Our Back to School Meal Plan

Our Easy Back to School Meal Plan will help take some things off your plate, and make the “what’s for dinner” question just a little easier.

The first month of school is all about survival. Your kids will need supplies, books and new shoes, which will be destroyed by Christmas. There will be many many forms to sign. The drop off lanes are going ot be bonkers as everyone settles back in. YOU need a meal plan.

Our Back to School Meal Plan breaks down an exact menu for you to follow and how to tackle it, so your time in the kitchen is minimal. We even have a grocery list, to make it mindless. This helps you stick to the ingredients you need which will ease confusion and limit waste and unnecessary spending. 

Our Back to School Meal Plan Tip 1: Make a plan

Back to school is a time like no other. It is not the time to find romantic fall recipes and meander around Whole Foods looking for “what’s new”. It is a time to get things done. However, a lot of the time, things like dinner can feel daunting. Amongst the other things you have to do, now there is deciding what to make for dinner and doing the mental gymnastics of ingredient lists and food logistics.

Don’t worry. We made a plan for you. It’s three weeks of dinner plans for Monday through Thursday. If you don’t like some of the recipes, fee free to pick and choose what you want to use. We tried to pick things that would allow for it to feel “fresh” but also strategically so that leftovers can be used accordingly. There’s also always an Air Fryer or Instant Pot recipe in the plan. Just substitute the recipe if you don’t have one, or let us know and we can make the adjustments for you!

When I have a hectic week ahead this is exactly what I do. I plan every bite and stick to the plan. It makes my life so much easier. I switch up the flavors and textures but everything is pretty simple. So if I have one day with a lot of ingredients the next day is minimal ingredients and less prep. I alternate air fryer recipes, the Instant Pot and sheet pan meals through out the week.

Ani

 Back to School Meal Plan Tip 2: Maximize your time

One of the best tips we can give you when you are cooking is to organize the timeline of things in your mind so that it will run smoothly. There is a way to attack the recipes so that you are making the most of your time. What does this mean?

First, always start cooking the part of the meal that is going to take the longest. While this part of the recipe is cooking, it will free you up to work on the next step. We are using the downtime to maximize the time in the kitchen.

For example: If I am making picadillo, rice, beans and salad (a typical weekday dinner) I will start with the beans. While they simmer away to intensify their flavor, I can then make the picadillo. Once the picadillo has settled, move on to the rice. Lastly, assemble the salad.

Making the beans first gives you the largest window of time to work on everything else.   

Back to School Meal Plan Tip 3: Quick and Easy

The goal is to keep the cooking to less than an hour every night, start to finish. The truth is, with this plan, most nights are less than 45 minutes.

If you are following the game plan and find yourself in the kitchen for more than an hour it may be because of the prep, but stick to it. The more you do something the faster you will become.

Everyone asks for the same thing – recipes that are “quick and easy.” The menus we have come up with for the first month of school prove that dinner doesn’t have to be boring and tasteless in order to keep everything easy.

Back to School Plan Tip 4: Mix & Match

The menus are designed so you can work off similar ingredients in one week and build from one day to another. Feel free to mix and match if you prefer another side or if you want to switch one day for another. There are some days with more prep than others and even some menus that you can make earlier in the day if your evening is complicated.

If you have extra time on Tuesday start prepping for another day in the week. This way you are not overwhelmed on one day. 

Remember you can sub out for whatever your family prefers. We know that not every family likes the same things. Some great recipes that have are not in this rotation but could work great on the weeknight are:

Let’s take a week at all three weeks:

Now that you have taken a look at what all three looks would be like, we have broken each week down day by day, to help demonstrate how to organize yourself so you can be as efficient as possible. You will also see that we try to guide you on when to make extra rice, or protein throughout the week to be used later in another dish.

Our hope here is to be helpful and try to alleviate the stress. If anything feels like too much or you think your family wouldn’t like it, then definitely move on. Don’t fight an uphill “eat your dinner” battle right now. Keep your family’s taste preferences in mind. We are here if you want to bounce some ideas off of, just leave a comment or reach us at team@abuelascounter.com

Back to School Plan Week 1:

Week 1 Grocery List:

Back to School Plan Week 2

Week 2 Grocery List:

• 2 pounds ground beef, turkey or chicken
• 5 yellow onions
• 6 bell peppers (it can be combination of peppers such as red, poblano and cubanelle)
• 30 cloves of garlic
• ½ liter of olive oil
• 1 tube or can of tomato paste
• 1 bottle of sazon
• 1 bottle of vino seco
• 2 quarts of chicken broth
• 2 carrots
• 1 potato or sweet potato
• green olives with some brine
• 1 tablespoon of golden raisins 
• 1 zucchini
• 2 cups of baby spinach
• 2-15 ounce cans of black beans (we like Kirby)
• 16 oz of riced cauliflower, frozen or fresh
• 2 bunches of parsley
• 5 chicken sausages
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 2 sprigs of oregano
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes
• 1 small can of tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 12 ounces of orzo 
• 1 pint of heavy whipping cream
• 4 ounces of mascarpone
• 12 ounces of parmigiano
• 1 bunch of basil
• 1 large bag of mini peppers
• 4 salmon filets with skin on (6-8 oz each)
• Garlic seasoning salt
• Lemon pepper seasoning
• 1 bunch of chives
• 16 oz of white rice
• 3 limes
• 4 to 6 thinly sliced top sirloin or top round steaks (if you like it very thin, you can ask the butcher to pass it through the tenderizing machine or you can pound them to make more tender and thin)

Back to School Plan Week 3

Week 3 Grocery List: 

• 1 bag of lentils
• ½ liter of olive oil
• 1 ½ can of diced tomatoes 
• 7 yellow onions
• 2 large celery stalks 
• 6 large carrots 
• 2 sweet potatoes 
• 1 bag of frozen/fresh kale or spinach 
• 1 quart of chicken stock
• Garlic Powder 
• Onion Powder
• Oregano
• 1 bunch of fresh thyme
• 2 bunches of parsley
• 16 oz of white rice
• 1 head of iceberg lettuce
• 1 yellow squash
• 1 zucchini squash
• 1 small fennel
• 6 green onions
• 1 large tomato
• 1/2 cup thick plain Greek yogurt 
• 1 package of fresh chives 
• dill weed
• dried chives
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• 1 lemon.  
• hot sauce (we like crystals or siracha) 
• 1 idaho potato
• 6 very thin pork chops
• Sazon completa 
• 18 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup of naranja agria or (1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice and 1/4 cup of lime juice) 
• 10 oz of quinoa
• 1 rotisserie chicken
• 2 limes 
• 1 orange
• 1 pound of pasta (spaghetti, linguini or rigatoni)
• 2 bay leaves
• Cumin
• 1 cup of diced ham or chorizo
• Tomato paste
• 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• Vino seco

May the odds be ever in your favor, friend!

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