Shopwe made it past the first two days of school, and now this week, we’re in a full-on, full week of school. five solid days + all of the activities, homework, and extras that go with it. i’ve shared before, but when making my weekly meal plan one of my top things i do is look at the evening calendar for each night i’m planning for. this helps me figure out if i’m going to have time (even just 30 minutes) to cook dinner or if i’m going to need to rely on the crock-pot to pull her weight for our family dinners. this week, we are relying on my trusty crock-pot, a night of eating out + a couple of nights where prep is possible.
here we go for this week’s planned dinners for our busy family of four, with a teen, a tween, and two full-time working parents:
monday, 8.25.25: slow cooker sloppy joes / air fryer mini potatoes / corn on the cob (fresh! from our friend shelby!)
tuesday, 8.26.25: chicken parmesan / protein pasta / salad (this is our boys’ preferred dinner for the night before a cross country meet. so you’re gonna see this one on repeat a lot this fall!)
wednesday, 8.27.25: slow cooker chicken tacos / rice (in the rice cooker) / refried beans
thursday, 8.28.25: lasagna soup / breadsticks / salad
friday, 8.29.25: dinner out (we have the big neighboring town football game that night. i have to be there to represent my company as a sponsor, the boys will be there for the parade of athletes. eating out is just easier!)
saturday, 8.30.25: honey sriracha roasted salmon rice bowls
sunday, 8.31.25: dad’s taco mess (this was a pandemic creation! my husband makes a couple of pounds of taco meat, queso, beans, rice, and then we throw everything on the counter for everyone to make-their-own taco mess. nachos, tacos, burrito bowls – whatever anyone wants, they can have it!)
labor day weekend is this coming weekend, which means some extra time for planning, some house projects + maybe prepping some of my favorites to have in the freezer/fridge!
