September Meal Plan
Week of Sep 28 – Oct 4
Fall is almost here in the Southern California desert, and I’m getting ready for soup season by simmering a batch of chicken stock this weekend with leftover veggies and last week’s chicken thighs. With another busy week of evening activities ahead, I’ll be heading back to Costco for a few premade staples to make meal prep a little easier.
Weeknight Dinners:
- Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup
- Grilled carne asada tacos, rice, and beans
- Costco Chicken meatballs, vegetable curry pack, and rice
Sunday Supper: Spaghetti and Meatballs with small batch skillet focaccia bread
Sunday Treat: Apple Cider Donuts
Lunch Meal Prep: Turkey Protein Pasta, Tuna salad, and chips
Pantry Restock: Chicken Stock
Week of Sep 21 – 27
We’re stretching the grocery budget this week with dinners that are budget-friendly but still loaded with flavor.
Dinners:
Mexican Turkey Sweet Potato bowls – need all ingredients
Shrimp Stir Fried Rice – have veggies and rice, need shrimp and bacon
Mamma’s Favorite Chicken with Roasted Carrots – have carrots, need chicken
Hamburgers – have ground beef, need everything else
Treat of the week: Apple Cider Donuts
Lunch Meal Prep: Double the Mexican Turkey Sweet Potato bowls to make an addition 4 lunch portions, and then an easy Chicken Salad.
Week of 9/14 – 9/20
No Sunday Supper this week as we are going out to celebrate a birthday. Everyone will be busy this week with different afternoon and evening activities so the plan is quick and easy meals this week. For lunch I am going to repeat last weeks steak salad since it was so good and I still have beets and goat cheese to use up; I just need to pick up some more steak at Costco.
Lunch Meal Prep: Steak Salad, Tuna with chips, Steak, egg, hashbrowns and cheese tacos.
Sun: Out
Mon: Weeknight Bolognese aka “Dad’s Bolognese” with pasta
Tues: YOYO
Wed: BBQ pork sandwiches with beans and coleslaw
Thurs: YOYO
Fri: Out
Costco shopping list: Fruit, Greek yogurt, pre-made steak, pasta sauce, snacks, spindrift.
Week of 9/7 – 9/13
This week should be an easy one. The meal plan is inspired by “things I need to use up in my house”. I saw some boneless pork shoulder ribs at a great price at Costco. The package was over 4 pounds so I decided I could make 2 meals from one package. This week, a pork ragu and maybe BBQ pork sandwiches next. To go with the pasta, I have always wanted to make a cast iron skillet focaccia bread so I am excited to try that out. Weekend treat is one of our favorite cookies, lemon white chocolate to use up the 2 lemons in the fridge. Already stocked in the freezer is shrimp and veggies for a quick stir fry on Monday. The lunchtime meal prep will also get rid of a few items like the steak, beets and tuna packets.
Sunday Supper: Pork Ragu with Rigatoni, Skillet Focaccia Bread and Lemon White Chocolate Cookies
Dinners for the week: Shrimp stir fry with vegetables and rice, Ground beef taco salad.
Lunch Meal Prep: Steak Salad, Tuna packs with light mayo, relish, diced cucumbers and a bag of Quest Protein chips.
Labor Day Weekend
This weekend is all about Rest & Reset. Weekend chores include cleaning out some drawers, washing the couch blankets, and blowing out the leaves in the garage. Recipes for the week are some family favorites.
Fridge Restock: Balsamic Vinaigrette
Dinners this week: Greek Grilled Chicken Bowls, Simple Sunday Pot Roast, Carne Asada Fajitas, and Pesto Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries.
For lunches, Costo is helping me out with some pre-cooked steak and chicken meatballs that I’ll pack with salad, rice, and vegetables.
Treat: S’Mores Cookies