In case you missed my previous seven blog posts, this series gives you guys a peek into what one week of dinners looks like in our house each month. No fancy food styling or typical food blogger business allowed! It’s just a glimpse into what our family is eating each month with notes about any specific recipe alterations made if applicable.
As always, I’d love to try out some of the meals you guys are loving lately, so if you’ve recently made a recipe in your house that was a big-time hit, please let me know and feel free to leave a link in the comments section of this post so everyone can benefit. And if you’re catching up on this series, you may see all past Weeknight Dinner posts by clicking here.
Week of Weeknight Dinners: August 2019
Monday: Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Salsa Chicken Bean Bowls
I wanted to whip up a batch of this slow cooker cilantro lime salsa chicken for dinner on Monday night so I could have leftovers easily accessible to me for lunches later in the week. Round one of the slow cooker cilantro lime salsa chicken looked like a bean bowl! I paired the shredded chicken with black beans, corn and cilantro for an easy dinner we all loved. (Chase’s version looked like a quesadilla rather than a bowl-style meal.)
Tuesday: Ditalini Hemp Seed Pesto Pasta
I had never made pesto with hemp seeds until I followed a recipe for hemp seed pesto in the Plant Based Juniors ebook that I loved for Ryder when we were first introducing solids. Ryder liked the pesto recipe but so did our entire family and it’s quickly become my go-to pesto recipe. It’s made with a combination of hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, basil, salt and pepper and is so flavorful. I tossed it with ditalini pasta for our family since the small little pasta noodles are easy for Ryder to pick up with his pincher grip.
Wednesday: Instant Pot Chicken Soup
It may have been 90+ degrees outside on Wednesday but I was craving chicken soup so it had to happen! I followed a recipe I found on Against All Grain’s website and it was a big-time winner. The only substitutions I made were to omit the gelatin and I swapped sweet potatoes for butternut squash because that’s what we had on hand.
Thursday: Salmon Grain Bowls with Ginger Sesame Broccoli
This simple meal was one of my favorites of the week. I paired maple soy glazed salmon with a combination of barley and green lentils and ginger sesame broccoli and it was fantastic! I ended up flaking the fish with a fork and stirring it all together before digging in and loved this meal. Also, if you haven’t made my ginger sesame broccolini, please add that recipe to your must-make list. You can use regular broccoli in place of the broccolini like I did above and it’s still wonderful. I swear whenever I make broccoli like this, I can easily eat an entire pound of it. Truly! It’s hands down my favorite way to eat broccoli and Ryan loves it as well.
Friday: Semi-Homemade Pizza
Friday night was homemade pizza and movie night in our house! We made two mini pizzas and the pizza was only semi-homemade since we used a store-bought crust mix and jarred pizza sauce. It didn’t look particularly beautiful (can you tell a four-year-old helped with this one?) but it was tasty! When is pizza not tasty though?
Question of the Day
What is one meal you’ve made recently that was a big hit in your house?
Feel free to link to any must-try recipe favorites!
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This was associated good and everyone ate it (including the 5 and 6 year olds)!
https://pinchofyum.com/bbq-salmon-mango-salsa
I made the same recipe from Jessica’s cookbook over the weekend and we loved it!
This was so good and everyone ate it (including the 5 and 6 year olds)!
https://pinchofyum.com/bbq-salmon-mango-salsa
Yum!!! I swear you can NEVER go wrong with a Pinch of Yum recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Since I have so many vegetables, I made “Instant pot Ratatouille” by Pressure luck cooking. I also made your crockpot Garam Masala chicken and chickpeas – so delicious!
I need to make that recipe again!!
Love these posts, immediately added a couple of the meals to our grocery list for next week 🙂
In regard to recommendations, you should try this recipe from Roasted Root. She does paleo and vegetarian recipes, which mean they are filling and delicious. I tried this Turmeric Chicken and Root Vegetables recipe on a whim last year not expecting much, and was blown away! Honestly, it is my favourite dinner, winter and summer. You must try!
Of course I forget the link haha…
https://www.theroastedroot.net/instant-pot-turmeric-chicken-and-root-vegetables/
That sounds right up my alley!!
I have also done variations on the veggies included. Potato and butternut squash work really well if you want to switch up the parsnips and sweet potato 🙂
I made pesto meatloaf using Barilla jarred pesto, organic lean ground beef, and spiced tomato sauce that turned out very well! I wanted to serve it with gnocchi for an Italian take on the American meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but I couldn’t find GF gnocchi (my husband has Celiac). So I served it with nostalgic white rice with butter and roasted green beans and yellow pepper.
I love this series! You HAVE to make Ambitious Kitchen’s pumpkin turkey chili during fall. It is amazing. I decrease the spice a little so my toddler can enjoy it too. https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/slow-cooker-black-bean-pumpkin-turkey-chili/
Awesome! Always looking for yummy toddler-approved recipes! Thanks!
We’ve been making a crock pot pork shoulder then doing pork tacos, pork sandwiches, etc. during the week. Super easy and so good!
I saw a recipe for southwest spaghetti pie and made a quite a few modifications to make it even easier… husband and 3 year old loved it!
Cook spaghetti broken into thirds ( I usually use half a box)
Cook 1 lb ground turkey, drain, add 1-1/4 cup salsa, 1 can black beans (rinsed and drained), 1 can corn (drained), 1 tsp cumin and cook 2 minutes
Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese of choice
Spray baking dish, add spaghetti, then top with turkey mix, top with additional 1/2 cup cheese
Bake 350 degrees for approximately 10-15 minutes until cheese melted.
We always top our plates with sour cream, which melts and forms an almost cream sauce. So good!!
We’ve been making this crockpot carnitas recipe lately and it is so good! My husband isn’t a fan of crockpot meals and said this is the only one worth making! https://pinchofyum.com/easy-crockpot-carnitas
Which pizza crust mix / jarred sauce did you guys use for the homemade pizza??
A family favorite in our house is Hearty Lasagna Soup. It is more of a bolognese consistency than a soup consistency.
Here is the link:
https://www.campbells.com/kitchen/recipes/hearty-lasagna-soup/
And it is even better the next day as leftovers!
I’m definitely going to be trying that soup recipe soon! I LOVE butternut squash! My house has been all about Italian food recently and I whipped up my own recipe courtesy of some Pasta Jay’s sauce (you can find this on Amazon made fresh in Boulder CO!)
Stuffed Lasagna Shells:
Brown 1 package hot Italian sausage (we use a local Boulder brand, but Johnsonville is great too, or omit for a meatless Monday special!).
Add 2 jars pasta Jays sauce and basil to taste— let simmer.
Boil 1 package jumbo shells al dente according to package instructions.
Mix 1 15 oz container ricotta cheese with 1 egg and 1 cup Parmesan cheese.
Drain shells and place in large baking dish
Layer 1 TBSP lasagna sauce and 1 TBSP ricotta mixture in each shell.
Top with remaining sauce and fresh mozzarella pearls.
Bake at 350F for 20 minutes and serve!
* if you let the shells and lasagna sauce chill before layering this would be an excellent hands-on activity for your littles ?
They look yum! Gotta try them all!