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Here is the deal. Every Friday morning I hand you five easy dinners for the week ahead, one treat for the weekend, and a one page shopping list you can print and carry into the store. This is week one. Five different proteins, five nights, and rice pulling double duty on Monday and Friday so you cook it once and use it twice. Print the list, shop over the weekend, and dinner is handled Monday through Friday.
Why This Week Works
- It is built for a busy week. Nothing here asks for more than a skillet, a sheet pan, or the slow cooker.
- Five different proteins. Pork sausage Monday, chicken Tuesday, beef Wednesday, mahi Thursday, shrimp Friday. Nobody is staring at the same plate twice.
- Rice on Monday and Friday on purpose. Cook one big pot over the weekend. It is the base of the dirty rice Monday and it goes under the shrimp Friday.
- Every one of these takes a vegetable well. A bagged salad or whatever is hiding in the crisper rounds any of them out.
- The leftovers actually reheat. The dirty rice and the steak bites are better the next day, and that is your lunch sorted.
- Friday is the fast one. The shrimp is on the table in fifteen minutes, which is exactly what you want by Friday.
Monday: Cajun Dirty Rice
This Easy Sausage Rice Recipe (Cajun Dirty Rice) is a mostly one-skillet 30 minute comfort dinner with ground pork sausage and a deep, dark roux sauce. Easy Sausage Rice Recipe (Cajun Dirty Rice)
Serving note: Serve it with a simple green salad and some crusty bread to catch every bit of that sauce.
Tuesday: Cracker Barrel Chicken Tenders
The copycat Cracker Barrel chicken tenders recipe, marinated in a 4-ingredient honey-lime Italian dressing, seared in 13 minutes. Tender, juicy, no breading. Copycat Cracker Barrel Chicken Tenders Recipe
Serving note: Cracker Barrel puts these next to a vegetable and a biscuit. Steamed green beans and a pan of rolls get you to the same place.
Wednesday: Mississippi Steak Bites
Mississippi Steak Bites are tender, buttery sirloin slow cooked with ranch, au jus, and pepperoncini. An easy, hands-off slow cooker dinner the family loves. Easy Slow Cooker Mississippi Steak Bites Recipe
Serving note: Spoon these over mashed potatoes or egg noodles and let the buttery au jus do the rest of the work.
Thursday: Baked Mahi Mahi
Baked mahi mahi that’s flaky and restaurant-level in 23 minutes, with a smoky spice rub and a quick broiled finish. An easy weeknight fish dinner. Easy Mahi Mahi Recipe (Baked)
Serving note: A squeeze of lemon, rice or roasted potatoes underneath, and something green on the side.
Friday: Creamy Lemon Shrimp
This creamy lemon shrimp simmers juicy shrimp in a quick lemon garlic parmesan cream sauce, ready in 15 minutes to serve over pasta, rice, or polenta. Creamy Lemon Shrimp (Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce)
Serving note: Spoon it over rice from the same pot you cooked Monday, or over pasta if that is what the kids want. Fifteen minutes start to finish.
The Treat: Pumpkin Spice Cake
This pumpkin spice cake bakes up moist and tender in a 9×13 pan, then gets a warm brown sugar frosting poured over top that sets like caramel icing. Easy Pumpkin Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting
Serving note: Bake this Saturday while the oven is already warm. It keeps on the counter for a few days and it is even better on day two.
The Shopping List
One page, grouped the way the store is laid out, with a box next to every line so you can check things off as they land in the cart. Print it Saturday morning and go.
Get These Plans in Your Inbox
A new plan goes up here every Friday morning. If you would rather have it land in your inbox than remember to come looking for it, grab one of the free recipe packs and you are on the list.
