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well, hello there my friends! i took the last couple of weeks of 2025 off from even making a weekly meal plan…for a couple of solid reasons. one: we all got the flu, and if there was something i wasn’t going to do while we were all sick, it was cook. (shoutout to my bestie for dinner on night one, and then to doordash for coming in hot for us with deliveries from both walgreens + for dinners the rest of the week!) second, there was just so much happening even after we got better that we just sort of played dinners by ear. there were nights we made something quickly (hello taco stuff!) to nights we ate leftovers to nights we ate on the run.
add in the holidays in general, and i feel like i basically spent the last 14-21 days filled with crackers, cheese + sugar (hello to my mom’s absolutely amazing bon bon cookies!). by last week, my body was screaming for anything green and something that would give me actual protein. i have genuinely never been happier to make the easiest dinner of my life the evening we got home from indiana: grilled chicken, brown rice, and green beans. so plain, but omg, so good.
so now school is headed back in session this week, the husband + i are headed back to work, and it was time to get back at it (in so many ways…meal planning, working out, getting up before 10am…) a big bonus with starting 2026 meal planning: my new skinnytaste high protein cookbook! between this new gem on my kitchen bookshelf + recipes from skinnytaste.com, we’ve got some great things on the plan for this week!
monday, 1.5.26: air fryer chicken schnitzel / broccoli slaw salad (the chicken recipe is in the new high protein cookbook!)
tuesday, 1.6.26: slow cooker taco soup / cheese quesadillas
wednesday, 1.7.26: loaded turkey santa fe baked potato skins / salad / fruit
thursday, 1.8.26: slow cooker italian beef hoagies / baby carrots + broccoli with ranch / bbq chips
friday, 1.9.26: spicy chicken poke bowl (another new recipe from the high protein cookbook! i can’t wait to make this one!)
saturday, 1.10.26: chicken scarpariello / air fryer mini potatoes / steamed french style green beans with almonds
sunday, 1.11.26: dad’s taco mess / deep dish chocolate chip cookie pie (it’s my BIRTHDAY! i don’t want to cook. but i do want to make this dessert + give it a try!)
welcome to 2026, friends! if you’re new to meal planning, just want some new dinner ideas for your family, or need some inspiration to think about getting started with planning, i’m here to help!
