What We're Eating This Week

I’ve realized lately that the weeks I enjoy cooking the most are the ones where I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel.

There’s a time for testing new recipes and getting creative, but when life is SO busy (kids, school schedules, the never-ending pile of laundry), the thing that actually helps is having a few reliable meals already figured out.

Meal prep has honestly been the biggest shift for us in that department. Not in a strict, hyper-organized way. Just in the sense that if a few things are already made and sitting in the fridge, I feel like our week is 20x easier. Dinner doesn’t have to be a daily puzzle, and mornings don’t have to be a scramble… unless we’re talking scrambled eggs.

This week’s lineup is a mix of breakfasts, dinners, and a snack that I’ve been making on repeat lately. Everything is simple, comforting, and reheats well during the week.

Here’s what we’re eating

This is one of those recipes that started as an experiment and quickly became a regular in our house.

They have all the flavors of carrot cake: warm spices, shredded carrot, a little maple sweetness, but in chewy bagel form with a good amount of protein.

I usually toast them and add a swipe of cream cheese, but they’re also great plain if you’re eating them on the go. They keep well in the fridge and reheat nicely in the toaster, which makes them perfect for weekday mornings.

This is the kind of breakfast that solves a lot of problems during the week.

It’s hearty, savory, and easy to slice into portions so you can just reheat it in the morning. Eggs, crispy hash browns, cheese, and a few simple seasonings baked together into one cozy casserole.

If you have a busy week ahead, this is the one recipe I’d prioritize making first. Having breakfast already handled makes mornings so much calmer.

These brownie batter bites have become my go-to snack lately.

They taste like brownie batter but have some protein from the cottage cheese, which makes them pretty filling. I usually keep a container of them in the fridge and grab one in the afternoon when I want something sweet.

They take just a few minutes to mix together, so they’re an easy add-on if you’re already cooking other things.

This is one of those nostalgic meals that feel very comforting yet use simple, real ingredients.

Everything cooks in one pot: pasta, tomato sauce, a few pantry staples, and it comes out tasting surprisingly close to the classic childhood version, but WAY better.

It’s also incredibly easy, which makes it a great lunch or quick dinner when you don’t want to think too hard about what to make.

If you like enchiladas but don’t always want to deal with rolling tortillas and baking a whole casserole, this is a good shortcut version.

Everything cooks in one skillet with chicken, enchilada sauce, spices, and cheese. It’s quick, flavorful, and really satisfying. We usually serve it in bowls with whatever toppings we have on hand.

This one reheats well, too, so it’s a great option to make ahead for lunches.

This is the order I actually did everything so I wasn’t bouncing around the kitchen all afternoon.

1. Start the breakfast casserole
First, I preheated the oven and put the cheesy hash brown breakfast casserole in, since that takes the longest.

2. Mix the bagel dough
While the casserole was baking, I mixed the dough for the carrot cake protein bagels so they would be ready to shape when the oven opened.

3. Make the snack
Next, I made cottage cheese brownie-batter bites since they don’t require any baking. I mixed them up, rolled them, and popped them into the fridge to set while I kept cooking.

4. Bake the bagels
Once the casserole came out of the oven, I slid the bagels in to bake.

5. Cook the stovetop meals
While the bagels baked, I made the one-pot homemade Spaghettios and the chicken enchilada skillet on the stove. Both come together pretty quickly, so it didn’t take long.

6. Cool and store everything
By the time the bagels finished baking, everything else was already done. I let everything cool, sliced the casserole, and stored everything in containers for the week.

Produce

• Carrots

• Garlic

• Onion (optional)

• Optional toppings: avocado, cilantro, green onion

Dairy

• Cottage cheese

• Greek yogurt

• Shredded cheese

• Cream cheese (optional)

Protein

• Chicken

• Eggs

Pantry

• Maple syrup

• Flour

• Baking powder

• Cinnamon

• Nutmeg

• Vanilla extract

• Enchilada sauce

• Pasta

• Tomato sauce

• Cocoa powder or chocolate chips

Frozen

• Hash browns

A few things I’ve been using a lot lately that made this week’s prep a little easier:

Glass food storage containers
These are what I use for almost all of our meal prep. They don’t hold onto smells, they don’t stain when you store tomato-based things (looking at you, Spaghettios), and they stack really nicely in the fridge.

A good sheet pan
I used one for the bagels this week, and it’s one of those kitchen staples I reach for constantly. A sturdy sheet pan just makes baking and roasting so much easier.

My microplane
If you’ve ever tried shredding carrots with a dull grater, you know the struggle. A microplane makes it really quick for things like the carrot cake bagels, garlic, or even citrus zest.

Silicone muffin molds
I’ve been using these a lot lately when I’m making protein bites or little snacks like the brownie batter bites. Nothing sticks, and they pop right out.

And that’s our lineup for the week.

It’s a mix of a few things I’ve been making on repeat lately and a couple of meals that are just easy to have waiting in the fridge. I love that it doesn’t take long to prep and it’s recipes that work really well for a busy week.

And as always, if you try any of them, I’d love to hear what you think.