Summer Recipe Rotation

New to meal planning on a seasonal rotation? Welcome to the Seasonal Meal Planner life. When you start seasonally meal planning, you:

  1. Never get tired of what you're eating - no more master meal list that gets old real fast

  2. Meal plan only ONCE per season...not over and over again each week

  3. Save time (it takes me 10 minutes a week to plan breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks for my family of 4!)

  4. Save money! No more random items in your grocery cart just because it sounded good

  5. Most importantly, time around the table with people because meals no longer drain the life out of you

Summer Recipe Rotation | Seasonal Meal Planning | Simplified Meal Planning

Here's how to get started: 

  1. Go to your seasonal produce list in the "resources" section of the SMP

  2. Use the produce listed there to inspire you for recipes - search for "recipes with asparagus" etc. on Pinterest

  3. You can also swipe some recipe ideas below + on my summer recipe Pinterest board.

  4. Brain dump all your recipe ideas and thoughts onto a blank piece of paper then transfer neatly into your SMP

  5. You're done! Now your weekly meal planning time will be around 15 minutes, streamlined, easier than ever, and wont kill all your brain cells... hooray! Simply go to your rotation weekly to plug in meals on the days they fit best.

Summer Recipe Rotation | Seasonal Meal Planning | Simplified Meal Planning
Summer Recipe Rotation | Seasonal Meal Planning | Simplified Meal Planning

For more about what a Seasonal Recipe Rotation actually is, please check out this post & video. 

MY SUMMER RECIPE ROTATION

1. One pot creamy tuscan chicken, roasted beets, carrots and Yukon gold or purple potatoes 

2. Sausage, potato, spinach, tomato frittata

  • This is a recipe where I typically just wing it, but here is the method:

    • Cook up 1 lb. breakfast sausage in a cast iron skillet

    • Remove from the pan, spiralize one russet potato and cook until crispy in 1 tablespoon of ghee and any oil leftover from sausage

    • Add 1-2 cups of spinach and cook until just wilted

    • Add sausage back into pan and combine everything

    • Slice one tomato

    • Whisk 8 eggs and pour over the whole mixture, lay tomato slices over top

    • Bake at 400 F for 25-35 minutes (depends how deep your skillet is, so keep an eye on it!)

3. Beef, carrot, leek frittata

  • I make the veggie + meat mixture then add 6 scrambled eggs and bake for 25 minutes at 400 F.

4. Burgers, garlicky fries, salad

  • My simple burger recipe: 1 lb. grass fed beef, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper, 1 teaspoon minced garlic and 1/2 cup chopped parsley

5. Lamb meatballs with mint pea pesto, pasta for kids and Jordan + zoodles for me

6. Hibachi Style Chicken with mustard sauce, sprouted quinoa

7. Veggie and sausage sheet pan

8. Crispy Salmon, roasted Yukon gold potatoes with garlic and herbs, sautéed mushrooms and salad or sautéed greens 

  • I plan to do the above veggie combo with different protein options to make different meals, such as: sausage, burgers, brats

9. Whole30 Barbacoa (slow cooker)

10. Taco lime grilled chicken, tomato + cucumber salad

  • salad recipe: 2 tomatoes and 2 cucumbers. Peel cucumber and dice vegetables. Combine with 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon dill weed, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper

11. BLT salad with Whole30 ranch

  • Really simple bed of romaine or green leaf lettuce, crispy bacon, tomato and maybe some hard boiled eggs and pumpkin seeds for added crunch

12. DF/GF Chicken Pot Pie with oat biscuits (slow cooker) 

13. Pizza Friday's

  • Every Friday my hope is to try out a movie and pizza night with the kids

  • Aldi sells big pizzas for $5.99, so that will be for Jordan and the kids, I'll use the pizza crust from the Valentine's chapter of Celebrations for me

  • I love this recipe so much so I may use the mixture as a pizza topping!

  • You can do whatever pizza toppings you like but my go-to is a simple sausage, spinach, and tomato

  • We will serve this with a big salad and seasonal fruit

14. Sheet pan shrimp boil

15. Roasted whole chicken with veggies

16. Breaded chicken tenders with sautéed red cabbage 

  • I just mix about 1/2 cup of almond flour with teaspoon sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon oregano. Dredge 1 lb. of chicken tenders in 1 whisked egg, then the flour mixture, then fry in ghee or olive oil until golden on each side.

  • Slice red cabbage and sauté in a little ghee. Add about 1/2 cup of bone broth, 1 teaspoon garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and keep cooking until tender.

17. Pineapple Chicken Skewers, coconut cilantro quinoa, roasted Brussels sprouts

  • I'm using this recipe as inspiration for the quinoa. (I can't have brown rice right now, so I'm subbing quinoa here!)

  • For the quinoa, take the coconut milk down to 1/2 cup, and use cilantro instead of basil

18. Deconstructed Whole30 stuffed peppers, salad

19. Detox Buddha Bowl

  • I swap chicken breast (cut into 2 inch pieces) for the chickpeas

20. Whole30 Spring Roll Bowl

 

More Ideas On my Summer Recipe Pinterest Board!

 

Lunch Options: 

  • Homemade chicken salad/pesto chicken salad

  • Taco bowls (turkey taco meat, radishes, lettuce, salsa, ranch, cherry tomatoes, avocados)

  • Tuna salad with plantain chips/radishes (tuna, mayo, dijon mustard, dill, shallots, salt and pepper)

  • Kale + chicken waldorf salad (adding dressing right before eating)

 

To create your own Seasonal Recipe Rotation,

you'll need to start with a Seasonal Produce List

Need one to keep handy? Grab yours here

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