Our Fall/Winter Meal Rotation

It’s fun getting older. You figure out what works and what doesn’t work for you, and you can really hone in on having a life that {mostly} runs smoothly using the systems you’ve put in place for your home! A meal plan is one such system that helps life run a little better without always having to think about what the family is going to eat next.

You’ve heard me say it before, I loathe meal planning…with a passion! I don’t want to do it…AT. ALL! That hasn’t changed over the past fifteen years, but what has changed is HOW I plan. I was in need of a meal plan that I don’t have to plan! Ha! Is that even possible?

Well, it is kind of…find out how to meal plan without having to plan right here!

In the meantime, let’s dive into our favorite dinner recipes! (They are divided into daily anchors which you can find more about here.)

Sandwiches (Monday)

I crave quick on Mondays because it’s just an off day trying to catch up from the weekend and planning ahead for a new week. Enter sandwiches…whatever sandwich sounds good that day, that’s what we’re having!

Gilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Sloppy Joes with potato chips and salad

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes with homemade fries

Pulled Pork with corn bread

Quick French Dip Sandwiches with homemade fries

Cold Cuts with potato chips and salad

Burgers with homemade fries

Wraps with potato chips and salad

Tacos/Mexican (Tuesday)

Can Tuesday be anything else? I like this one because we have several good taco and Mexican recipes. Here are some of my favorites.

Taco Salad with chips and salsa

Fajitas with mexican rice

Fajita Quesadillas (a favorite for that left over fajita filling) with chips and salsa

Southwest Quinoa Stuffed Peppers with chips and salsa

Street Tacos (Chicken or Carne Asada) with cilantro lime rice and Mexican Street Corn Salad.

Taco Casserole with chips and salsa

Nachos Grande

Leftovers or Quickies (Wednesday)

Another day that I’m desperate for a quick meal…because prayer meeting and Bible Study! Think a quick chicken salad meal with rotisserie chicken and bagged chopped salad from the deli section at your local grocery store. This is my current favorite because it’s very quick and pretty healthy to boot! Add a slice or two of buttered bread to fill up your husband.

I know smoothies aren’t a very winter-y choice, but we can still get away with them here in VA during the fall. They probaby won’t be my first choice for dinner when frigid temps hit, unless I’m sitting cozy in front of the fire!

Chicken Salad (Rotisserie Chicken and Bagged Salad)

Smoothies (Strawberry/Banana; Berry; Pineapple Mango; Mango Blueberry)

Baked Potato Bar (butter, salt, sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon, green onion)

Ham and Cheese Quesadillas (literally ham, cheese and BBQ sauce—so easy, but here’s a similar recipe)

Naan Pizzas

Soup (Thursday)

Does anything scream fall more than a savory bowl of warm soup?! I have been looking forward to this season just for the soups. I mostly use my instant pot for these, and can I convince you to make your own bone broths? It’s so much healthier and tastier and not hard at all!

Also, I can’t talk about soup or broth without sharing this fantastic tool for leftovers!

Whole Body Chicken Soup (I have my own recipe, but this is very similar, just watch cook time. You want 6 minutes per pound of chicken.) with homemade bread and salad

Butternut Squash Soup with sourdough and salad

White Chicken Chili with tortilla chips

Ham, Potato, Corn Chowder with sourdough and salad

Cheeseburger Soup with homemade fries

Zuppa Toscana with sourdough and salad

Homemade Pizza/Company (Friday)

Friday night is the best night for us to have company over. Here are our favorite crowd pleasing, belly-filling meals. If we’re not having company, it’s family night…and with that comes homemade pizza!

Grilled Pizza Dough

Chicken Shawarma

Million Dollar Spaghetti

Baked Potato Bar (See Above under Quickies)

Street Taco Bar…or any kind of taco bar (See Above under Tacos)

Meat and Potatoes (Saturday)

My husband is a meat and potato man. This meal is especially for him. A roast, honey mustard or garlic honey chicken, mini meat loaves, any kind of meat goes. Potatoes really means starches. You’ll mostly find potatoes or rice making up the starches in these well-rounded dinners.

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole with homemade fries and favorite fry sauce

Pot Roast with Veggies and homemade bread

Roast Chicken with roasted veggies and Rice

Honey Mustard Chicken and Veggies over Rice

Mini Meat Loaves and Baked Potatoes or Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Honey Mustard Chicken (Recipe shared on Instagram)

Egg Roll in a Bowl with Rice

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole with blistered green beans

Beef and Potato Casserole (no canned soups)

Million Dollar Spaghetti (See recipe above) with Caesar Salad and Texas Toast

Pork Chops with mashed sweet potatoes and blistered green beans

Tater Tot Casserole with salad

Instant Pot Beef Stew (This is another good recipe I like to use as well.)

Filipino Chicken Adobo with Rice

Leftovers or Out (Sunday)

Sundays are a crazy day for us. We are typically home on Sundays for a whopping one hour in the afternoons—two if we are lucky. Because of this, I make it a point to cook a good, big meal on Saturday so that we have some quick, easy leftovers that still feel like a special Sunday dinner.

Sunday Snack: Since we usually eat at weird hours on Sundays, we are usually starving by the time we get home from church in the evening. Our go-to Sunday evening snacks are chips and salsa (might even get fancy and make Nacho Grande by spreading some chips out on a baking sheet and sprinkling them with cheese and onion, then baking till cheese melts and serving with sour cream, salsa, and whatever other good toppings we have on hand), or if we get home early enough, my husband also enjoys making us kettle corn.

Notes:

• Anytime you make a savory dish that calls for water (such as rice or quinoa), replace with bone broth. Trust me!
• I urge you to learn to make your own bone broth, it makes a HUGE difference in the flavor of your meals! However, it’s wise to keep boxed broth on hand just in case it’s needed for a recipe and you don’t have any homemade broth ready to go.
• My favorite fry sauce is so tasty and can be used for many different things. It makes for a wonderful dip as well as a sandwich and burger topping and even a salad dressing! I don’t have measurements, but it’s just a little mayo, a little sour cream (that’s your base, so make sure there’s enough there), add a squeeze of siracha (spicy, so don’t add too much!), garlic powder and salt to taste. Then add water to desired consistency. It’s just the best!
• I do not like sweet potatoes, but mashed sweet potatoes are amazing! You make them just like regular mash potatoes with butter, sour cream, salt and pepper and whatever else you like to add to your mashed potatoes.
• There are not a lot of pasta recipes here because I cannot eat pasta! (Bummer!) But hopefully you’ll find most of these meals to be pretty healthy…and if it’s not healthy I usually adapt it. (e.g. switch out soy sauce for coconut aminos, switch out spaghetti noodles for spaghetti squash, etc.)
• Any type of recipe using sandwich bread or flour tortillas, I switch out for my favorite Siete grain-free tortillas for myself.
• You can pretty much make any recipe healthier by switching out bad ingredients for a healthier option.

I hope you found some new meal ideas. Here’s to an enjoyable, cozy fall season filled with delicious and savory food! Happy Cooking!

Sarah