Enjoy a cozy week at home and take the work out of cooking with these five deliciously easy family meal planning ideas.
Source: Cristiano Pinto @ Unsplash
Compared to cooking every night, planning and executing your food creations saves hours of your week. Basic meal plans can get boring really quick. Luckily, we’ve put together a list of 5 easy yet sophisticated meal plan ideas
Beef Braciole
Source: Billy Parisi
Beef braciole is an Italian dish consisting of thin slices of beef that are filled with a flavorful stuffing. The best braciole recipes involve stuffing the beef with breadcrumbs, herbs, and parmesan cheese. The slices are rolled up tightly, secured with twine or toothpicks, and then seared to develop a rich color. The rolls are then simmered slowly in a tomato-based sauce until tender which brings all the flavours together, resulting in a savory and satisfying dish often served with pasta or as a standalone entrée. These hearty rolls can be frozen are easily portioned for quick and convenient meal prep.
Balsamic Glazed Steak Tips and Mushrooms
Source: The Kitchn / Christine Gallary / Joe Lingeman
For convenient planning with protein and veggies, balsamic-glazed steak tips with mushrooms are a must-try. This recipe serves four but can easily be adjusted for bigger servings, making it an excellent dish for your weekly meal planning. The steak is marinated and seasoned with balsamic vinegar, tamari or soy sauce, garlic, dijon mustard, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper to enhance the complexity of the flavor in each bite. The mushrooms are also seasoned to combine the ingredients in one unified meal. If you want to add more substance to the recipe, roasted olive oil baby potatoes work as the perfect side for this dish.
Crockpot Pulled Pork Sliders
Source: Amanda Cooks and Styles / Amanda
Slow-cooked pulled pork sliders are perfect for family meal planning because they can be stored deconstructed in the fridge and ready to be built into a comforting yet refreshing sandwich. The tender pulled pork is marinated in a delicious combination of oil, water, mustard, apple cider vinegar, paprika, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, and your favourite barbeque sauce to create a full, robust flavour. Top it off with some homemade coleslaw and sweet pickles to pair the pork with a refreshing crunch that is sure to have you chasing the next bite.
P.S. We have even more slider recipes here!
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Source: Slice of Jess / Jessica
These beef short ribs are seared on each side, then cooked low and slow in a dutch oven to reach a fall-off-the-bone tenderness that will melt in your mouth. The short rib is seasoned with salt and sautéed in its own fat and juices with onions, celery, and carrots to bring out the flavours that compliment this fine cut of beef. It is then served on a creamy cloud of garlic-horseradish parsnip puree, adding a slight sweetness to compliment the savoury beef. Each rib is it’s own piece and the puree can be stored separately in an airtight container, allowing you to conveniently make portions for an effective family meal plan.
Firecracker Chicken
Source: Easy Family Recipes / Kimber Matherne
Firecracker chicken is a quick and straightforward recipe that transforms plain chicken and rice into a sweet Asian style dish with just the right amount of kick. Dicing up the chicken into small cubes provides the meat with more surface area, allowing for a more even cook in the pan and space to coat with the special firecracker sauce. The chicken is seasoned with salt, garlic, and ginger, and made crispy with a coating of corn starch fried in sizzling vegetable oil. It’s paired with a sauce made of brown sugar, orange juice, sriracha, rice wine, vinegar, crushed red pepper, and green onions, to give it a sweet-spicy twist that will be sure to clear your plate. The chicken and rice can be stored together, making meal planning as easy as grabbing it from the fridge and popping it in the microwave.
Plan Once to Make Your Week Easier
Figuring out what to cook for your family every night is a chore; spending two hours creating a dish only to finish it in 20 minutes can be demotivating. If you are looking for ways to save time in the kitchen, be sure to try these five meal planning ideas for your next cozy week in. Once you have a good plan in place, it only gets easier. The hardest part is deciding what to make for dinner in the first place!