This Week's Dinner Menu: August 23-29

Want to see how closely we followed this beautifully planned menu? Spoiler: we didn’t. Read the weekly update and watch the meal plan fall apart in real time.

If you're new here, I have spent the last 15 years creating recipes and meal plans. We planned out an entire month, week by week, and at the time, it was perfect, and just what our family needed. Now, things are a little different. We have the teenage boys- my son and his BFF, who stays with us often enough to count. They eat everything in sight and seem to consider leftovers a personal failure. I’m not saying they have hollow legs, but science has yet to provide me with a better explanation for where all that food goes. My 8-year-old is a tiny food critic with expensive taste. He’d eat sushi every day if I allowed it, craves carbs constantly, and will eat just about anything... as long as it’s the exact thing he wants at the exact moment, he decides he’s hungry.

After 15 years of meal planning, you’d think I’d have this down to a science. Unfortunately, no amount of planning can account for two bottomless teenage boys and an 8-year-old ordering from an invisible menu only he can see. Some weeks, dinner is carefully planned down to the last side dish. Other weeks, “Food” earns a legitimate spot on the menu and Saturday is officially a problem for Future Us. This week falls somewhere in between!

Sunday 8/23

Chicken Cutlets, Frozen Fries, and Celery

We’re starting the week with crispy chicken cutlets (deemed 'protein bars' in our home), easy frozen fries, and celery. Because apparently something green should make it onto the plate. I asked Joey what vegetable he wanted for dinner, and this is what he picked. Veggies are veggies, right?

Monday 8/24

Chicken Caesar Wraps

Chicken, Caesar salad, and dressing wrapped in a tortilla. Quick, easy, and hopefully something everyone will eat without complaining.

Hopefully, there is leftover chicken cutlets...

Tuesday 8/25

White People Tacos or Quesadillas

Nothing fancy here. Seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese, tortillas, and whatever toppings everyone will actually eat. They can build tacos, make quesadillas, or create some combination of the two.

I use my electric skillet to make tacos. This thing has saved me so much damn time cleaning dishes and the stove. For whatever reason, the teenager is like 'oohhhh, I can wash this' but can't wash a pan?

Wednesday 8/26

Leftovers

Open the refrigerator, find something we already cooked, and give it a second chance.

Thursday 8/27

OUT!

We have Back To School Night tonight. No cooking. No dishes. No complaints from me. Pizza sounds good.

Friday 8/28

Food

This is a placeholder because I cannot remember what we wrote down. There was a plan. It may come back to me eventually.

Saturday 8/29

Figure It the F Out

We made it through the week. Everyone is now responsible for locating and feeding themselves.

Will we follow this menu exactly? Probably not—but at least we started with a plan!

More Questionable Meal Planning

Next Week's Meal Plan