It’s week 3, and we’re giving you a peek behind the curtain at what a real week of meals looked like in our house. We don’t meal prep everything, but we do try to plan ahead and make life easier. Typically, we’ll prep one bulk lunch for the week and then cook 2–3 dinners as we go, with leftovers filling in the gaps.
Here’s our weekly plan and what we cooked this week:
➡️ Bulk Lunch: Chicken Tzatziki Bowls
This one is a great summertime recipe—chicken, rice, cucumbers, seasonal veggies and a big scoop of homemade (or store-bought) tzatziki.
Grocery List:
- Chicken breast or thighs
- Cooked rice (white or brown)- if using that as your “base”
- Cucumber
- Cherry tomatoes
- Red onion
- Tzatziki sauce (store-bought or homemade)
- Feta Cheese- optional
- Lentils – optional
- Arugula or mixed greens- optional
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Salt & pepper
- Garlic (if making tzatziki)
- Greek yogurt (if making tzatziki)
- Dill (fresh or dried, if making tzatziki)
Tips from Our Kitchen:
We did arugula and some lentils as our base instead of rice, but feel free to use what you like most. We also added some fresh feta cheese on top (yum!).
➡️ Dinner #1: Shrimp Tacos with Avocado Corn Salsa
Typically at week 3 in the month, we see what we have in the fridge/freezer, and try to plan around what we have to help us stay on budget. This week, we had a lot of shrimp in the freezer, so we decided to plan a meal around that. These shrimp tacos did not disappoint. We skipped the cream sauce this time around (not because it’s not good—we just didn’t have time to make it), and the tacos still came out great. We also had a pineapple that needed to be used, so we added that to the avocado corn salsa, and it was amazing!
Grocery List:
- Shrimp (peeled & deveined)
- Corn tortillas (we used flour, as it is what we had in the pantry)
- Avocados
- Corn (fresh, frozen, or canned)
- Red onion
- Tomatoes (cherry or Roma)
- Fresh cilantro
- Red cabbage
- Cucumber
- Lime
- Fresh pineapple- optional
- Olive oil
- Sour Cream
- Ranch Dressing
- Honey
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder
- Cumin
- Salt & pepper
➡️ Dinner #2: Hamburger Helper
This one has earned a permanent place in our rotation. It’s quick, easy, and kid-approved across the board. This recipe kind of brought us back to our childhood. We went light on the cheese (cut it in half), and it was still delicious. We also try to use lean ground beef when cooking.
Grocery List:
- Ground beef (or ground turkey)
- Elbow pasta (we found a protein pasta we used)
- Beef broth (or chicken broth)
- Tomato paste
- Shredded cheese (cheddar recommended)
- Milk (or milk alternative)
- Garlic
- Onion powder
- Paprika
- Salt & pepper
- Olive oil
➡️ Dinner #3: Chicken Thighs, Homemade Rolls, and Green Beans
Nothing fancy here—just good, simple food. We season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper, pan fry them in butter on cast iron, and call it a day. Paired it with green beans (a surprise hit with the kids this week!) and homemade dinner rolls, using our favorite go-to recipe. Our youngest is always asking us to make these rolls, so it’s a fun weeknight meal for everyone.
Grocery List:
- Bone-in OR boneless chicken thighs
- Butter
- Salt & pepper
- Green beans (or seasonal veggie of choice)
- Flour (for rolls)
- Yeast (active dry or instant for rolls)
- Sugar (for rolls)
- Milk (for rolls)
- Eggs (for rolls)
- Salt (for rolls)
We hope these make your week a little easier. Let us know if you try them—or what tweaks you make to make them your own!