Hello everyone! Back here with another meal plan, this time it is for one-weeks’ worth of easy to cook and easy to prepare dishes for the family. As moms we need to save all the time that we can save, so that we can do more chores, have more fun with the family, and have time for the children.
Hopefully, this new meal plan can help you out in deciding what pinoy dishes you can cook for your family for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Most of the dishes are not so expensive to prepare to, with ingredients that are usually in your pantry or refrigerator. So without further ado, here’s our easy to cook meal plan for the week:
Quick-cooking breakfasts for Pinoy families
For breakfast, oatmeal is one of the easiest and healthiest first meal we can serve our family. It is also low budget, and can be easily partnered with whatever tropical fruit that is in season such as mangoes or bananas. Another easy to cook meal I suggested for this week’s meal plan is the beef tapa. If you are not the type to make it and marinate it from scratch, then you can always buy those that are pre-marinated already in the grocery freezers. So far I have tastes Purefoods, but you may want to try local brands too, especially those that have restaurants of their own.
Another breakfast idea that I have suggested is pancake. You can make it from scratch in big batches like me (and then ziplocked on the ref), the next day just add the wet ingredients like oil, milk, egg and vanilla then you have good and cheap pancakes for everyone. Of course, you can also buy those from the boxes, and you can even mix it the night before and put it in a vacuum sealed container. The next day, just give it a mix before frying. Now give your kids some spreads for a side during breakfast time, and everyone will be happy. You can give maple syrup, butter, peanut bitter, and of course choco hazelnut, and even strawberry or blueberry jam!
I also suggested pandesal as a breakfast. If you have a bakery near you, then just buy hot pandesal, bring out the spreads in your ref, slice some processed cheese, or open a can of sardines then we are all good to go for the day! Tomato and onion omelet is also a staple in my house growing up so I also suggested that, you can cook that in less than five minutes. Fried talong and danggit are likewise easy to prepare. Corned Beef is not really very healthy, but this is a card you may want to play when you are too pressed for time but need to give something hearty with rice for the children. You can compensate by adding cubed potatoes, and frying some eggs on the side.
Speedy lunches for the family
As for the lunches I suggested Fried Tilapia which is super easy to prepare, especially when it is already cleaned in the grocery or the market. Breaded porkchop is also quick cooking, especially if it has been breaded beforehand or the night before. The same goes with chicken lollipop. Rustan’s Marketplace and other big groceries offer chicken lollipop cuts, and all you need to do is to marinate and dredge in breading.
Chicken Arroz Caldo is the longest cooking item on the list, but it does not need a lot of attention, so it made our meal plan for the week. Besides, it is also very cheap! Garlic Fried Liempo is also another quick cooking ulam, especially if we took the time to marinate or even parboil it the night before.
Veggie side dishes
As for the side dishes, we can take the cue from Koreans and just prepare veggie side dishes ahead of time, and put it in vacuum containers, ready to be served every meal time. Our ginisang kalabasa, cucumber salad, and cabbage salad can all be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated to last for a couple of days. The effort is worth getting the kids to eat their veggies! Click here for more meal plans.
30-minute dinner ideas
The Chicken menudo is easy to prepare, especially if you have an older kid who is willing to help you with the veggie peeling and chopping. So let them work the kitchen instead of staring in their screens! Paksiw na Bangus is also easy to cook especially if the Bangus has been cleaned already in the market. Tortang giniling with potatoes is also a bright and quick cooking idea, and so is Sinigang na Hipon!
Chicken Pork Adobo will be easer to cook in the Instant Pot, so maybe you may want to give that a try. Tinolang isda is also easy to cook and very nutritious. Just make sure to get hold of very fresh fish!
You can download the printable version here.
More meal plans soon
So there you have it, I hope you get to easily decide on the dishes you have to cook for this week! Come back for more meal plans next time, that are easy on the pocket, easy to cook, and are also healthy!
A happy homemaker is a Happy Pinay Mommy!
Till next post!
