I know the weeks when school starts back can be stressful and chaotic as you adjust to a new normal. I wanted to create a meal plan of simple, yummy and quick recipes for that first week back to help make the transition as smooth as possible for you, mama!
Plus, we curated a bundle straight from the farm that provides all your protein needs for this meal plan, you can snag it here thru the month of August.
Monday: Crock Pot Tacos from The Prairie Homestead
Tuesday: Garlic Spatchcock Chicken & Veggies from The Whole Kitchen Sink
Wednesday: Sausage Alfredo Garden Pasta from the kitchen of Shenk Family Farm
Thursday: Chicken Fried Rice from the kitchen of Shenk Family Farm
Friday: Breakfast for dinner from the kitchen of Shenk Family Farm
Saturday & Sunday: leftovers
Monday - Crock Pot Tacos
from the Prairie Homestead
This recipe is great because you can throw in the frozen meat and all the other ingredients in the crock pot in the morning and let it cook all day. Then all you have to do when you get home is prep your favorite taco toppings!
Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef (frozen is fine)
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
7 oz can mild green chilis
1 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1.5 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1.5 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
your favorite taco toppings: lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsa, quac, etc.
hard or soft tortillas
Instructions:
Place all ingredients in a slow cooker.
Cook for 2-4 hours on HIGH until the meat is completely brown. Checking it once or twice to give it a stir and to break up the meat. If it finished cooking before you need it, turn the crock pot down to LOW or WARM until you’re ready to eat. If you plan to start it in the morning, you can cook the taco meat on LOW for 6-8 hours.
Serve with tortillas or hard shells and your favorite taco toppings.
Enjoy!
Tuesday - Garlic Spatchcock Chicken & Veggies
from the Whole Kitchen Sink
This recipe uses one of our spatchcock chickens, which simply means that the chicken is cut along the back so that it’ll lay flat, cook faster and the skin will be deliciously crispy all over! With only 15 minutes of prep, this meal is ready to eat in just an hour! If you don’t have ghee, you can just butter, olive oil or lard.
Ingredients
large spatchcock chicken (you’re using leftover shredded meat for meal on Thursday!)
4 tablespoons ghee, butter or olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons lemon juice, or 1/2 lemon
1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups quartered gold potatoes or red potatoes
2 cups halved Brussel sprouts
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Butterfly chicken by removing backbone and then laying flat, breast side up. Put chicken onto a rimmed sheet pan and tuck in the wings under the bird so they don’t burn while baking.
Place minced garlic onto a cutting board and mince even finer until you can use the flat edge of a knife to make into a chunky paste. Combine that in a small bowl with the ghee and the rest of the spices except lemon juice
Rub mixture all over entire chicken and under the skin on breasts and thighs. Reserve 1-2 tablespoons of mixture and set aside.
Bake chicken for 15 minutes and remove from the oven. Reduce the heat to 400 degrees F. and place potatoes around the chicken. Sprinkle the potatoes with a pinch of salt.
With the remaining mixture, use a spoon to rub the rest onto the chicken and dab a bit on the potatoes. Return sheet pan to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
Then, place the Brussels on the sheet pan and flip over the potatoes. Gently mix around the vegetables to allow the ghee mixture to lightly coat the Brussels. Squeeze the lemon juice over the Brussels and potatoes. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the internal temp of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F.
Remove from the oven and enjoy!
***Make sure to shred all your leftover chicken and save for chicken fried rice on Thursday. I usually try and reserve 1-1.5 cups chicken. Also, you can add all your scraps and bones to a crock pot, cover with water, add 2T. apple cider vinegar and cook on low for 12-24 hours, strain and save for broth for fried rice meal as well.
Wednesday - Sausage Alfredo Garden Pasta
This meal can be ready in just 20-30 minutes! You can even chop your sausage links and veggies ahead of time to make meal time easier.
Ingredients:
16 oz. farfalle pasta or pasta of your choice
1 zucchini, chopped into bite size pieces
1 red pepper, julienned
1 cup carrots, julienned (I slice baby carrots in half lengthwise)
1 head broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
1-2 T. lard or butter
1 package Shenk Family Farm smoked bell pepper & onion sausage links
1 jar alfredo sauce, 15 oz.
optional: grated parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes
Instructions:
Fill a large stock pot with water about half way, sprinkle in salt and bring to a boil
While you’re waiting for water to boil, go ahead and chop veggies and sausage links.
Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add lard to coat the bottom. Once hot, add sausage to cook. You’ll know it’s done when you see a good sear on the sausage coins, about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Once water is boiling, add the pasta.
Add veggies to boiling pasta during the last 5 minutes of cooking. It’ll take a few minutes to get back to boiling. Once back to boiling, set timer for 5 minutes.
Once pasta & veggies are boiled, drain in a colander, add back to pot and add alfredo sauce. I usually add a bit of water to the jar, add lid and shake to get every last bit of sauce. If you let it sit a bit before serving, the extra water will evaporate and your sauce will still be thick :)
Once sausage is cooked, dump into the pasta & veggies (I don’t even drain, I find the lard adds extra creaminess to the dish, it’s not greasy I promise!)
Mix well, season with salt & pepper to taste and serve with grated parmesan & red pepper flakes if desired.
Enjoy!
Thursday - Chicken Fried Rice
This meal uses leftover shredded chicken and broth from Tuesday’s meal and can be ready in just 20-30 minutes.
Ingredients
1 cup rice
2 cups chicken bone broth or water
1 T. lard or sesame oil
1 small diced onion (roughly ½ cup)
1 and ⅓ cup frozen or fresh diced veggies (peas, carrots, etc.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 eggs, beaten
1 cup shredded chicken
3 T soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Bring broth to a boil with a bit of butter or lard, this helps it not to stick. Add rice. Cook rice according to instructions, roughly 15-20 minutes.
Heat wok or large skillet to medium high, add oil or lard. Once oil is hot and shimmery, add onion and veggies.
Saute for a few minutes or until veggies are slightly tender. Add garlic and saute another minute.
Make well to cook and scramble eggs in. Once cooked, mix eggs in.
Add chicken, rice and soy sauce to wok and mix in. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!
Friday - Breakfast for Dinner
This will obviously change depending on how many are in your family and how y’all like your eggs cooked, but this is usually what we enjoy on these “breakfast for dinner” evenings:
Scrambled eggs with cheese
Sausage patties (we make 6-7 patties with 1lb of breakfast sausage)
Fresh fruit
Toast (or blueberry pancakes if you’ve got the extra time)
Shopping List:
Back to School Bundle from Shenk Family Farm:
spatchcock chicken
smoked bell pepper & onion sausage links
2 lb ground beef (from our friends at Piney Woods Farm)
1 dozen eggs
breakfast sausage
lard
*only available thru the month of August
From the store or your favorite local farmers:
*you may have a lot of this on hand already
Produce
2 small onions
lettuce & tomatoes for tacos
2 T. minced garlic
2 cups quartered gold or red potatoes
2 cups halved brussel sprouts
2 T. lemon juice
1 zucchini, chopped into bite size pieces
1 red pepper, julienned
1 cup carrots, julienned (I slice baby carrots in half lengthwise)
1 head broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces
1 and ⅓ cup frozen or fresh diced veggies (peas, carrots, etc.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Fruit for breakfast for dinner
Canned Goods
14.5oz can diced tomatoes
7 oz can mild green chiles
Spices
salt
pepper
ground cumin
chili powder
garlic powder
smoked paprika (regular paprika is fine too!)
thyme
rosemary
optional for sausage pasta: red pepper flakes
Pantry items:
tortillas or hard shell tacos
salsa for tacos
16 oz. farfalle pasta or pasta of your choice
1 jar alfredo sauce, 15 oz.
1 cup rice
3 T soy sauce
optional for breakfast for dinner: bread for toast
optional for breakfast for dinner: pancake ingredients (flour, baking powder, sugar, milk, egg, butter) or mix for breakfast for dinner
Dairy:
Shredded cheese for tacos
Sour cream for tacos
Shredded cheese for eggs for breakfast for dinner
optional for sausage pasta: grated parmesan
Oils/Fats:
1 stick butter
1 T. lard or sesame oil