Summer is on its way! Grilling, BBQ’s, fresh fruit, garden vegetables, salads! We’re saying goodbye to soups and stews around here. I’m still following my meal plan from How I Meal Plan for An Entire Year All At Once. Every summer my family gets together and has a Dutch Oven cook-off. Everyone brings their dutch ovens to my uncles house and we all cook our meals. Then we eat and vote on our favorite dishes of the night. It’s so much fun and the competition to make the best dish every year has gotten pretty fierce. A couple of years ago I won with my Chicken Tikka Masala! Anyway, here is what I have planned for some of our May dinners…
MAY MEAL PLAN
1. Chicken Fajitas with Homemade Guacamole
My husband loves fajitas and I love homemade guacamole so this meal is always a win win for us. I typically just marinade my meat for 30 minutes with some olive oil, cumin, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper. Here’s my secret to quick and easy homemade guacamole- buy the premade pico de gallo at the grocery store. Smash up and some avocados and add the pico de gallo to it. Finish it off with some salt, pepper, garlic powder, and lime juice to taste. No chopping tomatoes, onions, or jalapenos! Of course, I do love to make my own completely when we have fresh tomatoes and jalapenos from the garden.
2. Veggie Lo Mein
I make lo mein or chow mein at least once a month. This is my favorite Lo Mein recipe. If I have chicken I’ll throw it in there, otherwise I just pack it full of veggies and it makes a great meal. I like to pair it with some potstickers. I just buy the frozen kind or we’ll grab some from our favorite take out place.
3. Greek Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki
I follow the basic recipe from Modern Honey. Sometimes I’m a good girl and marinate my chicken over night but other times I’m lucky to get an hour of marinading and it still turns out yummy. I do like to make my own tzatziki sauce but will sometimes take a shortcut and just buy a container of it at the grocery store. The other way I change up this meal is by serving it in pita pockets, or over a bowl of quinoa, or even in Greek salad form. Any way I serve it, I love it!
4. Black Bean Burgers with Chipotle Mayo Sauce
I’ve tried a lot of black bean burgers and along the way I’ve kind of developed my own recipe using a combination of our favorite recipes. If you’re interested in it, let me know and I’ll share. A lot of the time I find black bean burgers to be very tasteless but not these, they’re slightly spicy. Combine them with homemade Chipotle Mayo Sauce and you have the perfect summer dinner!
5. Honey Pulled Pork Subs
These sandwiches are so yummy! I buy pork roasts when they go on sale at the grocery store. They usually serve us for more than one meal which is nice. I love this one because I throw it in the slow cooker and forget it until dinner time. Low stress and easy dinner that everyone loves. I like to serve this with classic potato salad.
6. Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon
Our family loves salmon and Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon is one our favorite ways to cook it. We buy untreated cedar planks at the home improvement store and keep a couple on hand just for this reason because we love it so much. The other way we love salmon is to bake it and make a Creamy Cucumber Dill Sauce to serve on top of it.
7. Hearty Vegetable Bolognese
I’ll admit that we sometimes have simple spaghetti with jarred sauce thrown on the top. But every so often I feel ambitious and love to make this Hearty Vegetable Bolognese sauce. I serve it with a green salad and garlic bread.
8. Chicken Tikka Masala with Basmati Rice & Garlic Naan
Tikka Masala is my favorite Indian dish to make. I don’t make it completely traditional but this Easy Chicken Tikka Masala recipe works for us. The whole family devours it every time I put it on the table. It’s so easy and so delicious. I make my Basmati Rice in a rice cooker but you can easily make it on the stove top. I love homemade naan but usually also buy that from the grocery store and just heat it up in the oven.
9. Ground Turkey Asian Lettuce Wraps
Lettuce Wraps are so refreshing when it’s hot outside. This recipe comes together so quickly and I just serve it with rice.
10. Homemade Taquitos with Beans and Mexican Rice
Mexican food is my go to dinner when I don’t have a plan because it’s simple and there are so many different variations. I like to make these Homemade Taquitos but when I’m pressed for time I’ll even just put out the ingredients for everyone to make their own Tostada. Easy peasy.
What are your favorite go to summer recipes? PS- May The Fourth be with you! 🙂
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