End of School & July: A Week Long Menu Plan on a Budget

I also bought some lunch items/snacks/stock up: 4 packs of Jell-O/pudding, pretzels, 2L gingerale, Ritz crackers, Crispers, 3 jugs or juice, 4L OJ, 2 boxes of KD, milk, trail mix, apples, bananas, strawberries, and body wash.

1lb pork loin:
I had a large pork loin I bought for $1.99/lb we cut it into 4 meals = $2.98/meal

1 lb ground beef (not extra lean so I’ll make sure I drain!)
$14.27 for 4lbs = $3.56/lb
This week I need 1 lb of ground beef = $3.56

Bacon on for $3.99

3 chicken breasts:

I bought 7 breasts for $23.00 (split in 2 meals) = $11.50/meal

If you have followed my meal plans for a while, you will notice that I pretty much stick to a formula. I think Sunday should be a family dinner that properly ends our relaxing weekend and prepares us for the week ahead. My summer comfort meals are different than any other season, in summer I like light meals, BBQ meals and lots of vegetables/salads! This Sunday dinner was incredibly easy, tasted delicious and satisfied my Sunday summer comfort craving, perfectly!

Place in the fridge to marinate for at least 1 hour.

Monday:

Every second week or so I throw a breakfast meal into our dinner plans. It is something a little different, it’s always quite easy and everyone in the house likes breakfast. In fact I’m pretty sure it’s SBean’s favourite meal of the day! This week I tried a sheetpan dinner and it was AMAZING! We may never go back to all the pans, timing and bacon and egg mess ever again! This would be perfect if you are having guests and want to serve up a lot of bacon, eggs and hash browns at the same time. The herbs give this dish the perfect amount of savoury deliciousness that makes this dinner a winner!

Sheet Pan Breakfast Bake
Adapted from Damn Delicious

1 package frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon dried basil
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup cheese, shredded
8 slices bacon
6 large eggs
3 tablespoons Parmesan, grated
2 tablespoons chives, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray. Place hashbrowns in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Stir in butter, olive oil, thyme, basil, oregano and garlic powder and gently toss to combine; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with cheese.

Place into oven and bake until the edges begin to brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Remove from oven and create 6 wells (I did 5 because HBear wasn’t home for dinner that night). Gently cracking the eggs throughout and keeping the yolk intact. Sprinkle eggs with Parmesan; season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place into oven and bake until the egg whites have set and bacon is cooked through, an additional 10-12 minutes.

Place bacon into the air fryer at the same time you put the eggs into the oven and bake until crispy 10-12 minutes.

Add bacon to the eggs and garnish with chives.

Tuesday:

Tacos is a go to dinner for us. We eat some version of tacos at least twice a month. Sometimes we use ground pork or chicken. Sometimes we use hard shells sometimes we use soft shells. Sometime we forgo shells and make a salad with the ingredients or better yet we make our tacos into, nachos! 😂 This week I bought a hard/soft shell package so Ninja had hard shells, the kids had soft shells and I tossed all the stuff in a bowl and made a salad! I also made the chicken quinoa bowls ahead of this and used the leftover avocado crema, it was delicious!

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

This was my favourite dinner this week! I think 😂 Well, it tasted delicious and I immediately added it to our August menu so I guess we all liked it, a LOT. This meal comes together in 15 minutes and is summer in a bowl! All the bursts of flavour and the tangy marinara sauce make this the perfect summer pasta dish!

Cheese Tortellini with Summer Veggies
Adapted from Cooking Classy

1 package three cheese tortellini
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 can corn, drained
2 cups grape tomatoes

1 pepper (I had an extra pepper so I threw it in)
1/2 zucchini, sliced into half moons
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jar marinara sauce
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil to cook tortellini, cook tortellini according to directions on package.

In a deep skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute 3 minutes. Add corn, tomatoes, zucchini and garlic peppers and sauté until veggies are tender and many of the tomatoes have burst, about 6 to 8 minutes longer. Once veggies are cooked, add marinara sauce to pan.

Drain the tortellini. Transfer tortellini to the pan with sauce and veggies. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Toss in parmesan, the basil and the parsley.

Thursday:

Just joking, THIS was my favourite dinner! I think 😜. This sandwich was so good! The roasted red onion mayo is so good I ate mouthfuls of it right off the spoon! This is a perfect dinner on a hot day or the perfect picnic lunch on a big afternoon. Ninja ate 2 and was satisfied while 1 delicious sandwich was enough for me.

Adapted from Diary of a Recipe Collector

6 slices of bacon
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
6 croissants
1/2 cup mayo
12 slices of deli ham
12 slices of deli turkey
6 slices of cheese 
leaf lettuce
1 sliced tomato

Preheat oven to 425.

Lay bacon on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Place chopped red onion on another sheet pan and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Put both bacon and onions in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

Split croissants in half and place under broiler for a few minutes. Watch it carefully.

Mix 3/4 onion mixture with 1/2 cup mayo.

Spread onion mayo on both sides of toasted croissant.

Top bottom with 2 slices of ham, 2 slices turkey, 1 slice cheese, 2 slices of bacon. Place under broiler to melt cheese.

Top with lettuce, a slice of tomato, leftover onions and top of croissant.

Friday:

I don’t even want to say it but guys, this was my favourite dinner too 🤣. I love a dinner that tastes amazing, requires no dishes and my Kids eat up without one complaint! This is truly summer eating! Toss everything into a foil packet and onto the BBQ and you have yourself a delicious and easy summer dinner! Perfect for those lazy summer days! We added some grape tomatoes to our packets because I love the party in my mouth when the little tomato gems burst with flavour when I bite into them! We also added some broccoli and cauliflower that we had in the vegetable drawer from last week.

Sausage & Potato Foil Packets
Adapted from The Recipe Critic

1 package 12 ounces smoked sausage, sliced
3/4 pound baby potatoes, halved
1/2 zucchini, diced
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, chopped
3/4 tablespoon dried oregano
3/4 tablespoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons butter, separated
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded cheese
Parsley, chopped

Preheat the grill to high heat.

Toss the sausage and veggies with the dried oregano, dried parsley, garlic powder, and paprika. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Separate the mixture evenly among 4 large sheets of foil.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter in each foil packet on top of the veggies.

Completely seal the packet and cook on the grill for 25-30 minutes or in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until veggies are crisp tender.

Remove from the heat and carefully open. Sprinkle parsley and cheese evenly among the foil packets.

Saturday:

This one of those dinners that I make often. It is SO good! I love quinoa. I love the texture, the flavour and the different option from rice. Slight problem though, my family isn’t on the quinoa train with me. This is 1 dish where they will make an exception though! Actually, no one in my family likes avocados either 😂 BUT this avocado Crema is a game changer! When you mix up the BBQ chicken, the quinoa, the fresh veggies and the cooked veggies WITH the Crema… OMG this is incredible! If you want to see full instructions with pictures click on the link below and it will take you to my original post. The post has a warning label attached to it, I don’t know why. I talk about fears lingering from the pandemic so maybe that’s why? Anyways, it’s safe to open! Or you can just follow the recipe below for this amazing summer dinner!

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowls with Avocado Crema

1 cup quinoa
2 tablespoons oil, separated
3 chicken chicken breasts, cut into pieces
3 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn
1 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped (HBear ate them all so we didn’t add tomatoes)
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup diced onion
1 avocado, peeled
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 of a lime, juiced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Purée the avocado, sour cream, lime juice, and cilantro your food processor. Thin with water as needed until it’s a drizzling consistency.

Cook quinoa according to package directions.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil to pan on medium heat. Add chicken strips, season with salt and pepper and cook until no longer pink. Move chicken to a plate/bowl.

Add remaining oil to pan on medium heat. Add corn and beans and saute until softened. Add green onions and cook for a minute or 2 more.

Pour BBQ sauce onto chicken and toss. In 4 bowls, equally divide the quinoa and barbecue chicken. Top with the black beans, corn, and peppers. Garnish with cilantro and drizzle with the avocado crema.

This was HBear’s dinner. She REALLy wanted me to take a picture and promise to post it. So, here it is! 💛

The week started out rough. I spent the day in bed resting after golfing the previous day. Tuesday I was feeling a lot better and was able to see SBean receive her grade 5 completion certificate. The assembly was very nice with a beautiful slideshow presentation. On Wednesday I was back in bed but Ninja was able to go see SBean’s readers theatre presentation. She was the meteor that killed the dinosaurs 😂. Her teacher gave them all the coolest graduation gift and PrettyP turned 6! I took the Kids to meet my Sis and her Kids in West Kelowna for a pedicure to celebrate a great year! Kindergarten, grade 4, grade 5 and grade 9… DONE! We finished off our treat with Timmies! HBear thinks it’s hilarious to take super unflattering pictures of her Momsies 😂 and Oliver has found his new favourite spot! JQ and my SIL got in on Canada Day and jumped right into summer! We took Oliver to the dog park, and went to RibFest with the family. We did yardwork, had some pool play, cotton candy skies and did a 20ish km bike ride down the KVR! It was the perfect way to celebrate the long weekend! We ended it with a trip to The District Wine Village, the beach and or course…. Tickleberry’s!