Five New Meals To Add To Your Meal Plan (or, how to grocery shop the **right** way)
- amanda brow
- Nov 21, 2020
- 3 min read
Almost two years into this relationship I learned something VERY important about Eric.
He doesn’t do meal planning.
When he grocery shops, he walks up and down the aisles and drops things into the cart as he goes. He decides what meals go into the fridge as he wanders through the grocery store on the fly.
This is an absolutely novel idea to me. People exist like that.
I loved grocery shopping with my mom when I was younger, because it was calming: it was an orderly, mission-based task that could be completed in an hour or an hour and a half (nerd). Every week, she wrote up a plan for meals for the week and a corresponding grocery list organized by store sections: dairy, frozen, dry goods, produce. As her twenty-three-year-old clone, I do the exact same thing (see an example of my grocery list/ meal plan below).
That being said: whether you’re an Eric kind of grocery shopper, pulling this post up in the grocery store and plopping things in the cart as you go, or you’re an Amanda kind of shopper, filing this tab away for meal prep later, these weeknight dinners are for you.
Listen: I probably make this every other week. The down-low is this is a one-skillet meal, complete with tender chicken thighs, spiced rice, and veggies. Throw all the good stuff in the skillet, cook it for a little bit, and then pop it all in the oven to finish.
I’ve done so many different versions of this, too. Marinade the chicken thighs in honey, dijon mustard, and some balsamic and add bacon bits at the end? Honey Mustard and Bacon chicken thighs. Yum. Hit those bad boys with some Italian dressing, rosemary, and sun-dried tomatoes? Rustic Italian chicken thighs. Mouth. Watering.
Don’t let the word “casserole” freak you out- this ain’t your great aunt Sue’s drippy cheesy pan of dinner. There’s actually no dairy at all in this dish (win for us fellow lactose-intolerants) and it is SO GOOD. Basically brussels sprouts, carrots, onions, chicken chunks, wild rice, and some chicken broth all cooked down to one delicious bowl of dinner perfect for fall.
We tried this dish for the first time this past week and ate. it. Up.
If you’re looking for something easy you can take for lunch the next day, too, this is it! These cute little ham and swiss rolls are exactly what they sound like. We’ve done these with pepperjack, we’ve done them with different dipping sauces, we’ve done them with ham and turkey and bacon (hello, roll-up club), and every time, they’re absolutely phenomenal. And don’t forget: wicked easy.
I’m a sucker for chicken pot pie night. Honestly, we need to start making two at a time because we smash the first one so quickly. If you’ve never made chicken pot pie and you’re intimidated because you think this is the ultimate wifey-material dish, I’ve got news for you: one, it is, and two, it’s way easier than all the other put-together people make it sound like. You can’t go wrong and you should try it. Your Eric will thank you later.
Okay, listen. If you present your significant other or your family with a big baking pan of nachos, I don’t think they’re going to revolt. Nacho night has become one of our absolute favorites. A pro tip: you’ve gotta layer. Chips. Chicken/fajita veggies. Cheese. More chips. Chicken and fajita veggies. Cheese. Over and over until you run out. Layering keeps everything from getting soggy and heavy and makes for better leftovers (and better experiences bite by bite).
Here you have it: a few meals to mix up your impromptu grocery shopping or your opposite-of-impromptu meal planning. I won’t tell you which one is the **right** way to do it. Good eats get in your mouth in either case, right??
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