This is a taste of what we’re dishing up in the Good Cheap Eats Club. If you like this meal plan and would like more like it, be sure to join the club.
This week’s meal plan features the following recipes:
- Chicken Fajita Burritos, Seasoned Corn Off the Cob
- Easy Instant Pot Mac & Cheese, Easy Caesar Salad
- Italian Sub Sandwiches, Sunshine Cole Slaw
- Smoky Bean Soup, bread and butter
- Homemade Curried Chicken & Broccoli Casserole, steamed rice
- dessert or snack: Bilbo’s Seed Cakes
About this week’s meal plan:
This week’s meal plan includes 5 main dishes, 3 sides, and 1 baked goodie.
This allows you freedom in the week to enjoy leftovers, go out to eat, or be spontaneous with the evening’s plan. Feel free to mix and match the recipes as they suit you best.
- Click on a recipe name to preview the recipe. Please read each recipe completely so you understand how each ingredient plays its part and so you can make adjustments for your preferences.
- To adjust servings, click on Shopping List. From there, you can also check off ingredients you don’t need to buy and print your shopping list.
- The Shopping List is divided by section in the store where you might find the needed ingredients.
- You’ll notice a section the shopping list titled Homemade. The items listed in this section are for super easy and uber-delicious homemade sauces, spices, and other items that are cheaper and tastier if you make them yourself. You’ll find their recipes in The Week’s Recipes. Don’t feel obligated to make the homemade equivalent if you don’t have the time or inclination; simply purchase a commercial equivalent instead. The ingredients to make these homemade items are included in the grocery list. If you decide NOT to go the homemade route, be sure to adjust the portions of those items in the recipe list to remove those ingredients from the shopping list.
- Print Recipes will generate one file of all recipes back to back. If you’d like to print just one recipe or print them one per page, click the recipe name, then click print under the image. You can always access these from your device if you don’t want to print anything.
- Download this printable Weekly Meal Planner PDF to help you strategize your week.
Meal Prep Tips:
All the meals in this meal plan can be made in advance. If you like to meal prep, know that you can prepare each of the recipes to reheat later. In the case of the sandwiches, make them only one day in advance and be sure to add the mayonnaise right before serving to prevent the sandwich from getting soggy.
- Cook the chicken for the burritos and casserole. This is good in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze for longer storage.
- Shred the cheeses for the burritos, macaroni, casserole, caesar salad, and corn dish. Save time by buying cheese preshredded. Save money (sometimes) by shredding it yourself.
- Chop the vegetables: peppers, onions, and jalapeños for burritos; tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and pepperoncini for subs; onions, carrots, and celery for soup; broccoli for casserole. Store the vegetables separately by type in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Shred the cabbage and carrots for cole slaw or purchase a coleslaw mix. Prep the dressing. Store the vegetables and dressing in separate airtight containers in the fridge for up to four days.
- Cut the romaine and prep the dressing. Store the lettuce and dressing in separate airtight containers in the fridge for up to four days.
- Sauté the peppers, onions, and jalapeños for burritos. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. If you’re preparing the burritos to freeze, be sure to chill the vegetables before assembling the burritos.
- Steam the broccoli for the casserole. If you’re preparing the casserole to freeze, cool the broccoli before assembling the casserole.
- Bake the seed cakes. These will be good at room temperature, wrapped, for up to three days. For longer storage, cool, wrap, and freeze.
- The following recipes can be made in advance and frozen: burritos, soup, casserole, and seed cakes. Consider making double batches so that you can stash the extras in the freezer.
Ingredient Swaps:
It happens that sometimes you don’t like an ingredient or don’t have one that’s called for in a recipe. Here are some suggestions to swaps you can consider for this week’s meals.
- Turkey can be used in the recipes that call for chicken. So can canned chicken.
- Gluten-free or white flour tortillas can be substituted for the whole wheat tortillas in the burritos.
- If you prefer, you can use shredded jack or cheddar cheese instead of pepper jack in the burritos.
- The mac and cheese calls for Greek yogurt, but you can also use sour cream.
- If you don’t have macaroni on hand, you can use another short, tube pasta. Just be sure to adjust the cooking time according to the recipe notes.
- If you don’t care for mayo on your Italian sub, be sure to use Italian dressing instead. Other sliced meats can be substituted for the ham and salami.
- Any bean can be used in the place of the Great Northern Beans in the soup.
- Feel free to use frozen broccoli in the casserole if you don’t have fresh.
Which recipes do you love?
Be sure to leave starred reviews on the recipes so we know what you love. This helps us build better meal plans for you! Click on the recipe name and choose the number of stars you want to award the recipe.
Show us your meals!
Be sure to snap a photo of your meals this week and share on social media with the hashtag #goodcheapeats. We love it when you share your creations with friends and family!