hour Francese chicken

Cutlets were the only chicken cut available to us recently. I usually order piccata, but because capers were hard to find, I thought this lemon chicken would be perfect for a weekday meal. In addition, my mom loves it. I'm going to use some more broth and lemon juice as we don't have any white wine on hand. Steamed asparagus and couscous will complete my supper. 

Read also: Top 5 Easy Dinner Recipes For College Students

Thursday: Chow Mein

Tonight's meal is inspired by a head of cabbage and a single chicken breast that's in the freezer. Since we don't have chow mein noodles, angel hair spaghetti will work just as well. My husband and I have been wanting veggies, so I'll add additional cabbage and some thinly sliced celery stalks because we have extra in the fridge.

Pizza Night on Friday

We have been gladly supporting our neighborhood pizza restaurant, which is still open, and are excited to take a night off from cooking at the end of the week. We'll get our favorite pie, which is half sausage and half mushroom, but if you want to create your own pizza, it's a wonderful project.

It's not always simple to plan meals, particularly if you're just starting out. However, we firmly think that it is the key to evening dinners that are stress-free. Whether you're cooking for one person, a family of four, or five, we want to help you discover inspiration and alleviate some of the stressors associated with putting dinner on the table every night. Every week, for Next Week's Meal Plan, we provide a brand-new meal plan option that has been specially tailored for you based on reader requests or contributions from special guests!

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