This week, we’re making chicken and rice casserole, crock pot turkey breast, chili mac, school pizza, and lemon pepper salmon for supper. There’s Milky Way 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.
Two notes on this week. Night 2 is a small Thanksgiving, on purpose, so you can practice the turkey before the day that counts. And Night 4 lands on Halloween, so it’s chili mac and a cake made with candy bars.
Click the dinner and side dish names to open the full recipes.
This week’s menu
| Night | Dinner and sides |
|---|---|
| Night 1 | Old-Fashioned Chicken and Rice Casserole + green beans |
| Night 2 | Crock Pot Turkey Breast, Cornbread Dressing + Green Bean Casserole |
| Night 3 | Leftovers or eat out |
| Night 4 | Chili Mac + cornbread |
| Night 5 | School Pizza + a bagged green salad |
| Night 6 | Lemon Pepper Salmon + Air Fryer Butternut Squash |
| Night 7 | Open night. Use what you have or make a family favorite. |
Dessert: Milky Way Cake
Night 1: Chicken and rice casserole and green beans
Old-fashioned chicken and rice casserole is five minutes of work and then the oven does the rest. Everything goes in raw, rice included, and comes out an hour and twenty minutes later.
It serves six, which is why it’s on Night 1. Night 3 is covered.
A can of green beans alongside is plenty. Save your effort for Night 2.
Allow: 5 minutes to assemble, 1 hour 20 minutes in the oven.
Little tip: chicken thighs stay juicier than breasts through a long bake, and that’s what the recipe calls for. Don’t swap them.
Night 2: Turkey breast, cornbread dressing, and green bean casserole
This is Thanksgiving dinner on a weeknight, four weeks early, and that’s the point.
If the big meal makes you nervous, this is your practice run. Crock pot turkey breast cooks with potatoes and carrots right in the pot, so the slow cooker handles the part people worry about most. You find out now whether your turkey comes out dry, not on the day everyone’s watching.
Cornbread dressing and green bean casserole both bake around 350, so they share the oven while the turkey finishes.
The dressing needs four cups of crumbled cornbread. One sheet of Jiffy makes three cups, so bake it the day before or make a batch and a half.
Allow: 4 hours in the slow cooker plus 15 minutes to rest, and about 35 minutes for each casserole.
Little tip: write down what you’d change. That’s the whole value of a practice run.
Night 3: Leftovers or eat out
Let’s see what’s in the fridge! There should be casserole from Night 1 and turkey from Night 2. Nothing new to buy.
Night 4: Chili mac on Halloween
Chili mac is the right supper for a night you’re answering the door every four minutes. It’s one pot, thirty minutes, and it serves eight, so it holds on the stove while kids come and go.
Cornbread on the side if you have time. Nobody will mind if you don’t.
Allow: 30 minutes.
Make it easier: feed the kids early, before the costumes go on. Then the pot just stays warm for whoever wanders back through.
Night 5: School pizza and a green salad
School pizza is the rectangular cafeteria pizza, the one with the slightly sweet sauce and the cornmeal on the bottom. If you went to school in America, you know exactly what this tastes like.
It’s baked on a sheet pan and cut into squares, and it serves twelve. Leftover squares reheat well in the oven.
Allow: 10 minutes to put together, 25 minutes to bake.
Little tip: the cornmeal under the dough is what makes it taste right. Don’t skip it.
Night 6: Lemon pepper salmon and butternut squash
After a week of casseroles and pizza, lemon pepper salmon is a lighter night. Twenty minutes, five ingredients you already have.
Air fryer butternut squash with cinnamon goes in while the salmon cooks.
Allow: 20 minutes for the salmon, 25 for the squash.
Make it easier: buy the squash already peeled and cubed. It’s worth the extra dollar.
Night 7: Open night
Open night. Use what you have or make a family favorite.
Something sweet: Milky Way cake
Milky Way cake melts eight fun-size candy bars right into the batter, which makes it the obvious cake for the week the candy shows up in the house.
It serves twelve and the frosting is a chocolate and marshmallow cream mixture that sets up soft.
Allow: 20 minutes to prep, 35 minutes to bake, plus cooling before you frost it.
The pecans are optional, and so is the caramel drizzle on top.
A little preparation before the week starts
- Bake the cornbread for the dressing a day ahead. You need 4 cups crumbled, and one sheet of Jiffy makes about 3.
- Thaw the turkey breast in the fridge. Three pounds takes a couple of days.
- Night 2 needs the slow cooker going by early afternoon. Put it on a night you’ll be home.
- Night 1 is 1 hour 20 minutes in the oven, so start it earlier than feels necessary.
- Pick up the candy bars for the cake before the Halloween shelves empty out.
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
- ☐ 1½ lb yellow baby potatoes: turkey breast
- ☐ 2 medium carrots: turkey breast
- ☐ 1 bunch celery: turkey breast, cornbread dressing
- ☐ 1 small yellow onion: turkey breast
- ☐ 1 small sweet onion: cornbread dressing
- ☐ 1 red onion: chili mac
- ☐ 1 green bell pepper: chili mac
- ☐ 1 head garlic: turkey breast, dressing
- ☐ 1 lemon: salmon, for zest and juice
- ☐ 3 cups cubed butternut squash: buy it pre-cut if you can
- ☐ Fresh rosemary and thyme: 2 sprigs each, for the turkey
- ☐ Fresh parsley: dressing, salmon garnish
- ☐ Green onions: chili mac
- ☐ 1 bag green salad: Night 5
Meat and fish
- ☐ 1½ lb boneless skinless chicken thighs: Night 1 casserole
- ☐ 3 lb boneless skinless turkey breast: Night 2
- ☐ 1 lb ground beef: chili mac
- ☐ 1 lb Italian sausage: school pizza
- ☐ 4 salmon filets: 4 to 5 oz each, skin-on
- ☐ 4 slices bacon: green bean casserole
Bread, dairy, and eggs
- ☐ 1 lb unsalted butter: uses 2½ sticks, all for the Milky Way cake
- ☐ 1 dozen eggs: uses 5, for the dressing and the cake
- ☐ ½ gallon milk: green bean casserole, cake
- ☐ ½ cup shredded parmesan: Night 1 casserole
- ☐ 2½ cups shredded mozzarella: school pizza
- ☐ 16 oz shredded cheddar: about 3½ cups, for the chili mac, green bean casserole, and pizza
- ☐ 1 can refrigerated pizza dough: 13.8 oz
Cans, jars, and frozen
- ☐ 1 can cream of mushroom soup: Night 1 casserole
- ☐ 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of mushroom soup: green bean casserole
- ☐ 1 can cream of chicken soup: Night 1 casserole
- ☐ 2 (32 oz) cartons chicken broth: Night 1, turkey, dressing
- ☐ 2 cups vegetable broth: chili mac
- ☐ 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans: chili mac
- ☐ 28 oz diced tomatoes: chili mac
- ☐ 6 oz tomato paste: school pizza sauce
- ☐ 2 (14.5 oz) cans french style green beans: green bean casserole
- ☐ 1 can green beans: Night 1 side
- ☐ 1½ cups french fried onions: green bean casserole
- ☐ 4½ cups elbow macaroni: chili mac
- ☐ 1¼ cups white rice: Night 1 casserole, raw
- ☐ 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix: or two, you need 4 cups crumbled cornbread
- ☐ 8 fun-size Milky Way bars: plus extra for the top if you like
- ☐ 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips: cake frosting
- ☐ 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk: cake frosting
- ☐ 1 cup marshmallow cream: cake frosting
- ☐ 1 cup chopped pecans: cake, optional
Check your pantry: sauces, baking ingredients, and seasonings
- ☐ All-purpose flour: 2½ cups for the cake
- ☐ Granulated sugar: 2 cups, plus ½ tablespoon for the pizza sauce
- ☐ Powdered sugar: 2½ cups for the frosting
- ☐ Cornmeal: ¼ cup for the pizza crust
- ☐ Cornstarch: 2 tablespoons, for the turkey gravy
- ☐ Olive oil: about 7 tablespoons
- ☐ Cooking oil: 1 tablespoon
- ☐ Vanilla extract: 2 teaspoons
- ☐ Baking soda
- ☐ Rubbed sage: 1 tablespoon for the dressing
- ☐ Cinnamon: 1 teaspoon for the squash
- ☐ Chili powder and cumin
- ☐ Dried oregano, basil, rosemary, Italian seasoning
- ☐ Garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika
- ☐ Sea salt, kosher salt, black pepper
- ☐ Caramel ice cream topping: optional, for the cake
- ☐ Cooking spray
- ☐ Equipment: slow cooker, air fryer, sheet pan, 9×13 pan, large pot, baking dish
Optional extras
- ☐ Vanilla ice cream: for the cake
- ☐ Extra Milky Way bars: chopped, for the top
- ☐ Lemon slices: for the salmon
- ☐ Cornbread: for Night 4
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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