Tuesdays at the Table (5)

Sorry for this reallllllyyyy long post today, but I'm very excited about meal planning, saving money, and sharing with all of you!

I'm linking up with Cole for Tuesdays at the Table!

Last week I shared that I was working hard to successfully meal plan. I made it through the first week, and let me tell you, life is so much easier! We went shopping for our week 1 perishables and all the shelf-stable ingredients on Tuesday of last week. We went shopping again on Sunday morning for week 2 perishables. It's so nice to have a menu and a plan! I thought I'd share with you today what was/is on our menu as well as a great recipe for pulled pork in the slow cooker, given to us by C's dad.

Tuesday: Shopping & Prep Work

I used this recipe to make shredded chicken in the crock pot. The only difference is that I used about 2.5 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. I was able to portion out the shredded chicken for later use in the honey lime enchiladas and the chicken suiza sammies. This was a huge time saver and I plan on doing it weekly (it also saves money because the chicken is much cheaper than the already prepared b/s chicken breasts)!

Wednesday: Pesto Stuffed Shells

This recipe is really easy, but full of flavor. I used a store-bought marinara sauce but seasoned it with fresh garlic, herbs, and a pinch of sugar (secret ingredient!). This made enough for 6 meals between the two of us. I served it with garlic bread for dipping.

Thursday: Honey Lime Enchiladas

These are so good! I was intrigued by the recipe so I knew that I had to give it a try. They are sweet but spicy at the same time. This will definitely be a regular on our menu plan. By preparing the shredded chicken ahead of time, I had this meal prepped and ready to go in the oven in about 10 minutes. I made some yellow rice while the enchiladas were in the oven, and it made for the perfect side. 1 1/2 of these filled me up, and we had enough leftovers for lunches and another dinner for both of us.

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Beer Can Chicken

C has been wanting to make this for awhile now so after watching several how-to videos we decided to try it out. I refused to touch the chicken so he handled that while I made a side of oven roasted potatoes. This meal turned out to be delicious! We used a couple of different recipes, like this one for the spice rub.

And now, for a recipe...

Sunday: Pulled Pork (recipe from C's Dad)

Ingredients

Pork loin (we used a small picnic roast cut)

1/2 Bottle of beer (you can also use apple juice)

4 T Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce

3 T Brown sugar

Directions

1. Brown the loin in a large frying pan with some olive oil. Brown both sides and the ends, just a few minutes per side. (You can also remove the thin sheath of fat that is on the pork loin prior to browning.)

2. Pour about a half of a bottle of beer into your crock pot. Add the browned pork loin and spread about 4 T of BBQ sauce on top. Sprinkle with 3 T of brown sugar.

3. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

4. When done, remove the roast, but do not add any of the juices from the bottom of the crock pot. Flake with two forks and add additional BBQ sauce if desired.

This is so simple to make, and the flavors are really good! We had this on Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (our favorite!) with chopped onions and dill pickles. It makes a lot as well so we'll be having it for lunch & leftovers this week.

Rounding out the week are the following recipes:

Monday: Coconut Chicken Tenders with Honey-Marmalade Dipping Sauce

Tuesday: Chili

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Pulled Chicken Suiza Sammies

I hope that you get some inspiration for your own meal plans and try some of these recipes! As always, I never stop looking for new & yummy recipes so if you have posted something delicious recently, please let me know in the comments!