26 Oct Dinner Planning for the Week – sample ideas

It can be harder to have healthier meal options when traveling, but by thinking ahead around what is available nearby and what you can bring, it’s totally possible.

Context matters with everything, especially nutrition. It is so important you take into account how many people you are preparing meals for and what your schedule is through the week. What days you have more flexibility and what days are straight out.

There is no right way, it’s just making it work for you. I thought I’d share with you what this past week looked like for us with dinner planning.

We are going to my sister’s house out of state this weekend and did some dinner planning ahead of time so we are all on the same page and can work as a team to make it happen. We typically don’t go out to eat when we are there and really enjoy being home for meals together.

Everyone wakes up at different times, so breakfast is open to what each person wants. We have the typical staples, eggs, toast, oatmeal, fruit, Greek yogurt, granola, peanut butter, oat muffins, etc.

Lunches are also often leftover foods we have from dinners or sandwiches, stew, tuna salad. Some people may pick up things they want. And my sister lives two minutes from a grocery store which is nice!

Snacks we usually have options ready like carrot sticks and hummus, rice cakes with peanut butter, banana, chocolate chips, Greek yogurt with berries, apples, protein bars (Rx bars), crackers and cheese, grapes, oatmeal muffins.

Dinners we have together and make this meal more intentional.

To give you context for us this particular week. My husband, is home for dinner Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I am on my own for dinner Wednesday and Thursday. Friday through Monday I am traveling and staying with my sister out of state.

We decided on three dinner meals and he is preparing some of the stews and sauces ahead of time. So we can just piece together dinners when we are there with picking up fresh bread, fresh fish, cooking pasta, veggies, etc.

We will typically decide the formal protein component of the meal first. Then add in veggies and carbs.

We often buy veggies based on what is in season. You can identify this pretty easily at the grocery store based on what looks fresh, better quality and is priced lower. From there we will pick and choose what meals we incorporate them with. 

Carbs we will do a potato option, whole grain or pasta. The potatoes we will change up the cooking method (baked, mashed, roasted). Pastas we will add different sauces, like pesto with peas, or tomato sauce. Grains, we will either keep relatively plain and add a dressing, or do something like rice and beans, and use the sauce from sautéd peppers and onions to add flavor.

Plan ahead for the weekends also!

Here is the game plan for the week.

Sunday

Protein: salmon, chicken
Chris doesn’t eat salmon but he makes it for me, so we also make an alternative protein on nights we have fish. Then I will use leftover chicken from dinner for future meals for myself.
Veggie: we buy a variety of veggies based on what is in season / looks good / is on sale.
So we often just pick and choose as the week goes. This night we did asparagus.
Carb: typically will just choose a whole grain from the pantry (barley, farro, brown or white rice). This night we did white rice with black beans. White rice has minimal fiber, so black beans are a great way to add fiber and a plant based protein.
Flavor: then will either add veggies to the grain, add sauces, and other condiments.

Just because you are using whole foods, doesn’t mean it can’t taste good. Flavor your food with seasonings and sauces!

Monday

Protein: Strip steak – grilled
Veggies: Broccoli, arugula
Carb: Couscous
Fat / flavor: Goat cheese, dressing

Tuesday

Protein: Pork tenderloin
Veggies: Carrots, bok choy
Carbs: Edamame (and plant protein)
Roasted Sweet potato / butternut squash (leftovers for future meals)

Wednesday/ Thursday

Jennie on her own
I typically keep it simple, and won’t cook anything formally. I will utilize leftover protein, veggies and carbs from earlier in the week.
Or will do eggs on toast with pesto and greens.

Friday

Traveling out of state (4 hr drive)

Protein: beef stew
will bring instant pot with beef stew in the car, ready to just heat up for dinner
Veggies: Green beans
Carbs: mashed potatoes / fresh bread (also lots of root veg and barley in beef stew)

Saturday

Ratatouille (made ahead)
Roasted, smashed mini potatoes
Fresh white fish, shrimp (pick up that day from local market)

Sunday

Protein: Turkey & sausage meatballs (made ahead)
Flavor: Marinera sauce
Carbs: Protein plus spaghetti (made fresh)
Veggie: broccoli / salad

There will be six of us each night for dinner and my niece is three, so having dinner ready at a reasonable hour is super important to keep everyone happy and nourished 😀
We also have two additional people joining for dinner on Saturday, and we will just buy the amount of fish and seafood that day fresh.

We have a family group chat going about dinner planning and different people can take on different roles with picking up ingredients, cooking the last minute items, setting the table and cleaning up. It works super well and makes meal times much more enjoyable!