Monday Meals

Hello and Happy Monday!

How was your weekend? We had a good one. There’s no tired like back to school teacher tired! I was in my pajamas by 5:00 on Friday. The weather was nice all weekend; I hit the pool for a bit on Saturday. Both kids went to birthday parties on Saturday, and then Hadley went out to dinner with Travis and me. Sunday, we went to church, Hadley went to volleyball, and Travis and Hayden went on a bike ride.

Now that we are back to school, I’m trying to get back in a cooking routine. When possible, I try to make something Sunday with leftovers for Monday. Then, Tuesday is usually something quick followed by Wednesday’s meal with Thursday leftovers. I don’t always follow that plan, but I try.

Also, I had hoped to place a Kroger order for pick up Friday, but instead picked up Saturday at noon. I usually don’t get the chance to pick up groceries until Sunday, so I’m going to do my best to try for Friday or Saturday. It made Sunday so much easier just having that task crossed off my list.

Usually, my “Monday Meals” posts are recipes I make, but today I’m sharing what we are eating this week!

• Sunday: Ground turkey pasta, Sister Schubert rolls and fruit
• Monday: Shay’s Sloppy Joes and sweet potato fries
• Tuesday: Gnocchi (from Trader Joe’s) with marinara sauce and green beans
• Wednesday: Baked chicken, Bob Evans mashed potatoes, fruit
• Thursday: Leftover chicken, bagged Caesar Salad
• Friday/Saturday: carry out/eat out

Besides meal planning dinners, I also have to make a plan for my lunches. I hate packing a lunch, but I have done so for twenty years. Last week, I only needed lunches for three days, and I had prepped my ground turkey ahead of time, and had Cheeseburger Salad two days, and then leftover Slow Cooker Fiesta Chicken on Friday.

I’m ok eating the same thing a few days in a row, so I think that will be my plan this year. Rather than meal prep a lot of things, I may just do one idea that I know I will eat at least three times knowing I should at least will have leftovers from dinner one night as an option.

Last week, and then yesterday, I went ahead an put grapes in baggies as well as my chips for the week. Last week, I took pretzels as my snack, and this week I am taking veggie chips. I liked just being able to grab grapes and chips to add to my lunch bag in the morning.

Over the weekend, I tried two new lunches that I think will be in the rotation this week.

I love this sandwich idea that Amy shared recently. I added sandwich thins to my Kroger order this week and then used Garden Vegetable Alouette and cucumbers to my sandwich. I love having an apple as a snack or for lunch at home since I prefer an apple cut up. Veggie chips are my fave.

I saw a reel shared on Instagram about turning these salads into wraps. The reel featured four Taylor Farms salads (all of which I eat pretty regularly): Dill Pickle (so good!), Buffalo Ranch (yum!), Caesar (classic!), and Avocado Ranch (delish!).

You just mix the salad together with the dressing and put it in a wrap. I love these salads, and usually one bag provides two to three lunches for me. That being said, sometimes I get tired of eating a salad, so this is a great way to mix things up.

I buy this Perdue chicken to use in the salads (as well as the kids’ quesadillas), and love these tortillas. Do you know what Hadley likes to do with a tortilla? (thankfully, not slap me! — I don’t think she’s seen the Tik Tok challenge. haha)…she likes to put peanut butter on a tortilla and fold it up to eat it. I do that occasionally too for a quick snack.

I used 1/3 of the dill pickle salad for my lunch yesterday; I added chicken to the salad mix. I actually put too much salad in the wrap, so just ate it as a side too. This was so good, and will definitely be another lunch or two for me this week.

I’m trying to keep meal planning and prep as easy as possible these first few weeks of school.

Let me know what y’all are having for dinner (or lunch!)…and that will help me plan next week. TIA 😂

I hope you have a great week!