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Weeknight Meal Plan

Apr 24

meal prep for easy dinner

free meal plan

prepping dinner ahead of time

recipes for busy moms

easy asian lettuce wrap recipe

It’s Monday and that means it’s major grocery shopping day for me. Taking care of a family is a full time job and anything I can do to make it easier I’m all ears. Meal planning is probably my biggest struggle in life.  It just doesn’t excite me. Today, I’m excited to share a weeknight dinner collaboration with the fabulous food blogger, Marcia Smart. She actually loves to meal plan and I am excited to follow her weekly meal plan ideas. Below is the meal plan she created for me last week.  I loved not thinking about what to make for dinner.  She has a new meal plan up for this week too.  To see it, visit her website www.smartinthekitchen.com.

Weeknight Meal Plan

Monday:

Meatless Monday – just omit the Italian sausage if you want to do meatless monday!!

Salad Dressing – the perfect compliment to Meatless Monday

Taco Tuesday:

Slow Cooker Chicken Verde – recipe below

Tomatillo Salsa

Pickled Red Onions – OMG these are so good on a taco salad too!

Wednesday:

Asian Lettuce Cups (this is what I made above)

Thursday:

BBQ pork ribs in the slow cooker – recipe below

Friday:

Taquitos with Creamy Chicken and Green Chiles

New Recipes:

Slow Cooker Chicken Salsa Verde

This is the ultimate brainless dinner, which takes about five minutes to put together. I like to serve this shredded chicken for soft tacos, in quesadillas or on top of rice bowls with all the fixings.

1 ½-2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Sea salt and ground pepper

16 oz. jar salsa verde, such as Herdez or Trader Joe’s brand, or 2 cups homemade tomatillo salsa

½ white or yellow onion, sliced thin

1 garlic clove, smashed with the side of your knife

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Place it in the bottom of your slow cooker and top with the salsa verde. Add the thinly sliced onion and garlic clove. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours.

Shred the chicken with two forks and stir it back into the sauce. Keep on warm until you’re ready to use.

Serve with pickled jalapeno, grated jack cheese, cilantro, sour cream, sliced radish, green onions, pinto beans, and anything else you like to add to your tacos.

Slow Cooker BBQ Pork Ribs

My favorite sauce to use with this is a 16-ounce jar of thin and tangy Bone Suckin’ Sauce, but any jar of your favorite barbecue sauce will work. Roasting the ribs before they go in the slow cooker helps to break down the tough outer skin that connects the ribs. I have my own homemade barbecue sauce recipe, but on nights when we are running full steam ahead, this is the easiest kind of dinner there is.

2-3 lbs baby back pork ribs

Sea salt and pepper

1 jar of your favorite barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place the ribs on a sheet pan with the back of the ribs facing up. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Roast on the highest rack of your oven for 3-4 minutes, until the edges start to brown and the fat starts to melt. Turn the ribs and broil for 3-4 additional minutes on the other side.

Transfer the ribs to your slow cooker; if they don’t fit in the bowl of your slow cooker, slice the ribs in half down the middle. Add the barbecue sauce to the slow cooker and cover; cook on low for 6-7 hours.

Serve with your favorite sides: Cole slaw, corn on the cob, baked beans or roasted green beans.

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I’m exited to photograph more recipes this summer when we move into our new house.  I’m actually going to have windows in my kitchen and I am beyond excited.  Food photography is so much better with natural light!