Weekly Menu for May 17

Hello, hello! Is everyone hanging in there? In Chicago we have been in a shelter-in-place order for many days now. Mike and I are working from home full time and Lizzie is home with us too. It’s been pretty interesting having a one year old at home while working, but I’m enjoying the time with her. We are also cooking at home a lot. And I had a fun idea, I’m going to share my weekly menu with you.

Since we’ve been stuck in the house we are cooking every meal at home and sticking to a pretty strict schedule. Normally I would plan a weekly menu and if we decided to skip a meal or eat out it was ok. But not these days. We don’t want to be wasteful with our food and we take leftovers pretty seriously. We also make limited grocery store runs and only Mike goes so we need to keep to the list.

I know a lot of you are also stuck inside so to help you all out I’m sharing our weekly menu with you! So I’m hoping this sparks a little joy with you and inspires you to follow along. I know that we get in a rut and eat the same things over and over again, so any new recipes are welcome. Be sure to check out my full recipe section on the blog here.

Sunday – Beef and Broccoli Crock Pot

Hands down one of the best crock pot recipes I have. You can find it here.

Monday – Chicken Bake

We make this dish pretty frequently in our house. I make a large batch of the seasoning and keep it on hand in a spice container. This way I only make it when I run out and not each time I make the dish. We serve this like tacos, but you can serve it over rice as well.

Ingredients

1 LB Chicken
1 Red Pepper
1 Green Pepper
1 Onion
1 Can Diced Tomatoes

Seasoning

2 tsp Chili Powder
½ tsp Cumin
½ tsp Garlic Powder
½ tsp Dried Oregano
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions

Slice veggies and chicken into strips
Drain dices tomatoes
Mix veggies, chicken and diced tomatoes together
Season with seasoning, lightly coat all ingredients
Place in a 9×13 baking dish
Cook, uncovered at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes

Tuesday – Freaky Greek Pasta

I love this fresh summer pasta recipe. In fact, it makes enough to have leftovers for lunch the following day. You can find it here

Wednesday – Grilled Chicken and Greek Salad

Nothing fancy for tonight’s meal. I’m going to grill up some chicken and put together a fresh greek salad. For the greek salad, I combine tomato, cucumber, green pepper (or red pepper), feta cheese, olive oil and salt and pepper. I so love the crunchy veggies and feta together.

Thursday – Flank Steak and Veggies

Can you tell I’m ready for summer? We are doing a lot of grilling out this week. Flank steak is a fan favorite in our house. I marinade it in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt and pepper. Then I toss in cut up onions and green peppers and grill those up too as a side dish.

Friday – Bacon Burgers and Potato Salad

Bacon burgers on the grill and homemade potato salad. I am attempting to make my grandma’s recipe and I’ll be honest, I have no idea how it’s going to turn out. But I promise I will share if it turns out.

Week 6

Sunday – Mom’s Beef Stew

Ambitious Kitchen has the best recipes, I could spend hours searching her site. This is her beef stew recipe and it’s delicious! In fact, it’s the perfect comfort food on a rainy day.

Monday – Lasagna and Garlic Bread

I’m actually using the lasagna I froze in week 3, so I’m excited to not be cooking. So if you are going to make it fresh here is the recipe I use. It’s the Barefoot Contessa’s famous lasagna. The secret is the goat cheese, it’s added in with the mozzarella. I’ll be pairing it with my Aldi garlic bread, but you can doa wedge salad too, my recipe is here.

Tuesday – Summer Chicken Salad

I should really do a full post on this salad, because it’s a staple in the summer in our house. In short, it’s a grilled chicken salad with a fresh dressing. Here are the details:

Salad Ingredients

romaine lettuce
3 ears of corn, shucked (I grill my corn then shuck it. You can use can corn too if that is all you have)
1 avocado
shave parmesan

Marinade and Dressing Ingredients and Directions

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 tablespoons
salt and pepper to taste
mix ingredients together
use a little less than half to marinade the chicken
grill chicken

After the corn and chicken are grilled you can assemble the salad and use the extra dressing to toss everything in. A little dressing goes a long way with this salad.

Wednesday – Grill Out

Tonight we are going to do a mini burger bar and hot dogs. I love grilling out because everyone can pick their own meal and I love the smell of a grill.

Thursday – Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ve seen this one before. I’m actually using leftovers from this recipe here. In fact, I made it pre-COVID and we’ve enjoyed it several times. So if you like freezing food for a later date, this soup has feed us a total of 4 times and it’s delicious!

Friday – Find It, Make It, Eat It

This meal is exactly what is sounds like, find it, make it, eat it. Everyone is on their own tonight. For example, you can make leftovers or eat popcorn for dinner. I do this type of meal when I’ve had enough of cooking.

Saturday – Takeout

We are ordering out Saturday nights and supporting our favorite small businesses in Chicago. We haven’t yet planned it, but I know it will be one of our local favorites.

Week 5

Sunday – Chicken and Dumplings

Talk about comfort food, this recipe hits the spot! It’s so easy to make and is so delicious! It’s a savory meal that easily makes enough to have leftovers. So we are going to be having it for lunch the next day. But when storing it in the fridge, store the dumplings separate and add them after you re-heat the soup portion of the dish.

Monday – California Pizza

Homemade pizza is the best kind of pizza. You can find the California pizza recipe here. What I love about this pizza is it’s sauce-less and has a few ingredients you can prepare ahead of time. For example, I prep all the ingredients in the morning and put the pizza together right before dinner.

Tuesday – Quiche and Salad

French night tonight! I’ve been using this quiche recipe for years, but there are tons of variations out there. For the salad, I will use whatever I have in the fridge. However, I love a simple salad with olive oil, lemon and parmesan cheese.

Wednesday – Tacos

I’m always miss Taco Tuesday 🙂 In fact, I always have ground beef in the freezer. It’s one of the things I like to hoard so tacos are easy to make. In addition, we do all the fixings too; lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream and avocado.

Thursday – Shrimp Low Mein

Pinch of Yum is my go-to, she always has great recipes. I use her Low Mein recipe then add shrimp. In fact, you can add any protein you want.

Friday – Takeout

We are switching up our takeout night and doing it on Friday. I love supporting our favorite small businesses in Chicago. We haven’t yet planned it, but I know it will be one of our local favorites.

Saturday – Steaks and Frites

It’s our 5 year anniversary tonight! We would normally go out to celebrate, but given the current situation we are staying in. So we are going to try out a new concept in Chicago, Mino Steaks. Check it out and I’ll let you know how it is. Moreover, I’ll be making my pommes frites with it, check out the simple recipe here.

Week 4

Sunday – Chicken Piccata

New recipe night and I can’t wait! My mom made this for us when we first had Lizzie and it was so good. I’m finally testing it out in my own kitchen. You can cook along with the recipe here.

Monday – Beef and Broccoli

Hands down one of the best crock pot recipes I have. You can find it here.

Tuesday – Rigatoni Vodka Sauce and Garlic Bread

I love vodka sauce and this one is out of this world. It’s my friend’s recipe and it’s so easy to make.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
4 large cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (less if you don’t want it spicy)
1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons of vokda
1 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Saute the garlic and pepper flakes in olive oil on low heat
add in tomatoes then simmer for a few minutes
add in vodka and simmer for 10 minutes
stir in the heavy cream
toss with pasta

And I’ll round out the meal with garlic bread…from Aldi, of course.

Wednesday – BBQ Chicken and Veggies

We love grilling out and it’s starting to warm up in Chicago, finally! BBQ chicken tonight and whatever veggie is in the house. Easy meal!

Thursday – Meatball Sandwiches and Fries

My meatball recipe is from my good friend. It’s a non-measurement recipe too, which I love! So here it is:

1 LB ground beef
1-2 eggs
fresh grated parmesan cheese
parsley copped
salt and pepper
minced garlic
mix it all up and form it into balls
bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes total, flipping the meatballs half way through

In addition, I’ll heat up some fries from Aldi in the oven to go with the meatballs.

Friday – Breakfast for Dinner

If you can’t tell I’m struggling for meals. All I do is cook! But a fun meal is breakfast for dinner. So we might do eggs, french toast and hashbrowns.

Saturday – Takeout

We are ordering out Saturday nights and supporting our favorite small businesses in Chicago. We haven’t yet planned it, but I know it will be one of our local favorites.

Week 3

Sunday – Lasagna and Salad

Easter Sunday is looking a lot different this year. It’s just the three of this year. I’m making my famous lasagna which is also the Barefoot Contessa’s famous lasagna, wink, wink! In fact, the secret is the goat cheese, it’s added in with the mozzarella. In addition, I’m making a wedge salad and you can find my recipe here.

Monday – Left Over Lasagna and Salad

I love a night off and eating the same meal as last night works for me. For example, I’m planning on freezing some of the lasagna too for another meal. So I wrap each piece individually and then freeze it. It stays best if used within three months.

Tuesday – Chicken Teriyaki

I’m still working on getting my recipe up in a full post here, but this sauce recipe is so simple to make. You can them cook up the chicken and put the sauce over it.

Wednesday – Chili

Chili is usually reserved for Sunday, but we had frozen some last time we made it and will be using that. We use Mike’s famous recipe, which has no measurements. All great recipes have no measurements, right? So here it is:

Saute celery and onions with chili powder, salt and pepper
Add in 1 – 2 pounds of ground beef and cook
Add in Campbell Tomato Soup (2 to 3 cans) with 1 to 1.5 cans of water to go with it, use your judgement depending on how thick or thin you want the chili
Season with more salt, pepper and chili powder. You can add in anything you else you want, it’s all about your taste buds
Simmer for 1 hour
To serve crush up tortilla chips, place them in the bottom of a bowl, add shredded cheese then the chili on top

Thursday – Tomato Soup and Mussels

This homemade tomato soup is the best! You can find the recipe here. It makes so much and its great to freeze for leftovers. Tonight we are using leftovers, which means no real cooking for me. We are also having mussels that I picked up at Aldi. I was hesitant too, however they are delicious. You literally take them out of the freezer, put them in a sauce pan and heat for 6 minutes.

Friday – Make Your Own Pizza

Aldi for the win on this night. They have mini pizza crusts that I use for this. They taste similar to Homerun Inn Pizza Crusts (Chicago suburb gals you know what I mean). We top it with whatever we have in the house, usually cheese and pepperoni. Everyone gets their own and Lizzie even eats half a mini pizza!

Saturday – Takeout

We are ordering out Saturday nights and supporting our favorite small businesses in Chicago. We are ordering from Bistronomic, again. It’s our favorite French restaurant in Chicago! They have two options for family style meals. If you can support your favorite restaurants you should. We need them to survive this too!

Week 2

Sunday – Air Fryer Wings and Ellote

Before the pandemic hit I was working with a brand on an air fryer post. They graciously still sent me the air fryer and we are going to test it out tonight. Starting small with BBQ wings and we will see how it goes. I’m pairing it with ellote. I’m testing out this recipe and using TJ’s Everything But The Elote seasoning. I’ll let you know how it comes out.

Monday – Greek Chicken and Veggies

My greek chicken marinade is simple. It’s salt, pepper, minced garlic, oregano and juice from a half lemon. Place it in a zip lock bag in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then when ready you can grill the chicken or cook it stove top. I’m paring it with steamed veggies from the freezer. I’m being so resourceful these days.

Tuesday – Honey Soy Pork Tenderloin

It’s a crockpot day! I love these days, you simply set it and forget it. I’m using this recipe here. I’ve made it before and it comes out so juicy and tasty. Lizzie loves it too!

Wednesday – Pasta and Garlic Bread

I’m planning a simple meal today. I’m literally using canned pasta sauce I have in the pantry. I’ll dress it up with a few spices and serve garlic bread on the side. In fact, garlic bread is on heavy rotation in our house. I use the Aldi Garlic Bread that is frozen and you can use as many or as little slices and you want.

Thursday – Chili

Saute celery and onions with chili powder, salt and pepper
Add in 1 – 2 pounds of ground beef and cook
Add in Campbell Tomato Soup (2 to 3 cans) with 1 to 1.5 cans of water to go with it, but use your judgement depending on how thick or thin you want the chili
Season with more salt, pepper and chili powder. Then you can add in anything you else you want, it’s all about your taste buds
Simmer for 1 hour
To serve crush up tortilla chips, place them in the bottom of a bowl, add shredded cheese then the chili on top

Friday -Trader Joe’s Seafood Stir-fry

We always have a Trader Joe’s Stir-fry in the freezer. We get the stir-fry packet and a package of their frozen seafood blend. Moreover, adding in the extra seafood really beefs up the stir-fry. Then I serve it over the microwavable rice from Trader Joe’s. It’s a quick and easy meal.

Saturday – Takeout

Again we are going to support a small business in the neighborhood and order from them. The weekend is a long time away, but I’m craving Carson’s Ribs and Volare Italian. So we will see what happens on Saturday!

Week 1

Sunday – Flank Steak and Smash Up

I marinade the flank steak in whatever I can find in the house. To prep the steak I rub it with salt pepper, garlic powder and a chop house steak seasoning. I then massage it with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We grill all year round so I do about 6 minutes on each side and cut it open to check the color. I like it medium rare or medium so I’m looking for dark pink inside.

The smash ups recipe can be found here. They are crispy smashed potatoes and are delicious! So the crispier the better. In addition, they make great leftovers for breakfast the next day.

Monday – One Pot Spaghetti

This recipe comes from one of my favorite sites, Skinny Taste and you can find it here. In fact, her one-pot spaghetti is a fan favorite in our house. It takes less than 30 minutes to make and it makes a ton. So we always have enough for leftovers. And that means the next night I don’t have to cook!

Tuesday – One Pot Spaghetti Left Overs

Wednesday – Tacos

Tacos are such an easy meal to make. I know we should be having them on Tuesday technically. I always have ground beef in the freezer, it’s one of the things I like to hoard. We do all the fixings too; lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream and avocado.

Thursday – Pesto Chicken and Risotto

This meal sounds fancy and hard, but it’s easy I promise. The pesto chicken recipe can be found here. I use pre-made pesto from Aldi. It costs about $3 and is delicious. So if you want to make the lazy version just season the chicken with salt and pepper and rub on the pesto. Then cook it up stovetop undercooked through. The skin will be golden brown.

I’m having risotto as a side and I use the Aldi risotto. But you can pair this with pretty much any side that you have in the house though.

Friday – Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Yes you can use canned soup, but I actually make homemade tomato soup and it is GOOD. You can find the recipe here. At first glance, it seems pretty intense, but in reality it isn’t that hard. I would make this when you have a little more time on your hand. It makes a lot so I freeze the leftovers and use it whenever.

My secret for the best grilled cheese sandwich is to melt the butter and spread it on each piece of bread. This way, it will come out super flavorful and rich.

Saturday – Takeout

We are ordering out Saturday nights and supporting our favorite small businesses in Chicago. Last weekend we ordered from Bistronomic, they had two options for family style meals. So if you can support your favorite restaurants you should. We need them to survive this too!

Weekly Menu for May 17