I truly love cooking at home and enjoying the benefits of meals made from scratch. There’s something grounding about coming home after a long day and preparing dinner for my husband and me to sit down and enjoy together. The least exciting part for me, though, is planning for the week ahead and making sure I have all the groceries we’ll need.
Most of my meal inspiration comes from Pinterest, with the occasional TikTok recipe making its way into the lineup. Over the weekend, I usually jot down a loose plan for what I want to cook and then do our grocery shopping on Sunday. I try to center our meals around whole ingredients like vegetables, grains, and quality proteins. My goal is to make at least four servings for each meal so we can enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day. This makes the week feel so much easier.
I thought it would be fun to start sharing these weekly dinner recaps from time to time, especially since I have several staple recipes that stay in regular rotation. This week includes four dinners because we went out to eat on Thursday. We aim to cook at home most days, with the option of eating out on Friday or Saturday. Ideally, it’s just once a week, though it sometimes shifts depending on the season or what we have going on with friends
Here’s a look at the dinners I enjoyed this week:
Monday
Monday night’s dinner was my Hot Honey Chicken Sheet Pan Meal (the full recipe is already on the blog if you want to check it out!). It’s one of those simple, low-effort meals that only requires chopping everything up and roasting it on a single sheet pan. This also means minimal cleanup, always a win for a Monday.
Once the base ingredients are cooked, it gets topped with fresh jalapeño, a drizzle of honey, crumbled feta, and avocado (optional, but highly recommended). This recipe makes four servings, so we had enough for lunch the next day. It was the perfect balance of sweet, savory, and a little heat and will definitely be staying in our regular rotation.
Tuesday
Tuesday night’s dinner was one of my go-to meals. If I don’t have anything specific planned, I can usually pull together a bowl like this with ingredients we already have on hand.
This week’s version included rice with mixed vegetables, a turkey burger, pickled red onion, avocado, a over easy egg, and a sprinkle of shredded parmesan. The most time-consuming part is cooking the rice, but if you have a rice cooker like I do, it’s truly a set-it-and-forget-it situation.
When I make rice, I toss in frozen vegetables right into the cooker so everything cooks together. While that’s going, I cook the turkey burger and an egg, and dinner comes together pretty quickly after that.
I love how versatile this kind of meal is. You can swap in whatever protein, veggies, or toppings you have on hand and make it your own. Rice bowls are definitely a staple in our house. They are simple, filling, and easy to customize.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, I made Creamy White Chicken Chili from Tastes Better from Scratch. During the winter and colder months, soups and chilis are some of my favorite meals to make. Even though it happened to be 50 degrees that day, it was still the perfect cozy dinner.
This recipe is wonderfully simple, you just add all your prepared ingredients to one pot and let it cook. While the chili simmers, you can tackle a few things around the house, and before you know it, dinner is ready.
To make things even easier, I used canned chicken. There are quite a few brands that include extra additives, which I personally try to avoid. If you take a minute to check the label, you can usually find an option made with just chicken and sea salt. It’s a great shortcut for soups and dips when you need something quick.
I topped my bowl with cotija cheese and avocado and served it alongside homemade sourdough bread, which is always the perfect finishing touch.
Friday
On Friday, I leaned on one of my go-to staple recipes but had to improvise with what I had on hand. The original dish is a healthier twist on classic sloppy joes.
It starts with sautéed diced bell pepper and onion cooked with ground beef, then layered with seasonings and a simple sauce that gives it that nostalgic sloppy joe flavor.
Normally, I serve this over sliced sweet potatoes. But since I didn’t buy quite enough over the weekend, I ran out and swapped them for rice instead, which honestly worked perfectly. Rice is a pantry staple for me and always makes for a solid bowl base.
I finished it off with a sprinkle of parmesan, some pickled onion, and pickles made with clean, simple ingredients.
It was packed with flavor and gave us two leftover portions to enjoy the next day.
After writing this post, I realized… wow, I eat a lot of meals out of a bowl 😂 But honestly, that’s truly my favorite kind of meal. It feels cozy during the winter months, it’s usually simple to make, and it means fewer dishes, which is always a bonus. Most bowl-style meals can be pulled together with ingredients you likely already have at home, and if you’re missing something, there’s almost always an easy substitute.
That was my week in all honesty. And the truth is, things don’t always go exactly as planned. On Thursday, my husband and I had to drive an hour for an appointment and decided to grab dinner out instead of waiting until late to eat when we got home.
The point is, health and wellness can be flexible. I do my best to cook at home and use simple, clean ingredients, but sometimes life shifts the plan. I’ve found it’s much healthier (mentally and physically) not to be overly restrictive. Choosing to eat out on Thursday instead of Friday was completely okay. We enjoyed a great meal and quality time together, and that matters too.
I hope this post gives you a little inspiration and takes some pressure off the next time you’re deciding what to cook. And if you have go-to meals you love, I’d truly love to hear them.