What’s for Dinner? Week of August 12

meal plan, red beans, red beans and rice, meal planning,

Red Beans & Rice

Red beans and rice is super easy to make, though it takes a while, unless you use a pressure cooker. Normally, I soak my beans overnight which helps with bean digestion and reduces cook time. With all that being said, it takes me about 2 hours from the time I start cooking until the time the beans are fully cooked. Sausage adds salt and a ton of flavor. I like to cook down my sausage with white and green onions, minced garlic, along with Season All and garlic powder. Those are the only ingredients I use in my red beans. They also taste really with with turkey bones. My Mom actually cooks her beans with that type of meat. Yum! Bonus: Red beans and rice are a super cheap meal and can also be served as a side for a bigger meal. 

Hello Fresh




Italian Chicken + Zucchini Veggie Mix + Yukon Gold Potatoes

This is a meal I adopted from Hello Fresh and we make it often without the box of ingredients. However, if you’re not up to cooking, make sure to add this to your HelloFresh subscription. Up until I made this meal, my husband did not tomatoes and had never ate zucchini before. If you ask him, he’ll probably say he doesn’t eat those foods, but he does with this meal. He feel in love with the lemon and Italian seasoned chicken, as well as the zucchini/tomato veggie mix. It’s interesting how when the right food is paired together, it’s hard to resist even things you didn’t think you like.  This meal is a keeper!

Spaghetti + Caesar Salad + Garlic Bread

This meal doesn’t need much explaining but here’s some things to think about. If your kid (like mine) doesn’t like tomatoes then you may have to keep the noodles plain and allow them to add their own toppings. This is a great meal to add in veggies by making a salad too. My daughter and I love salads so we enjoy any meal that incorporates it. Grab a pre-made loaf of garlic bread and you’ll have dinner on the table in under 45 minutes or less.

Naan Bread Pizzas + Salad

Last week, we left town for the weekend, so our dinner plan actually ended on Thursday. We didn’t eat our pizza ingredients so they are back on the menu this week. When making a new meal plan for the week, always look at what didn’t get eaten from the previous week. It may become lunch or dinner, for the upcoming week, with no extra effort or money. These Naan bread pizzas are great for kids because they are quick to make with fresh ingredients. Bake them in the oven for 10 minutes or less and you’re good to go.

Fried Rice

One meal my kids love is fried rice. I normally add chicken or shrimp for protein, egg, carrots, and white and green onions. This is another quick meal where you can add extra vegetables if your family will allow. This is the chicken fried rice recipe I’ve been using that everyone seems to enjoy. One tip I’d recommend is cooking your rice well before dinner and putting in the fridge to get rid of moisture. You can also use leftover rice for best results. Either way, make sure the rice is cool before adding to the chicken and veggies. It’s a one pot meal so no more food is needed. Yes!!!




Whether you meal plan one to two weeks at a time or the whole month doesn’t matter. What matters is getting dinner on the table as many nights as you can. It saves time and money, and encourages family time. Here’s the 3 Step Plan I use for meal planning success every week.

Looking for other dinner ideas? Here’s what we ate in previous weeks:

Week of August 5 Meal Plan

Week of July 22 Meal Plan

-Crystal 

One Ping

  1. Pingback:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Ultimate Tip to Stay on Top of Laundry

What’s for Dinner Week of August 19