Feeding your family homemade meals doesn’t have to be daunting or expensive. With a little planning and creativity, you can transform a few simple, whole ingredients into a week of dinners that feel anything but repetitive. These meals are designed to maximize your budget by repurposing ingredients across multiple dishes while keeping prep time manageable for busy families. Below is a breakdown of dinners we had last week, complete with inspiration recipes, tips, and a master ingredient list to make your grocery shopping easier.
Sunday: Ina Garten’s Roast Chicken with Croutons (Inspired)
Start the week with a showstopper. Roast two whole chickens with Ina Garten’s iconic crouton recipe as inspiration. The crispy, golden croutons soak up all the delicious chicken juices, creating a meal that feels indulgent but is surprisingly simple. I use up all of our leftover sourdough loaves from the week prior from this week and chop potatoes or any root veggies we have on hand. I make it different everytime and it never disappoints.
- Pro Tip: Save the rest of the meat for Tuesday and pop the chicken bones right in the crockpot for stock to use tomorrow for your soup. I take all of the bones plus my Stock bad from the freezer, some seasoning and a dash of apple cider vinegar in the crockpot overnight for a rich, homemade chicken stock that stretches your grocery dollars. My Reel all about making stock
- Favorite Tools
Monday: Tortellini Soup
Using the chicken stock made from Sunday’s bones, create a comforting tortellini soup. Add sausage ( I do a mix of spicy and mild) cheese tortellini, kale and heavy cream for a hearty one-pot meal that comes together in minutes. Also amazing with gnocchi you choose the variation your family would like best. Inspiration Recipe
- Pro Tip: We love the spicy and mild chicken sausage from Whole Foods. I stock up when it’s on sale and just break it up into bags for the freezer
- Favorite Tools
Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas
Use the leftover roast chicken to whip up flavorful and quick enchiladas. Combine shredded chicken with a can of enchilada sauce, some shredded cheese, and tortillas, then bake until bubbling.
- Pro Tip: Top with fresh cilantro, diced tomatoes, and a dollop of sour cream for added freshness. This dish stretches leftovers into a filling family meal.
- Kitchen Tools
Wednesday: Salmon Cakes
I have to laugh sometimes at how feeding kids is a puzzle sometimes. My kids will not touch salmon in normal form but they love salmon in “cake” form. I don’t use a recipe for my cakes but here is one that feels similar. I served them with sweet potato fries and Caesar salad on the side. I prepped these in the afternoon before school pick up and sports and they simply bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or so and turn into a quick dinner. Inspiration Recipe
- Pro Tip: Use leftover sourdough bread and turn it into breadcrumbs.
- Kitchen Tools + Cookie Sheet
Thursday: Kale Junkie’s Marry Me Tuscan Chicken
This one-pot dish of creamy Tuscan chicken paired with orzo is a midweek lifesaver. It’s packed with flavor and comes together quickly using pantry staples. RECIPE. The leftovers were so yummy as well!
- TOOLS: This dinner is best made in a pan with a great lid like the Caraway pan. Did you know that 95% of home goods are made with toxic chemicals like PTFE or Teflon? Over 10,000+ forever chemicals like PTFEs that have been linked to health concerns like thyroid issues, cancer and infertility. 97% of Americans have PFAS, toxic chemicals from non-stick cookware, in their bloodver 70% of fry pans sold in America contain Teflon. These pans are gorgeous, high performing and non toxic. Baked with 3rd party testing as well! Use code SIMPLYBOKAN10 to start your collection, my pan is cream and I love the color.
Friday: Spaghetti and Meatballs
Make Friday night a classic comfort dinner with spaghetti and meatballs. Use roas tomato sauce and homemade sourdough breadcrumbs for great Flavor.
- Pro Tip: Form your meatballs on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake about 12 minutes at 350 before popping in your crockpot with sauce on low for the rest of the day. I also add about 1/4 cup red wine and 1/4 cup milk to each Roas jar to shave it up and clean out all of the tomato sauce. Adds a lot of flavor in them!
- Tools
Saturday: BBQ Chicken + Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
On the weekend the temptation to grab take out when our days are busy is high. I find that if I head into the weekend with a plan or recipe that give equal parts fun and ease we stick to it!. Grill or bake chicken breasts with your favorite BBQ sauce and pair with creamy butternut squash mac and cheese. This sweet-and-savory combo will have everyone coming back for seconds.
- Pro Tip: Make sure your BBQ is free of High fructose corn syrup this is a sneaky place I always have to check labels here.
- Kitchen Tools – we recently replaced our vitamix blender after 10+ years of use and WOW the difference is substantial
Sunday: Greek Bowls
End the week with a Mediterranean-inspired feast. Cook a whole chicken in the crockpot with Greek seasoning, then serve with rice, cucumber, lettuce, and toppings like pickled red onions, Whole Foods’ Cava sauces, and pita chips. It’s a delicious way to finish the week using whole ingredients.
- Pro Tip: Set up a DIY bowl bar for everyone to customize their meal and minimize waste. I prep the lettuce and cucumber sides directly into clear Tupperware with lids so we maximize quick clean up. Once again took the bones from this chicken and made stock to freeze. Never let a chicken go to waste.
- Kitchen Tools: Crock pot and rice cooker. My rice cooker is falling apart and one of my favorite tools. I linked a few others but I have not tried these.
Master Ingredient List
Here’s a shopping list to cover the week’s recipes.
Proteins
- 3 whole chickens ( each about 4lbs)
- 2 lbs Chicken breasts
- 2 lbs Ground beef (for meatballs)
- All of our protein this week came directly from Living Pastures Farms
- 2 lbs Salmon – Wild Caught from Whole Foods
- Cheese tortellini or gnocchi
Dairy
- Butter
- Heavy cream
- Parmesan cheese
- Shredded mozzarella
- Shredded cheddar
- Sour cream
Vegetables
All of our vegetables this week except garlic came from our seasonal delivery box with Seasonal Roots. Read More about them here. We are focusing on eating seasonally as a family. Tomatoes and cilantro would have been amazing with the enchiladas but we don’t have access to them at the moment.
- Celery
- Onions (yellow and red)
- Kale
- Butternut squash
- Lettuce
- Cucumber
- Garlic – was grown by us this past season
Pantry Staples
- Olive oil
- Tomato Sauce
- Chicken stock (homemade or store-bought)
- Enchilada sauce
- Spaghetti
- Orzo
- Canned refried beans
- BBQ sauce
- Sun-dried tomatoes
- Greek seasoning – we make our own from bulk frontier co. spices but this is a great one
- Salt – The best salt without micro plastics
Bread & Grains
- Sourdough bread (for croutons and breadcrumbs)
- Tortillas
- Pita chips
- Rice
Extras
- Whole Foods Cava sauces
- Pickled red onions
- Salsa
With a bit of planning, this lineup turns everyday ingredients into a week of quick, and budget-friendly meals that feel fresh and flavorful.
I cant wait to hear what your family thinks of this meal plan!
Mandy
The following post may contain affiliate links. When you click and shop the links, we receive a small commission. Thank you!
