Meal Plan 30: July 16 - 22 - Restless Chipotle

This week's meal plan is focused on quick and easy because who wants to spend time in the kitchen when it's there's so much to do outside?

Jump to:

📅 Food Holidays
🫑 What's in Season?
🍹This week's cocktail
💭 Tips for success
July 16
July 17
July 18
July 19
July 20
July 21
July 22
📚 Related recipes

📅 Food Holidays

We celebrate a couple of fun food holidays this week. They're silly little holidays but it gives us an opportunity to make some memories and have some fun!

July 16 National Ice Cream Day and I have plenty of great ice cream recipes!
July 19 National Daiquiri Day is the perfect excuse to sip this smooth, silky, and sweet banana daiquiri.
July 21 National Junk Food Day gives us permission to eat all our favorite snacks. My favorite? Little Debbie Zebra Cakes!

🫑 What's in Season?

A better question might be, "what isn't in season?"

Everything is ripening and coming into the Farmers' Markets now. It's fresh, in season, and at it's best. Make the most of these fresh flavors.

Apricots
Beets
Bell pepper
Berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries)
Chiles
Corn
Cucumber
Eggplant
Figs
Green beans & Wax beans
Mangoes
Melon
Nectarines
Okra
Peaches
Pineapples
Plums
Radishes
Tomatoes
Zucchini and yellow squash

🍹This week's cocktail

Pineapple Sangria

Tropical pineapple sangria is fruity and sparkly, light and refreshing with a touch of coconut and ginger.

💭 Tips for success

This week's recipes are so easy that there aren't many things you can do to save more time. Here are my thoughts -

If you've got leftover chicken tenders you can crisp them up in the oven and use them for your spicy chicken biscuits.
Make extra cole slaw and use it to top bbq sandiwiches made with the beef barbacoa and some bbq sauce.
Leftover zucchini bread? Make French toast with it! Don't soak it too long or it will fall apart - just a quick dip.
Y'all already know how I feel about meatloaf sandwiches it's worth making extra to have leftovers for sandwichs as far as I'm concerned.
If you have leftover cabbage you can make a quick meal by warming it up with sliced smoked sausage.
Black eyed pea salad can also be used as a salsa with chips.

July 16

Popeye's Chicken Tenders

These chicken tenders are better than the ones at Popeyes! So crispy on the outside and tender on the inside!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Sweet and spicy roast sweet potatoes are the perfect side dish for this meal!

Pink ice cream made from frosted animal crackers in a ice cream glass.

Circus Animal Cookies Ice Cream

I loved the frosted circus animals as a kid so I made an circus animal ice cream out of them! You'll love it!

July 17

Meatloaf

Old fashioned meatloaf is tender and juicy with a sweet and tangy glaze. If you have time some cornbread goes great with this dinner! Leftovers? Meatloaf sandwiches!

Fried Cabbage

I could eat fried cabbage all day every day. Tender cabbage and onion are cooked down with bacon grease. SO good.

Closeup of zucchini bread slices for feature image.

Pineapple Zucchini Bread

This isn't really a dessert but I love this pineapple zucchini bread served warm as a side dish with some cinnamon butter.

July 18

Meatballs glazed with a garlic sauce in a white bowl.

Honey Garlic Meatballs

These honey garlic meatballs are so good that it's hard to believe they take just 30 minutes!

Scoop being removed from squash casserole to show inside texture.

Yellow Squash Casserole

This southern side dish is a summer classic! Yellow squash casserole is creamy and gooey comfort food.

Closeup of the cake for the recipe card and feature image.

Strawberry Angel Food Cake

Dessert doesn't get easier! This strawberry angel food cake starts with a cake from the store!

July 19

Smothered Chicken

Believe it or not smothered chicken is a quick and easy meal!

Fried Potatoes

Old fashioned fried potatoes are so good with this chicken dinner because they soak up all the extra gravy.

A plate of cookies with chocolate filled centers.

Earl Grey Thumbprints

These thumbprint cookies are crumbly and buttery with a middle that has a delicate chocolate and earl grey flavor.

July 20

Close up of a biscuit with fried chicken on it and melted honey butter dripping from it.

Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits

I usually make these spicy honey butter chicken biscuits for brunch or a snack but why not have them for a fun (and easy!) dinner!

Cole Slaw

Creamy and tangy cole slaw is addictive as far as I'm concerned.

Chocolate Pudding

Once you taste homemade chocolate pudding you'll never -ever go back to the instant pudding!

July 21

Beef Barbacoa

This beef barbacoa cooks low and slow in the crockpot and you can use it for anything from tacos and burritos to bbq sandwiches. It makes a lot and freezes well.

A bowl of. black-eyed peas shown from the top with a lime slice.

Black Eyed Pea Salad

Black eyed pea salad is sometimes called cowboy caviar. The earthy flavor of the black eyed peas blends beautifully with cilantro and spicy jalapeno.

An apple cake with a slice taking out of it.

Irish Apple Cake

I usually think of this apple cake for St. Patrick's Day but it's so good all year. Not too sweet with a delicious whiskey brown butter sauce.

July 22

Taco Spaghetti

SO easy! One pot taco spaghetti has become the most popular recipe on the blog since I shared it with y'all a couple of months ago. It's cheesy, gooey comfort food.

Overhead view of a bowl of green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and red onions created for the feature image of this post.

Marinated Green Bean Salad

This easy green bean salad is best if it's made a day ahead of time.

Pie with a bite removed to show the creaminess of the filling.

Millionaire Pie

Millionaire pie is a vintage recipe that I grew up with and ordered it at Furr's cafeteria every chance I got! Tropical and creamy - you're going to love this easy, no bake dessert.

📚Easy Weeknight Dinners!

Who doesn't need more easy, weeknight dinner recipes? Check out these 30 family friendly, budget friendly family dinners that are freezable, make-ahead, and can be on the table in minutes.