This week's meal plan includes 4 dinner recipes, one lunch recipe and one breakfast recipe. Enjoy!
I'm hoping these meal plans will help provide some direction on what to cook for the week, or at the very least, some inspiration. Having a plan helps both in terms of not having to think, and ensuring you're getting in an adequate amount of protein and veggies.
If you click the link below, you'll find a meal plan and a grocery list to go along with it. Below that, you'll find a clickable link that adds all of the groceries for the recipes to your Amazon/Whole Foods shopping cart, so you don't even have to do the shopping if you don't want to! We're all about working smarter, not harder.
Air Fryer Greek Chicken: This is one of those recipes where you throw everything -- chicken and vegetables -- into the air fryer all at once and let the air fryer do the cooking! Serve it with feta and hummus and you have yourself a delicious and healthy dinner recipe.
Vegan Minestrone Soup: Vegetables plus diced tomatoes plus pasta and beans = the most flavorful minestrone soup that is definitely vegan-friendly! Truly one of my favorite ways to sneak vegetables into my family's diet.
Beef Stir Fry: A classic stir fry recipe made with flank steak, broccoli, carrots, bell pepper, and a soy sauce-based Asian sauce that brings the whole dish together.
Pumpkin Pasta: The idea of pumpkin and pasta never really appealed to me until THIS pasta recipe was created. The pumpkin pairs perfectly with sausage, sage and parmesan cheese, plus the whole recipe comes together in about 30 minutes!
Asian Chopped Salad: Another great way to force yourself to eat vegetables: eat them this way! Paired with almonds, wonton strips and a tasty Asian-inspired dressing, you'll actually want to eat cabbage. Trust me!
Pumpkin Smoothie: ...because sometimes you want pumpkin for breakfast, and that's ok! This one is made without banana and instead uses rolled oats, protein powder and yogurt as a base, along with pumpkin puree and spices. It's goooooood.
And guess what? Now you can add all of the ingredients for these recipes to your shopping cart. To do so, click here to shop.
If you make any of these recipes, I'd love if you could take a minute out of your day and leave a review. Simply scroll to the bottom of the page, below the recipe card you'll see an area to leave a star rating and a comment. Review help recipe sites SO much, and your support is truly appreciated.
Friends, good morning. It's shaping up to be a beautiful sunny Saturday, and I am so looking forward to it. ☀️
Let's get down to business. This week, the morning bun experiments continued, but before I post the recipe, I need to make one more batch, mostly to figure out how to actually make the buns so they emerge in the morning. I don't think it will be hard, but right now, they may as well be called evening buns.
This week, I also finally updated this simple sourdough bread recipe, which has been on my site for almost a decade. It's one of those recipes, like the focaccia, that works really well for people, so I hesitate to make changes even though I know they'll improve it.
I haven't changed the ingredients or quantities; I've just added a few notes. And I made a new video. The key updates include:
How I feed my starter at night so that it doesn't overferment while I'm sleeping, and so that it's bubbly and ready to go first thing in the morning:
2. How I determine when my loaves are ready for their cold proof in the fridge. In recent months, I've sometimes found the crumb of my sourdough loaves to be a little gummy, which made me think I was underproofing them. So I experimented with letting my shaped loaves rest in the basket for 30-60 minutes before placing them in the fridge. Here is what the shaped loaf looks like upon entry into the basket:
Here's what it looks like one hour later:
I've been finding this extra room-temperature fermenting time has made for a lighter crumb:
In the summer, the loaves might not need as much time, but it's something for you to consider if you've found yourself with denser loaves in recent weeks/months.
3. Finally, I've added my new favorite way to store bread. One of you (hi Kathleen!) introduced me to these beeswax-lined bags, and I've been really liking how well they preserve the bread:
PS: Google recently introduced a feature called Preferred Sources, which lets you tell Google which websites you'd like to see featured more prominently in certain search experiences.
If you enjoy my recipes, please consider adding my site "as a preferred source" in Google. It's a simple way to let Google know you'd like to see more recipes, tips, and content from me when searching.
Farro Risotto with Butternut Squash and Kale: Making this tonight. I love that when you make risotto with farro instead of Arborio rice, you can add all the liquid at once, which eliminates the need to stir and monitor constantly.
Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits... so good with stewy, soupy dishes and great if you don't have any bread on hand:
My Favorite Kale Salad: Make a large batch of shallot vinaigrette, enjoy this salad for days. (Lots of kale in this week's roundup! )
Apple Orchard Muffins: a friend of mine made these recently and shared them with me... I had forgotten how delicious they are 🍎
Farm Share Friends:
... it's here! The season of ALL the greens, herbs, radishes, and more. While I am no longer updating The Farm Share Newsletter, these posts from previous years may be helpful:
Thanksgiving recipes are officially here! 🦃 We're kicking things off with a collection of Easy Thanksgiving Appetizers that are perfect for snacking while the turkey cooks.
I've rounded up some of our favorite dips, cheese balls, savory finger foods, and easy party snacks. Many can be made ahead of time, which means less work when you're trying to get Thanksgiving dinner on the table.
Take a look and pick a few favorites for your Thanksgiving menu!
Have you joined the Plain Chicken Community yet? It’s a FREE place to connect with other Plain Chicken readers, share what you’re cooking, post photos, ask questions, swap tips and ideas, and make some new food-loving friends along the way. I’ll be hanging out there too, sharing what’s happening in the Plain Chicken kitchen and chatting with everyone. Come join us — we’d love to have you!
No-Peek Pork Chops and Rice – super easy dinner recipe! Pork chops, seasoned pepper, rice, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth, onion soup mix. Mix everything in the baking dish and pop in the oven. SO easy and everyone cleaned their plate! Even our picky eaters!!
Taco Spaghetti Recipe – THE BEST! We ate this three days in a row! Ready in 30 minutes!! Taco meat, Velveeta, diced tomatoes with green chilies, spaghetti noodles, cream of chicken soup and cheddar cheese. CRAZY good! Kids and adults gobbled this up – even our picky eaters! This is our favorite Mexican casserole!
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