I began this series on PBF a while back in an effort to stay true to the origins of this blog when I used to share my dinners in this space almost every day. This series is now my way of giving you guys a peek into what weeknight dinners look like in our house for one week of every month.
Last week’s meals looked pretty typical and included easy eats, leftovers and some tried and true favorite recipes. Hopefully something below looks good to you and gives you something new you might want to try for dinner in your house!
Also, before diving into our meals, I wanted to share a quick side note because this inevitably pops up whenever I share our boys’ meals: Yes, they do often eat slightly different meals than we do. And yes, I am very much okay with how we approach dinnertime in our house. It’s not much extra work because they will usually eat some part of our dinner paired with a fruit or veggie that takes very little time to prep. (Believe me, I’ve read plenty about only offering your kids what you eat and we do still offer them our dinners and new foods to try all the time.) I let go of the guilt and anxiety that surrounded their meals years ago (this blog post by a dietician blogger friend did wonders to shift my mindset) and feeding our kids used to be an extremely stressful thing for me, especially as a first-time mom to a smaller child. I kindly ask for your respect regarding our choices and how we feed our children. You may not agree with it and it might not be the way things are done in your house and that’s okay!
Week of Weeknight Meals: August 2023
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Monday: Leftover Shepherd’s Pie
Ryan had a work dinner on Monday night and since there was just enough shepherd’s pie leftover from Sunday night’s dinner to feed one, I jumped on it! I love leftovers and shepherd’s pie makes wonderful leftovers. It’s kind of like soup or chili in that the flavors only intensify and get better if they have a little time to sit. I’ve been on a shepherd’s pie kick ever since my sister made it when we visited family in Florida and have been making it every Sunday night since! I’m sure we’ll get sick of it eventually but right now I’m loving it.
On the boys’ plates: Grilled cheese, a few bites of shepherd’s pie, strawberries and green beans
My turkey vegetable meatloaf continues to be an all-time favorite in our house both for the flavor and for the fact that it’s truly jam-packed with vegetables. One little hack I use when making this recipe: I double the vegetables when I prep this meatloaf and freeze half of them so I can simply defrost the veggies and make this meatloaf without any veggie prep the next time we’re craving it in our house. On the side we had roasted brussels sprouts and thick slices of Rhett’s rainbow cake for his birthday!
On the boys’ plates: Turkey meatloaf with ketchup, blueberries, cucumbers with salt and rainbow cake
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Wednesday: Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Skewers with Macaroni and Cheese and Arugula Salad
Ryan had a last-minute business trip to Chicago pop up on Wednesday night so I was riding solo again. I wasn’t overly in the mood to cook so I figured it was a good time to try some new-to-me Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Skewers from Costco. While the boys weren’t into them (hence the mac and cheese you see mentioned below), I thought they were delicious, especially when paired with a little barbeque sauce for dipping. I initially bought them to have on hand for easy lunches but they came in handy for a quick and simple weeknight dinner, too. I paired them with a simple arugula salad and white cheddar mac and cheese.
On the boys’ plates: ALDI’s Simply Nature organic white cheddar mac and cheese, carrot slices and strawberries
This is the kind of simple dinner I love and could easily make and eat every night. Whenever I’m at a loss for what to feed our family, I go with the basics: Some kind of simple marinated protein, a flavorful veggie side and an easy-to-make starch. I used a teriyaki sauce I bought from Thrive Market to marinate the trout, frozen corn to make the curried corn (I still need to share this recipe for you guys because it’s one of Ryan’s all-time favorites and SO easy) and ginger sesame broccolini — aka the only recipe that can make me want to eat an entire pound of broccoli.
On the boys’ plates: Shrimp, ginger sesame broccolini and corn
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Friday: Steak and Arugula Grain Bowl
We were in the mood to grill out on Friday night and since it’s been a hot second since we’ve made steak of any kind in our house, this meal felt like a bit of a treat to me! I almost forgot how delicious hot steak right off the grill can be and loved this sliced ribeye served on top of a mix of arugula and brown rice and a simple honey vinaigrette dressing. (My eyes were a little bigger than my stomach on this one and I ended up saving some of my steak for lunch the next day. I love cold steak, too!)
On the boys’ plates: ALDI’s organic hot dogs in whole wheat buns, watermelon, bell pepper slices
Question of the Day
- Any recipes you’ve been loving for dinner lately?
- Do you make similar meals for dinner every week or change things up?
