All your meal planning for the week is done for you with Monday Menu! We’re making the best ever meatloaf (I’m not kidding) and Roast Beef Po Boy Sandwiches. Plus, there’s a breakfast, snack and dessert recipe to round out the week. Last but not least, I’m sharing the 3 planning strategies that make this week’s work!
This Week’s Secret To Success
- This week’s recipes were chosen based on variety, mix and match and shared ingredients. These are 3 strategies I rely on a lot when I’m deciding and planning what to make for dinner.
- Variety: When feeding a family, variety is important! Switching between casual meals (like sandwiches, tacos or pizza) and more Sunday-dinner type meals can make eating at home something everybody looks forward to.
- Mix and Match: Sometimes, I sit down and make a plan, full of energy and optimism, but then the week gets long or busy and my enthusiasm wanes. That’s when building a little “mix and match” into the plan comes in handy.
- For instance, this week, you could just make 1 of the macaroni dishes and serve them with both meals. Both recipes make plenty for 2 meals.
- Shared Ingredients: If you’ve been here long, you know this is a favorite. It makes shopping easy, cuts down on waste and can help you meal prep. We’ve already mentioned the macaroni.
- Buy a large box and save money.
- Boil all the macaroni at once.
- Put the cooked macaroni for the second recipe in a zip top bag and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it later in the week.
- You could also do the same with the bell pepper and onion required for the macaroni salad and the corn maque choux. Dice it all at once, and you’re one step closed to a completed recipe when the time comes!
A successful meal isn’t just about tasty or convenient recipes. Making the food is only half of the dinner equation!
So, don’t forget to make a plan for you table this week!
Here are some of the things I keep on hand to set the table. I use many of them week after week. And having a few things you really love and on the ready is THE KEY to making meal time special and inviting others over for dinner stress free.
I am STILL LOVING filling the scalloped wooden bowl with little knit pumpkins for an easy centerpiece! It’s the perfect touch of fall. As a matter of fact, I love these little pumpkins so much, I’ve purchased 2 extra sets so far and gifted them to friends!
- 4 piece pumpkin salad plate set
- artisan matte colored dinner plates
- wooden scalloped bowl
- brown linen hemstitch table runner
- gracious brown dinner napkins by Hen House Linens
- retro brown handle silverware
- cozy knit pumpkins (see how I styled these last Monday Menu with a navy table)
- hand blown colored wine glasses
Menu 1- Roast Beef Po' Boys
A Roast Beef Po Boy is a Louisiana favorite, chock full of rich, fall-apart beef roast bathed in its own debris gravy, wrapped in crispy, light French bread and dressed to the nines with creamy horseradish, lettuce, tomatoes and Provolone cheese. Serve it with Sweet Potato Wedges this week for a casual meal that hits the spot no matter how busy your family is (crock pot instructions included)! Make a macaroni salad or share the macaroni & cheese with Menu 2 if the week gets busier than you expected.
Menu 2- Best Meatloaf Ever
Classic meatloaf done right is one of those ultimate comfort foods that always hits the spot. And this recipe has one or two secret tricks that truly make it the best meatloaf ever! Moist, tender, loaded with flavor, plus the perfect texture and a caramelized, smoky glaze, this is traditional southern meatloaf! Serve it with a baked pepper jack macaroni & cheese (or share the macaroni salad from Menu 1) and a Louisiana Creamed Corn Maque Choux for serious comfort.
Dessert This Week
Coconut macaroons are a wonderfully easy and fabulous little treat. After all when your main ingredients are sweetened coconut and condensed milk, how can you really go wrong? But make them a Coconut Thumbprint Macaroon by filling them with raspberry jam and dipping them in dark chocolate… well, now you’re talking an indulgent kind of delicious!
Breakfast Made Easy
This Overnight Breakfast Burrito Casserole turns breakfast burritos stuffed with spicy sausage, hash brown potatoes and cheese into an easy, make ahead casserole that can feed a crowd! Soaked in eggs and cream and topped with extra cheese, this casserole means you make breakfast once and are ready to go all week long!
Snack of the Week
Oh yeah! This southern-style queso dip is everything. Perfect for easing into fall. Perfect for game days and tailgates. Spicy ground sausage, diced tomatoes and green chiles + tender collard greens takes the standard crock pot cheese dip and gives it a hearty new southern flavor!
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