sitting down to create this week’s meal plan, i felt like we mayyyybe needed to change things up a bit. it’s easy to get in the same rotation with dinners, and while two tween/teen boys will generally eat anything you put in front of them, the adults in the room can get a little bored with the eats. so, this week i’m changing it up a little.

i don’t know about anyone else, but i still have some actual, real-life, hardcover cookbooks in my kitchen. like, ones that i have asked for and didn’t inherit from someone. granted, they all tend to either be insanely cool dessert cookbooks or focused on easy, healthy dinners, but they’re cookbooks. and this week, i dove back into them for our meal plan! ready for what’s on the list? (i’ve also included the resource, in case you’d like to look any of these up on your own!)

monday, 9.29.25: salmon fried rice / edamame / pinapple

tuesday, 9.30.25: slow cooker salsa verde chicken taquitos / cilantro rice / salad

wednesday, 10.1.25: pizza stuffed chicken roll-ups / breadsticks / salad

thursday, 10.2.25: slow cooker beef + two bean chili

friday, 10.3.25: digiorno pizza / salad / breadsticks (mom’s out of town!)

saturday, 10.4.25: dinner out

sunday, 10.5.25: fork-and-knife cheeseburgers / air fryer mini potatoes

over the next two weeks we have so much happening (can you say “helping my parents move” and “homecoming?”), so we might have a couple more dine-out evenings than we usually do over this week and next. i can officially tell you i know a 16-year-old and a 12-year-old who won’t hate that!