This week, we’re making chicken pot pie, smothered cube steak, panko crusted cod, slow cooker ham, and beanie weenies for supper. There’s Texas sheet cake for dessert, too!
Five dinners, two open nights, and one night for leftovers. Every dinner has a side to go with it, and the grocery list at the bottom adds everything up for you so you’re not flipping between recipes in the store.
Click the dinner and side dish names to open the full recipes.
This week’s menu
| Night | Dinner and sides |
|---|---|
| Night 1 | Chicken Pot Pie + a bagged green salad |
| Night 2 | Smothered Cube Steak + Fried Potatoes and Onions |
| Night 3 | Leftovers or eat out |
| Night 4 | Panko Crusted Cod + Macaroni and Tomatoes |
| Night 5 | Slow Cooker Ham + Sweet Potato Crunch |
| Night 6 | Beanie Weenies + Easy Homemade Biscuits |
| Night 7 | Open night. Use what you have or make a family favorite. |
Dessert: Texas Sheet Cake
Night 1: Chicken pot pie and a green salad
We’re starting with chicken pot pie because it serves six and it reheats beautifully. That’s the whole reason it’s on Night 1. What’s left goes straight into Night 3.
It calls for 3 cups of cooked chicken and two refrigerated pie crusts, so there’s no dough to make. A rotisserie chicken from the deli covers the filling in about five minutes of pulling meat off the bone.
A bagged salad is plenty alongside it. The pie has vegetables in it already.
Allow: 25 minutes to put together and 35 minutes in the oven.
Little tip: brush the top crust with the egg wash. It’s the difference between a pale crust and a golden one, and it takes ten seconds.
Night 2: Smothered cube steak and fried potatoes
Smothered cube steak is onion gravy over tender beef, and it’s one of the cheapest cuts at the meat counter. Forty minutes start to finish.
Fried potatoes and onions cook in a skillet right alongside it. Two pans, one burner each, done at the same time.
Allow: 40 minutes for the steak, about 25 for the potatoes.
Little tip: slice the potatoes a quarter inch thick and no thicker. Thick slices steam instead of browning.
Night 3: Leftovers or eat out
Let’s see what’s in the fridge! There should be pot pie from Night 1. Nothing new to buy.
Night 4: Panko crusted cod and macaroni and tomatoes
Panko crusted cod is the quickest dinner of the week. Season it, press on the panko, bake it. No frying, no splatter.
Macaroni and tomatoes is the old-fashioned kind, cooked right in the broth so the noodles soak up the flavor. The recipe serves eight, so the grocery list below buys for a half batch. Make the full pot if you want leftovers, it’s good cold.
Allow: about 20 minutes for the cod and 25 for the macaroni.
Make it easier: frozen cod works fine here. Thaw it in the fridge the night before and pat it dry before seasoning.
Night 5: Slow cooker ham and sweet potato crunch
Four ingredients go in the crock pot and you end up with glazed ham that tastes like a holiday. Brown sugar, maple syrup, a spiral-cut ham, and a can of pineapple.
Because the ham is in the slow cooker, the oven is free for sweet potato crunch, which is the pecan-topped casserole you’d see at a church dinner. It serves twelve, so the list buys for a half pan.
A 3 to 4 pound ham will leave you leftovers. That’s on purpose. Ham sandwiches are a free lunch all week.
Allow: a few hours in the slow cooker for the ham, about 45 minutes for the sweet potatoes.
Night 6: Beanie weenies and homemade biscuits
Beanie weenies is the cheapest supper in this plan and the one the kids will ask for again. It’s three cans of baked beans, a package of hot dogs, and a handful of pantry seasonings.
Homemade biscuits on the side make it feel like a real supper instead of a shortcut. They take 25 minutes and the recipe makes ten.
Allow: 30 minutes for the beans, 25 for the biscuits.
Make it easier: canned biscuits work. Nobody will say a word.
Night 7: Open night
Open night. Use what you have or make a family favorite.
Something sweet: Texas sheet cake
Texas sheet cake serves fifteen, which means it’ll last most of the week unless your family is quicker than mine.
It’s a thin chocolate cake baked in a sheet pan, and the warm icing goes on while the cake is still hot so it sets into the top instead of sitting on it.
Allow: 15 minutes to mix, 20 minutes to bake, and time for the icing to set.
The walnuts in the icing are optional. Leave them out for picky eaters.
A little preparation before the week starts
- Pull the meat off a rotisserie chicken and refrigerate it. Night 1 needs 3 cups.
- Thaw the cod in the fridge the day before Night 4 and pat it dry before seasoning.
- Night 5 needs the slow cooker going earlier in the day. Put it on a night you’ll be home.
- Cook the sweet potatoes ahead if you can. They need to be fork-tender before the casserole goes together.
- Let the butter for the sheet cake come to room temperature. Cold butter makes a lumpy batter.
Already using my Dinner Theme System? These dinners can fit right into the themes you’ve chosen.
Grocery list
Everything below is added up across all five dinners, the sides, and the cake. Where two recipes use the same thing, I’ve combined them so you’re buying the right amount once.
The note after each item tells you what it’s for, so if you’re skipping a night you know what to leave off the list.
Produce
- ☐ 1 sweet onion: chicken pot pie
- ☐ 2 large yellow onions: cube steak, fried potatoes
- ☐ 1 bunch celery: chicken pot pie
- ☐ 4 red potatoes: fried potatoes and onions
- ☐ 2 lb sweet potatoes: sweet potato crunch, half pan
- ☐ 1 lemon: panko crusted cod
- ☐ 1 head garlic: fried potatoes
- ☐ Fresh parsley: cod, cube steak garnish
- ☐ 1 bag green salad: Night 1
Meat and fish
- ☐ 3 cups cooked chicken: pot pie. One rotisserie chicken covers it.
- ☐ 1½ lb cube steak: about 4 pieces
- ☐ 1 lb cod filets: 4 pieces
- ☐ 1 (3 to 4 lb) precooked spiral-cut ham: slow cooker ham
- ☐ 14 oz package all-beef hot dogs: beanie weenies
Bread, dairy, and eggs
- ☐ 2 lb butter: uses about 6¼ sticks across the pot pie, cube steak, cod, sweet potatoes, biscuits, and the sheet cake. Most recipes call for unsalted.
- ☐ 1 dozen eggs: uses 5, for the pot pie wash, sweet potatoes, biscuits, and cake
- ☐ 1 pint half and half: pot pie, sweet potato crunch
- ☐ 1 cup buttermilk: biscuits, uses ¾ cup
- ☐ ½ pint whole milk: sheet cake icing
- ☐ 8 oz sour cream: sheet cake, uses ½ cup
- ☐ Grated parmesan: 1 tablespoon for the cod
- ☐ Stick of margarine: biscuits, 2½ tablespoons. Butter works if you’d rather.
Cans, jars, and frozen
- ☐ 1 (32 oz) carton chicken broth: pot pie, macaroni and tomatoes
- ☐ 1 (32 oz) carton low-sodium beef broth: cube steak
- ☐ 2 refrigerated pie crusts: one 14.1 oz box
- ☐ 1 cup frozen peas and carrots: pot pie
- ☐ 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes: macaroni and tomatoes, half batch
- ☐ 1½ cups elbow macaroni: half batch
- ☐ 1 (20 oz) can pineapple chunks in juice: slow cooker ham, do not drain
- ☐ 3 (16 oz) cans original baked beans: beanie weenies
- ☐ ⅓ cup plain panko crumbs: cod
- ☐ ½ cup chopped pecans: sweet potato crunch topping
- ☐ 1 cup chopped walnuts: sheet cake icing, optional
- ☐ ⅓ cup pure maple syrup: slow cooker ham
Check your pantry: sauces, baking ingredients, and seasonings
- ☐ All-purpose flour: about 5 cups
- ☐ Granulated sugar: 2 cups
- ☐ Brown sugar: about ¾ cup, plus 1½ cups dark brown for the ham
- ☐ Powdered sugar: 4 cups for the icing
- ☐ Cocoa powder: about ⅔ cup
- ☐ Cooking oil: about 5 tablespoons
- ☐ Honey: 1 tablespoon
- ☐ Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard
- ☐ Apple cider vinegar: 1 teaspoon
- ☐ Vanilla extract: about 4 teaspoons
- ☐ Baking powder and baking soda
- ☐ Mrs. Dash Table Blend: 2 teaspoons for the cod
- ☐ Dried thyme, dried basil, dried parsley
- ☐ Cinnamon and nutmeg
- ☐ Garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, cayenne, crushed red pepper
- ☐ Salt, kosher salt, black pepper
- ☐ Cooking spray
- ☐ Equipment: slow cooker, deep skillet, sheet pan, 9×13 pan, pie dish, baking sheet
Optional extras
- ☐ Vanilla ice cream: for the sheet cake
- ☐ Green onions: for the fried potatoes
- ☐ Extra lemon: for the cod
Want a month at a time?
These come one week at a time, and they always will. If you’d rather have four weeks in hand, I put them in a printable PDF with the grocery lists already made.
Want another week of dinner ideas? Browse all of my easy weekly meal plans.
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