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Home › Monday Menu
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Monday Menu #169- Taco Pasta Salad & Cheesy Meat & Potatoes

Stacey Pirtle

by Stacey Published: Mar 4, 2024

This post may contain affiliate links.

This week, getting dinner on the table is easier than ever with these tasty ground beef recipes! Hearty Meat & Potatoes Ranch Au Gratin is one of those soul satisfying comfort meals that’s loaded with flavor, while Taco Pasta Salad with Creamy Avocado Dressing brings a twist to taco night everyone will crave.

Collage of ground beef recipes to make dinner easy this week when meal planning.

This Week’s Secret To Success

This recipes are perfect to make in the same week! They share a lot of the same ingredients which make grocery shopping so much easier- a favorite meal planning strategy around here- and they balance your time in the kitchen so cooking doesn’t feel like such a big chore every meal time.

  • You’ll need 3 pounds of ground beef this week, so buying a single larger package and browning all of the meat at once will make your grocery shopping and meal prep so much easier!
  • Ground turkey is also a tasty substitute for either of this week’s meals.
  • Buying and prepping produce is also easy this week! Buy enough tomatoes for both salads and chop them all at the same time, so you’re ready to go for both recipes.
  • The same goes for your green onions. 3 recipes use them this week, so you’re sure to use them all with no waste!
  • Lastly, it’s great to mix it up at the table– a family style dinner one night and a casual meal later in the week. This ensures you’ll always be serving someone’s favorites!

Menu 1- Meat & Potatoes Ranch Au Gratin

This layered, cheesy meat & potatoes casserole is made even better with the zestiness of Ranch dressing baked right into the cheese sauce. This is a quintessential comfort food, family dinner recipe that is sure to become a regular at your dinner table! This week, we're serving it with quick side dishes to make this an easy meal to get to the table.

Meat & Potatoes Ranch Au Gratin

Green Salad with Creamy Mayo Vinaigrette

Shortcut Pull Apart Rolls

Menu 2- Taco Pasta Salad & Avocado Dressing

Taco Pasta Salad is loaded with savory, seasoned ground beef, black beans, tomatoes, green onions, corn and jalapenos. Tossed in a cool, creamy avocado cilantro dressing with a squeeze of lime, this is an easy Tex Mex meal paired Olive Stuffed Cheesy Bread!

Taco Pasta Salad with Avocado Dressing

Easy Stuffed Olive Cheese Bread

Dessert This Week

Love chocolate covered strawberries?  Then these Strawberry Jam Brownies are definitely calling your name!  This rich, berry-licious homemade brownie recipe is over-the-top loaded with strawberry jam, cheesecake, chocolate chips & chocolate cookies.  Pair it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and you may have found your dessert heaven!

A pan of strawberry jam brownies

Making Breakfast Easy

Enjoy deliciously easy breakfast sandwiches any day of the week with tasty Sausage Egg Crescent Breakfast Bundles!  Tender, flaky crescent rolls wrapped around fluffy scrambled eggs with cheese and link sausage make the perfect on-the-go breakfast, but are also pretty enough for brunch!

Here’s What We’re Snacking On

The classic combination of peanut butter and crackers get a chocolate snack mix overhaul with quick and easy Ritz Bits Muddy Buddies.  Dangerously delicious, it’s hard to stop once you crunch into that very first one!  With just 5 ingredients, this simple treat is fun to make, fun to eat and perfect for holidays, quick gifts, parties, game days and weekends at home!

overhead view of 2 bowls of ritz bits muddy buddies snack

New To Monday Menu?

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Filed Under: Monday Menu Tagged With: family meals, meal planning

Meet Stacey

Southern Discourse is a place where you can find southern family dishes, along with special recipes & table settings. Bringing connection & friendship back to the table by wrapping everything in the faith & grace from which true hospitality springs! Read More

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Meet Stacey

Southern Discourse is a place where you can find southern family dishes, along with special recipes & table settings. Bringing connection & friendship back to the table by wrapping everything in the faith & grace from which true hospitality springs! Read More

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