This series began as a way for me to highlight our weeknight meals in one place, with photos capturing every meal in real time… aka no fancy food photography allowed. Here’s a peek into what dinner looked like in our house last week!
Week of Weeknight Dinners (January 2021)
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Monday: Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli with Farro
Back in 2019, I shared a follow-up post to my original blog post about blogger meals I make again and again and this recipe for Instant Pot Chicken and Broccoli made the cut. The recipe continues to be an all-time favorite in our house for a myriad of reasons. Not only is it incredibly tasty (and a crowd pleaser when we make it for guests) but I always make it with frozen broccoli so it’s very easy to make as well. On Monday night, we ate it over farro and loved the combination.
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Tuesday: Daily Harvest Lentil Bowl (with Leftover Chicken and Lentils)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Thank goodness for Daily Harvest! On Tuesday night, I grabbed two lentil harvest bowls out of the freezer for me and Ryan and doctored them up with some extra lentils and chicken we had leftover in the fridge to give the bowls a little more staying power. This meal came together in five minutes and tasted great! (Just a reminder: My affiliate link + the code pbfingers will get you $25 off your first Daily Harvest delivery if you’re interested!)
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Wednesday: Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Salsa Chicken with Corn, Mixed Grains and Spinach
Oh how I love Instant Pot and slow cooker meals this time of year. It always feels nice to have dinner ready without hovering over the stove and this meal was a good one! I combined my slow cooker cilantro lime salsa chicken with some shredded cheese, corn and mixed grains (I used Simply Nature 90-second mixed grains pouches from ALDI) and served it on top of wilted spinach (which is apparently hidden under all the other goodies in this pic) with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro. It was simple, filling and also made great leftovers for lunch on Friday!
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Thursday: Smashed BBQ Meatloaf with Sautéed Mushrooms, Kale and Spaghetti Squash
The way this meal came together was kind of random but it worked, so I’ll take it! Earlier in the day on Thursday, when I had a window of time during Rhett’s morning nap, I made my BBQ meatloaf (with turkey instead of beef). I ended up eating a slice of it for lunch so by the time dinner rolled around, I wanted to change things up a bit. I ended up serving it crumbled on top of a combination of sautéed mushrooms, kale and spaghetti squash and loved it! And yes, I did eat this one out of a mixing bowl.
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Friday: Baked Spaghetti Casserole + Birthday Cake
I was looking for a simple yet filling dinner to make using ingredients we already had on hand on Friday night and when I found this casserole after a quick Google search, it sounded delicious and the reviews instantly sold me! I made this for our family and my father-in-law to enjoy for his birthday dinner and we all loved it.
As for his cake, Chase, Ryder and I made the birthday boy’s request: Vanilla cake (this recipe became my go-to recipe after we made it for Ryder’s birthday this year) topped with chocolate buttercream. It was a pretty delicious way to end week!
Question of the Day
What is a delicious weeknight dinner you’ve recently made that you enjoy? Recipe links are welcome!
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Do your kids eat the same dinners or do you have to make them something else?
Hi Leslie! They will sometimes eat what we eat but more often than not, they have some kind of deconstructed version of what we have! (For example, on the chicken + broccoli night last Monday, they had raw broccoli with ranch (they much prefer raw veggies to cooked!), Applegate organic chicken nuggets, cashews and watermelon. I used to stress about them not eating exactly what we eat but LOVED this post from a registered dietitian that made me feel a million times better about separate meals for our kids sometimes! https://www.theleangreenbean.com/tips-for-feeding-toddlers/
One of my favorite meals that I make probably once a month is this shrimp pasta dish; it’s almost like comfort food to me:
https://therecipecritic.com/lemon-garlic-parmesan-shrimp-pasta/?utm_campaign=yummly&utm_medium=yummly&utm_source=yummly
Also, I’m making your cheesy chicken and corn chili today for the first time!
That sounds so, so good!! I love shrimp and lemon + garlic + parmesan sounds incredible — bright and delish!!
We all love this Mongolian Beef recipe. Very easy and delicious!
https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/mongolian-beef/
We really love Salsa Chicken, but we just put chicken breasts in a pan with Salsa on top and bake it in the oven. Nothing special, cheese on top near the end. We will have to try slowcooker style. But I do love the baked cheese, lol.
baked cheese is heaven! haha!
I LOVE posts like this. It’s so helpful for finding new to me recipes and for coming up with ideas for my own weekly meal plans. Also, it feels a bit like old school food blogging (circa 2010) and it makes me a bit nostalgic 🙂