I live in a college town, which means it is the calm before the storm around here. Students have started coming back in a trickle, but next week is move-in week on campus (and for most apartments). This isn’t just a moderately sized college…we’re talking 40,000 students descending on our grocery stores all at one time! Now, I’ve lived here all my life, and know that Wal-Mart, Target, grocery stores, and even most restaurants are to be avoided at all costs during move-in week and the week after. But inevitably in years past, I’ve forgotten to go grocery shopping the week before and have to brave the crowds to go out and get the essentials.
This year, I decided to be smart about it! I actually planned out more than two weeks worth of meals, made a grocery list, and stocked up on everything we’ll need to get us through move-in week without any major grocery trips. (In theory!)
I am always searching for dinner inspiration, so I thought I’d share my list of dinner ideas with you in case you are, too! Some of the meals are recipes I’ve found online, and some aren’t, so I’ve included links where I can. I don’t like having specific meals assigned to specific days, so I just made the list of dinners and know that I have the ingredients on-hand to make them. Most of them don’t require fresh ingredients that will expire before I make them, but I will try to make a trip or two to the farmer’s market to pick up some fresh veggies to have on the side or put in a salad.
- Grilled Pizza, salad
- Crock Pot Salsa Chicken made into Quesadillas, mexican rice
- BBQ Chicken Salad, garlic bread
- Spaghetti and meatballs, texas toast, salad
- Crock Pot Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, veggie
- Spicy Sausage Chicken Pasta, salad
- Chicken Rice-a-Roni Bake, veggie
- Shepherd’s Pie (I use a bag of frozen mixed veggies), crusty bread, salad
- Fish sticks, mac n’ cheese, veggie
- Baked Chicken Teriyaki, baked sweet potatoes, salad
- Grilled BBQ Chicken Thighs (grill chicken and baste with your favorite BBQ sauce at the end), twice baked potatoes, veggie
- Swedish Meatballs (from a packet mix), mashed potatoes, veggie
- Pasta with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce, garlic bread, salad
- Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken, rice, salad
- Crock Pot Chicken Chili, rice, cornbread
I hope this list can help you answer that all-important (and oh-so-frustrating) question: What’s for Dinner?
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Your organisation is awesome! I love it! Will be pinning the list to come back to, I ask myself that question far too often and then think about it for the next five hours!! xx
I used to love planning meals, but it seems like now I just run out of ideas. Thanks so much for sharing some of your ideas! So smart to plan two weeks!
Great idea! I hope it works for you. I seem to not even be able to get it together for all week. Although most of the time we just deal with it and live without whatever was forgotten. Good luck!
Great list of dinner ideas! I’ll have to pin this for days I am scratching my head.
Great list!