Meal Plan Monday

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Hey there Monday, why do you seem to creep up so quick in the summer?! Friday night rolls around and I swear I blink my eyes and it’s Monday morning. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess:) We had a pretty great week over here. Georgia started day camp and Saturday was my brother’s graduation party. (He graduated from U of I so we had BIG reasons to celebrate!)

I think I said last week that I was going to bust the crockpot out a lot this week but I didn’t go that direction. I used it once to make Chicken Tortilla Soup (a variation of my Slow Cooker Chicken Chili) but I didn’t get a chance to pull any great summer slow cooker recipes. Instead, I made quick and easy dinners most nights.

The Plan

The Follow Through

I actually stuck to the plan perfectly this week! Everything on the plan got made, just not in the exact order I planned. The breakfast bubble bake was a super quick and easy casserole that one of my best friends created after my meatball bubble bake. Thanks, Bec! I will be getting the recipe to you guys ASAP! The Garlic Chicken Pasta was actually a Costco find that I’m seriously obsessed with. It was on sale for $5.99/bag and one bag was enough for two dinners. I’m going to stock up on a few of those for summer.

The chicken enchiladas were made with dark meat pulled from a rotisserie chicken and a packet of Frontera Enchilada Sauce. I love this enchilada sauce because it’s super tasty and not too pricey. This quick and easy dinner takes less than 30 minutes but tastes like you’ve been slaving over the stove all day. Our takeout meal was ordering from a local restaurant on Friday; I got a chicken Caeser wrap and mashed potatoes:)

Kitchen Essential

While I was using my favorite knife sharpener this week I realized I really wanted to tell you guys about it! So I’m going to start highlighting some “kitchen essentials” that I love in the Meal Plan Mondays every week. This sharpener is not only extremely easy to use but it gets your knives super sharp! The best part is it’s only $6 and it has a 4.4-star review on Amazon with 9000 reviews. When someone first recommended it to me, I was super skeptical because of the price. My last sharpener was about $60. I figured $6 was a meager investment to give it a try and I was pleasantly surprised.

A lot of time people think they have a subpar knife when in reality they just have a dull knife. You can sharpen any run of the mill knife and get great results in the kitchen. This sharpener legit takes 2 minutes to use and yields a razor sharp blade. All you have to do it run it a few times through the coarse side and then a few more times through the fine side. Check out this video an easy for a tutorial! If you’re chopping is lacking, I highly recommend giving this sharpener a try.

Next Week

Next week will probably be a few slow cooker meals, more quick and easy dinners and leftovers. I think something we don’t do enough is leftovers every week. That not only makes dinner easier but also keeps the grocery budget down! I hope you guys have a great week and please let me know in the comments what you have on the plan this week.