So it seems that ever since Corona virus hit things have been a little crazy in everyone's world. For me one thing that happened was that I couldn't count on getting a lot of the regular meal items I was used to getting. I wanted to minimize time at the store, and the number of stores I went to. We as a family also found that Aldi seemed to always be the best stocked store and the least busy, which helped to limit our exposure. Because of this I would go to the store with a list in mind hoping I could find certain items but sometimes having to change it while at the store. Aldi also doesn't have the same selection of HEB so we couldn't always find the right ingredients for meals so I had to try to plan accordingly. We stocked up and froze a lot of chicken and ground beef, as well as some shrimp, fish fillets, pork tenderloin and pork chops. This gave us a base for a lot of meals that I will list below. The night before I move anything frozen that we are planning to use to for dinner the next night to the fridge so its ready to go. I also keep a list of meals handy that we can choose from depending on schedules and weather to try to help make sure I freeze items before it goes bad, or maximize the fresh produce we did buy. Overall, I feel like we have been doing well with a variety of meals, including several of our favorites and changing up the menu each night. You will notice a lot of repeats (meat marinated with Lawry's- seriously guys these are the easiest and best mariates for both meat and veggies, roasted broccoli- the toddler will eat almost an entire head of broccoli by herself but won't touch a green bean, tacos- yes we love all kinds of tacos and mexican food and probably eat them at least once a week). We've really been enjoying spending time and eating meals on our back patio so we have been trying to grill as much as possible when the weather is nice. We also often serve the meals with whatever fruit is lurking in the fridge along with the listed sides.
Hope you enjoyed my ramblings on how we are surviving dinners in this awesome predicament we are all in....and maybe gained some inspiration for you meals next week!
Here is a list and recipe links to some things we have had lately in case you are in need of some inspiration:
Chicken:
Grilled chicken (marinated in lawry's marinates), asparagus risotto (aldi package), steamed asparagus
Grilled fajita chicken, peppers and onions and black beans
Chicken kebabs (lawry's marinate), grilled and skewered with peppers, red onion, mushroom and served over rice
Chicken Enchiladas - also froze two portions for after baby arrives
Pork:
Italian sausage, ravioli and sauce with Ceasar salad
Pork chops (marinated in Lawrys), grilled veggies (whatever we have on hand but usually a mix of peppers, squash, mushroom, onion) mashed potatoes
Pork Schnitzel (frozen from Aldi), mashed red potatoes, brown gravy, roasted broccoli
Brats with penne pasta and zucchini/squash/Cannelini beans pasta sauce
Smoked sausage with browned cubed hashbrowns and a can of green beans tossed in BBQ sauce
Pork Tenderloin, Roasted broccoli and Zucchini, au gratin potatoes
Beef:
Hamburgers/fruit/fries
Hamburger helper/salad
Nachos, (refried beans, browned ground beef and cheese baked at 350 for 20 mins) then topped with lettuce, tomatoes and avocado and served with chips
Tacos with refried beans
Spaghetti and frozen meatballs with marinara sauce and salad
Seafood:
Shrimp Tacos
Shrimp Po Boys
Pretzel crusted Flounder (frozen from aldi), roasted sweet potatoes with everything bagel seasoning, broccoli
Soups:
Previously frozen tomato with tortellini soup
Previously frozen gumbo over jasmine rice
Previously frozen Thai Coconut Curry Soup with a side of potstickers (frozen from Sam's club)
