For our week of weeknight meals in August, you’ll notice a lot of simple eats which is pretty much how we roll around here. There’s a mix of easy slow cooker dishes, grain bowls, simple marinades and more. If you are looking for some dinner inspiration, hopefully one of the meals below will pop out at you!
Week of Weeknight Meals: August 2021
Monday: Lemon Pepper Chicken and Vegetables with Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
It’s been a hot second since I’ve made a whole roast chicken and I figured it was time to change that early last week. I don’t think I’ve used any recipe other than the lemon pepper chicken recipe from The Whole Smiths Good Food Cookbook for a roast chicken in years because it’s just that good. It gets major bonus points for being an easy recipe, too! Like every recipe from The Whole Smiths’ cookbook, it’s a Whole30/Paleo-friendly recipe but we added sweet Hawaiian rolls on the side because those things are just too good to resist. When I don’t serve the chicken with rice or rolls or something of the sort, I like adding small potatoes to the vegetable mixture under the chicken to make it a little more filling as well.
Tuesday: Buffalo Chicken Grain Bowls
Since Tuesday was a busy day in our house, I wanted to keep dinner as easy as possible. Slow cooker chicken to the rescue! In the morning, I threw a few chicken breasts into the crock pot and followed this recipe for slow cooker buffalo chicken. I stirred in some cream cheese at the end to temper the heat a bit and also add a little creaminess and served the shredded chicken bowl-style. In our bowls: Mixed grains (from ALDI’s Simply Nature 90-second grains pouch), roasted shredded brussels sprouts + cabbage and cilantro.
Wednesday: Marinated Trout with Green Beans and Black Bean Spaghetti
We ended our Wednesday a high note with this meal! I’m a seafood lover through and through and the fresh trout at ALDI called to me earlier in the week. Ryder helped me prepare it in a simple marinade — the same marinade I use for my Maple Ginger Grilled Salmon — and then I baked it in the oven before serving it with a side of green beans and black bean spaghetti. The pasta was part of a past Thrive Market order (it’s the Explore Cuisine Organic Black Bean Spaghetti) and I felt like it was neglected in the back of our pantry so I brought it out and prepared it very simply — with some butter and garlic. This was one of those dinners I absolutely adored both for the fact that it didn’t take long to prepare and for the flavor!
Thursday: Easy Marinated Pork Chops with Brown Rice and Roasted Zucchini
I’ve been on a bit of a kick with these easy marinated pork chops and I think this is the third week in a row I made them for our family for dinner. They’re so delicious and also taste great as leftovers which I appreciate the next day. I baked the pork chops since I already had the oven on for the zucchini and while I prefer them pan-seared, they were still tasty. Sometimes streamlining everything trumps personal preferences. I roasted the zucchini in a bit of olive oil and garlic powder and served everything with a side of buttery brown rice.
Friday: Mexican Chicken Bowls
This was another simple dish that was a winner for our family. (Well, the big kids had a quesadilla version versus a bowl version but we still all loved the basics from this meal.) I prepped the chicken in the slow cooker with a can of tomato sauce, chicken broth and lots of taco seasoning before pulling it and serving it bowl-style with lots of fixings. In our bowls: Brown rice, black beans, corn, cherry tomatoes, shredded lettuce and cilantro! Oh and chips and guacamole were most definitely enjoyed on the side as a little appetizer as I was putting this dinner together.
Question of the Day
Have there been any recent dinner wins in your house lately? Please share any recipes you’re loving below so we may all benefit from your recommendations!
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I made this for dinner recently and it was SO good! It was one of those days where I didn’t know what to do with the leftover chicken and luckily I had these ingredients.
https://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-italian-chicken-salad-sandwiches-80069
that looks amazing and so fresh!!!! thanks for sharing — adding it to my “must try” list.
https://thatsdeelicious.com/mexican-shredded-beef/
This crockpot shredded beef was a big hit and I loved how easy it was to throw everything together in the morning!
Question- do you serve the kids these meals too or do they eat something different. I try hard for us all to eat the same meal together during the week (sometimes serving it slightly different like you did with the quesadillas), but they’ve gotten so picky lately that they often don’t eat anything.
oh that sounds right up my alley! gimme all the slow cooker recipes!!
and our boys often eat different meals than us. i’ll serve them deconstructed versions of our meals but have basically let go of feeling the pressure to make them eat what we eat and we’re ALL happier. haha! this blog post by a registered dietitian friend of mine really helped me be more accepting of this –> https://www.theleangreenbean.com/tips-for-feeding-toddlers/
I love how for the Mexican bowls you put the version that your kids ate. It’s helpful to see how you make something kid friendly because while ideally “my kids eat what I eat”, it’s just not always realistic in my life.
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