Hi, friends!
I received a few emails from readers asking about healthy, quick meals that we make during the week now that we have a little one. We don’t have a ton of time to cook anymore, so these five dinners below have become our go-to favorites and appear quite often on our weekly menu. They’re awesome because you can throw them together in no time at all and most of them make enough for leftovers for lunch the next day.
MEAL PLAN
Monday: Cheesy Garlic & Herb Brussels Sprouts with Sausage
Tuesday: Turkey & Spinach Sweet Potato Hash
Wednesday: Sweet Potato Quesadillas
Thursday: Potato and Chorizo Dobladas
Friday: 5-Minute, Protein-Packed Vegetarian Stir Fry
GROCERY SHOPPING LIST
- 10 ounces Brussels sprouts – $2.29
- 12 ounces of chicken sausage – $4.49
- 5 wedges of The Laughing Cow Light Garlic & Herb cheese – $2.99
- 1 16-ounce bag of frozen stir fry veggies – $1.89
- 1 15-ounce can chickpeas – $0.69
- 1 15-ounce can of black beans – $0.69
- 1 12-ounce bag frozen shelled edamame – $2.49
- rice (I used boil-in-bag brown rice) – $2.79
- 2-3 medium/large sweet potatoes (approx. 2 pounds) – $1.98 ($0.99/pound)
- 1 medium onion – $0.59
- 1 pound ground turkey – $3.99
- fresh spinach – $1.89 (8-ounce bag)
- 2-3 medium russet potatoes (approx. 1.5 pounds) – $1.98 ($0.79/pound)
- 15-ounces ground Mexican chorizo – $3.99
- 10 6-inch flour or corn tortillas – $1.99
***Prices based on ones from Stop & Shop
PANTRY STAPLES
- soy sauce
- extra virgin olive oil
- cinnamon
- garlic powder
PREP TIPS
- I suggested an order in which to make these meals above, but feel free to switch them around based on your own personal preferences and time available during the week. The notes below are based off this order.
- If you want to do all of your food prep in one day, say Sunday, here are some ideas to make mealtime more efficient during the work week: slice Brussels sprouts, slice and cook chicken sausage, chop sweet potatoes for hash, mash sweet potatoes for quesadillas, cook and mash potatoes for Dobladas. Everything else can be cooked or assembled fairly fast.
- When you cook the Turkey & Spinach Sweet Potato Hash, be sure to save about 1/3 of the sweet potatoes for the Sweet Potato Quesadilla the next day.
- If you decide to cook as you go (I know some people prefer freshly cooked meals), the Sweet Potato Quesadilla night is a good time to do a little food prep since this meal can be thrown together in a matter of minutes. Cook the potatoes for the Dobladas and rice for the stir fry, so you can just throw together dinner for the next couple of nights.
- You will probably have leftover black beans after making the quesadillas, so feel free to use them up by throwing some in the Dobladas and/or stir fry. Or nix buying the black beans all together and use some of the chickpeas (for the stir fry) in the quesadillas instead.
Happy eating!