a really simple meal plan v.20
winter's last hurrah + the harbinger of spring!
Today’s meal plan is sponsored by Thrive Market! Thrive is my go-to for pantry staples — I love knowing that everything I order will be ethically sourced and sustainable (and a ton of it is organic!), plus the ingredients are often cheaper than if I bought them from a traditional grocery store. I know a lot of you are Thrive shoppers too, so I’ve noted some ingredients used for these recipes that I almost always purchase through Thrive. If you aren’t a Thrive member and want to be, you can join through this link to get an extra 30% off your first order AND a FREE gift worth up to $60!
On Sunday we spring forward an hour, which means spring is in its way!(!!!!) The first few mornings are brutal, but the trade off is so worth it — I’m excited for sunny evenings eating dinner outside, post-school swims, working on our garden (never having to buy lettuce greens is my biggest goal!), and grilling absolutely everything.
This month’s meal plan features a handful of cozy late-winter meals and a dinner that stars the harbinger produce of spring: asparagus! Last month we heard from many of you that, when cooking through these meal plans, you like prepping one big recipe for lunches, then supplementing with any leftovers you have from dinners (versus cooking something unique for lunch every day), so we’re going to use that framework this month too.
As always, we’ve provided a shopping list organized by aisle! Like I said above, if the ingredient is one I typically stock up on through Thrive, we’ve linked to the specific product I use (though, of course, if you’re not a Thrive member, you can buy whatever brand you want from whatever store you shop at!).
These meals are written to feed four to six people. If you’re feeding one or two, you can halve the recipes or cut two meals from the line up. To modify the grocery list, copy and paste it into a new Google doc (or Note) and edit away to make it your own.
link to shopping list
MEAL PREP FOR LUNCHES: rainbow chicken chop
Heads up: this is a no-cook meal but it does require a lot of chopping!
We’re using cabbage and other hearty vegetables that keep their shape in the fridge even when dressed so it’ll stay good all week. The veggies and ramen noodles will soften a bit — but in a good way!
Omit the cashews when you’re meal prepping this. Sprinkle your bowl with them each day so they stay crunchy.
This recipe calls for a small head of green cabbage, but we’re also going to use green cabbage for our fried rice later this week so buy a really LARGE head of cabbage instead and reserve 1/2 of it for that meal. If there are only small heads at the store, buy two.
I recommend blocking off an hour and a half or so in the late afternoon (right after you grocery shop/have your groceries delivered, while your rotisserie chicken is still warm) to prep your rainbow chicken chop and cook the beef basil bowls at the same time. There’s a lot of ingredient overlap, so you’ll only need to pull out the ingredients and dirty your cutting board and chef’s knife once. You can also pull some of your rainbow chop ingredients out for basil bowls toppings — like shredded carrot, chopped cucumber, some mint leaves, cashews, etc.!
Thrive staples I use for this meal: cashews, sesame oil, and rice vinegar. I typically use Red Clay chili crisp, but last week a WTCer raved about the Fly by Jing brand, which Thrive carries.
DINNER DAY #1: beef basil bowls with coconut ginger rice
Double the rice — we’re going to use the second half of it to make fried rice later this week. Let the extra rice cool then store it in an airtight container in the fridge.
This is a note for anyone cooking for kids: If you have any leftover peanut sauce — even if it’s just a little bit — pop it in the fridge, don’t get rid of it! I always serve my big boys plain wontons with peanut sauce for dipping on nights I cook wontons in veggie broth, which is dinner two nights from now. See the “will my kids eat this?” note in the wontons recipe for more info on that.
Thrive staples I use for this meal: coconut milk, white rice, creamy peanut butter
DINNER DAY #2: roasted asparagus farro-tto
This is such a good intro-to-spring meal, with roasted asparagus and sweet green peas. I’m still proud of the dish-saving hack we use to cook the asparagus here!
Thrive staple I use for this meal: farro
DINNER DAY #3: wontons and veggies in curry broth
If you saved that peanut sauce to serve with plain wontons for your kids, here’s where you’ll use it.
Thrive staples I use for this meal:: Red curry paste (Mike’s is my favorite curry paste — FYI it runs on the spicier side of the curry paste spice spectrum!), rice vinegar
DINNER DAY #4: bacon salmon kimchi fried rice
Use the leftover rice you made on day one.
Does cooking two types of meat feel like too much for you today? Feel free to leave either the bacon or salmon out!
DINNER DAY #5: 30-minute chicken parm meatballs
We’re wrapping the week with a cozy and delicious 30-minute meal. I highly recommend plopping the skillet on the table with a big loaf of bread and digging in family style.
Thrive staples I use for this meal: Rao’s marinara (my pantry is literally never without Rao’s. I always test out new marinaras that hit the market to see if anything tops it, but IMO it’s still the best of the best), panko breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning, cooking spray
Yahoo! My meal plan for the week is done thanks to this. Can’t wait
We’ve started calling these salads of yours that get better with time “fridge salads”. With three kids and activities at all times on all the days having a fridge salad that we can eat at any point of the week has been such a game changer. They only last 2, maybe 3 days but knowing we have good food we all like at home has helped so much! And when it gets hotter than hell in Charleston, fridge salads will be the only meal Made at home.