Last week’s meals included two vegetarian meals, my favorite salmon, a bowl of comforting butternut squash-based soup, an Instant Pot fail (oops!) and some super easy throw-together eats. Hopefully one of the below meals pops out at you if you’re looking for some dinner inspiration to add t o your weekly meal plan!
Week of Weeknight Meals: October 2021
Monday: Baked Rotini
(I forgot to snap a pic on my phone other than the one I shared directly on Instagram Stories so that’s where this one was from!)
I wasn’t sure what to made for dinner on Monday night since we were low on groceries so I used some pantry staples to make a batch of baked rotini. First, I cooked up a box of rotini on the stovetop and then added jarred marinara, shredded cheese and Italian seasonings to the mix. I then poured the pasta into a baking dish, topped it with additional shredded cheese and baked it at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until the cheese melted. After topping it with a bit of fresh parsley, we were good to go!
Tuesday: Butternut Squash Green Chili Chicken Soup (via Ambitious Kitchen)
This recipe was a delicious find. I love butternut squash-based soups, especially this time of year, and this recipe did not disappoint. I ended up making it in the Instant Pot and after sautéing onion, garlic and zucchini (the zucchini was my addition), I added all of the remaining ingredients and pressure cooked it on high for 15 minutes. The only other change I made was to use frozen cubed butternut squash in place of fresh to make things a little easier. I also mashed it up a bit with my spoon once it was done cooking because I prefer a thicker broth and loved the was the butternut squash almost dissolved into the broth giving it a velvety texture. The end result was a flavorful batch of soup that was perfect for a chilly fall night!
Wednesday: Maple Ginger Salmon with Ginger Sesame Broccoli and Brown Rice Mixed with a Daily Harvest Cremini + Miso Oat Bowl
This meal was one of my favorites of the week! It was so flavorful and every aspect of this meal just worked together in a wonderful way. I paired baked maple ginger salmon (I prepped it using my maple ginger salmon marinade) with ginger sesame broccoli (aka my favorite way to prepare broccoli of all time) and a rather random grain-based side dish. For our second side, I stirred a Daily Harvest Cremini + Miso Oat Bowl into some fluffy brown rice I prepared in chicken broth and fluffed up in a bit of butter. The miso flavor from the oat bowl was amazing and I added a bit of frozen peas to the grains before serving them with our salmon and broccoli. I was just bummed there were no leftovers after this meal for me to enjoy for lunch the next day!
Thursday: Instant Pot Ranch Chicken (via Berley’s Kitchen) with Brown Rice and Sautéed Zucchini
This meal was not my favorite of the week but I cannot fault the Instant Pot ranch chicken recipe because I veered from it quite a bit. I already had a bunch of cooked rice on hand that I made earlier in the week so I omitted the rice from the recipe and I think that’s where I went wrong. I tried to adjust the amount of liquid accordingly but ended up with some seriously soupy ranch chicken. It wasn’t the best and I definitely wouldn’t recommend modifying the recipe like I did if you try it. On the side we had brown rice and zucchini sautéed in butter and garlic salt. At least the sides were decent!
Friday: Simply Nature Lentil Soup with Grilled Cheese
The boys were craving grilled cheese last Friday night and that sounded good to me, too, so I made a bunch of grilled cheeses for the family and served them with a side of ALDI’s Simply Nature organic lentil soup. (I added peas to the soup but that was the only way I altered it.) I think this meal wins top prize for the easiest meal of the week!
Question of the Day
What was the best thing you ate for dinner last week?
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How does Rhett do with his grilled cheese? I would love to see more of Rhett’s meals since my daughter is close in age!
Hi Cori! I cut it into long strips for it and he really likes it! I know this sounds gross but he also loved the lentil soup mixed with cottage cheese — he’s obsessed with cottage cheese and I like that it can be mixed with sweet or savory foods for him.
Ohhh thanks! My daughter loves cottage cheese too – good idea! Sometimes I mix cottage cheese with marinara for pasta and she loooooves that.
I was so curious about what you do for Rhett with these recipes also. Do you omit salt and/or cut things up differently for him? Our baby (toddler?) boy is 2 weeks older than Rhett and I am definitely trying to figure it out as a first time mama.
Thanks and love these posts!
Hi! I used to be wayyy more diligent about omitting salt, etc. but now, for the most part, Rhett gets smaller, cut-up portions of what we eat! If it’s something like a soup or a chili, I’ll often mix it with plain yogurt or cottage cheese because he LOVES both of those things!
My daughter is almost 10 months so I love seeing how you accommodate Rhett. My daughter loves cottage cheese and yogurt toot. I feel like she would eat anything I mixed with either of them. Great tip!
Hi Julie! Wondering if you are still using a photographer for your other posts or if you’re back to doing it all on your own? Just curious. Love your blog!
A bit of both! My go-to photographer (Laura — here’s her personal blog if you want to check it out –> https://www.sprinklesandseasalt.com/) is taking a break from food photography at the moment because her family portrait business is really booming this time of year. It’s all me right now but photography is definitely not my passion so I may be looking for help again soon depending on when Laura can return!
Hi Julie,
What kind of cheese did you use for the baked rotini? How much did you add in to it and then on top? Also – how much Italian seasoning did you use? I’m learning to cook and feel like I need a recipe 😊