Weekly Meal Plan — What We’re Eating at the Longstreth House July 12–18, 2026
This week’s weekly meal plan for a family kicks off with a cozy Sunday of crock pot pork chops — plus cherry cheesecake bars for dessert — and carries us all the way to Friday’s knock-off Monte Cristo sandwiches, with lemon garlic chicken thighs on Monday, a French toast casserole for breakfast-dinner on Tuesday, and buttery mushroom tortellini on Thursday. Every one of these dinners fed our crowd of seven the week before I shared it, so I know they hold up. I post a new weekly meal plan for a family every Saturday morning, grocery list and all, so you can shop and plan the week ahead without the guesswork.
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Stephanie’s
13 Essential Kitchen Ingredients
A Baker’s Dozen 🥖
When you follow my weekly meal plans and grocery lists, I’m assuming you already have these 13 basics on hand. They show up in almost everything I cook and bake — keep them stocked and you’ll always be ready to make whatever’s on the menu.
Why This Weekly Meal Plan for a Family Works
Here’s what’s different about this weekly meal plan for a family. Every meal you see below is a meal my family actually ate the week before I shared it. If something didn’t work, I fix it. If a recipe needs a note, I add one. What you’re getting is a tested, real-world weekly meal plan for a family — not a template I filled in from a spreadsheet.
- Tested by a family of seven first. Five kids, two parents, two cats. If my crowd eats it, your crowd probably will too.
- A real grocery list, organized by store section. Meat, Produce, Dairy, Pantry, Frozen, Bread — the way you actually walk through the store, not the way recipes list ingredients.
- A per-meal breakdown for flexible weeks. Only want Tuesday’s dinner? Scroll to Tuesday’s card and grab just what you need. No math required.
- Every recipe links to a tested post right here on this site. No dead links, no mystery techniques — the full recipe with step-by-step instructions is one click away.
- A printable PDF for newsletter subscribers. I send the full plan plus the grocery list to my email list every Saturday morning so you can print it for the fridge or take it with you to the store.
This Week’s Weekly Meal Plan for a Family — July 12 to 18, 2026
Here’s exactly what we’re eating this week at the Longstreth house. Tap “Get the Recipe” on any night for the full post, or “See What You’ll Need” to jump straight to that meal’s grocery list below.
Saturday we usually order in, go out, or let the kids make pizza — five dinners at home is our rhythm. If your week needs a sixth, swap in any of my crowd-friendly recipes or let Saturday be the night off.
🛒 Full Weekly Grocery List — July 12 to 18, 2026
Here’s your full shopping list for the week, grouped the way you actually move through the store. I’m assuming you’ve already got my Baker’s Dozen on hand — flour, sugar, salt, pepper, eggs, butter, milk, oil, and the rest of the 13 essentials — so the list below is just the additional ingredients for this week’s five dinners plus Sunday’s dessert. Need the basics? Grab the Baker’s Dozen above.
🥩 Meat & Proteins
This week: 4 boneless pork chops for Sunday’s slow cooker, 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs for Monday, and 4–6 slices of deli ham for Friday’s Monte Cristos.
🥦 Produce & Fresh
This week: 1 lb carrots for Sunday, broccoli for Monday, and 8 oz baby bella mushrooms plus a bagged salad for Thursday. Grab fresh fruit for Tuesday and a little fresh fruit or veggies for Friday, too.
🧀 Dairy & Refrigerated
This week: 16 oz cream cheese for Sunday’s cheesecake bars; half and half and heavy cream for Tuesday’s French toast casserole; a 20 oz package of refrigerated cheese tortellini and shredded Parmesan for Thursday; and American cheese for Friday’s sandwiches.
🥫 Pantry
This week: cream of chicken soup, garlic powder, onion powder, and Cavender’s Greek seasoning for the pork chops, plus honey and soy sauce for the carrots (Sunday); graham crackers, powdered sugar, and cherry pie filling for the cheesecake bars, and instant mashed potatoes for the side; chicken broth, bottled lemon juice, Dijon mustard, dried oregano, dried thyme, and cornstarch for the chicken thighs, plus white rice and chicken bouillon for the herbed rice (Monday); ground cinnamon, vanilla, and pancake syrup for the French toast casserole (Tuesday); dried sage for the tortellini (Thursday); and raspberry jam for the Monte Cristos (Friday).
❄️ Frozen
This week: an 8 oz tub of Cool Whip for Sunday’s cheesecake bars, frozen garlic bread for Thursday, and a bag of frozen french fries for Friday.
🍞 Bread
This week: dinner rolls for Sunday, brioche bread for Tuesday’s French toast casserole, and white sandwich bread for Friday’s Monte Cristos.
🍽️ Grocery List by Meal
Only cooking a few nights this week? Jump to any dinner below and grab just what that meal needs — each card is its own mini shopping list.
Sunday — Pork Chops, Carrots + Cherry Cheesecake Bars
Pork Chops → Carrots → Dessert →Meat
Produce
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Frozen
Bread
Meat
Produce
Pantry
Tuesday — French Toast Casserole
Get the Recipe →Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Bread
Plus eggs (from your Baker’s Dozen) and fresh fruit on the side.
Thursday — Mushroom Tortellini
Get the Recipe →Produce
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Frozen
Friday — Knock-Off Monte Cristo Sandwiches
Get the Recipe →Meat
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Frozen
Bread
Plus fresh fruit or veggies on the side.
Weekly Meal Plan for a Family FAQ — The Questions I Get Every Week
How do you plan this weekly meal plan for a family each week?
I plan each weekly meal plan for a family ahead based on what we’re genuinely craving, what’s on sale at Publix, what we already have in the pantry, and what will stretch into good leftovers for Wednesday. My family of seven eats these meals first. If something flops, I fix it before I share it with you. Every weekly meal plan you see here is tested before publication — never a list of recipes I haven’t made. For general guidance on building balanced meals around what your family already loves, the USDA’s MyPlate healthy eating for families guide is a helpful starting point.
Can I use this meal plan for a smaller family?
Absolutely. Every recipe post on this site includes a scalable recipe card — you can halve or quarter any recipe with one click in the servings field. For a family of four, I’d cut the quantities by about 40%. For two, halve everything. The grocery list amounts are for a crowd, so scale those to match your servings.
Where can I get a printable version of this weekly meal plan?
My newsletter subscribers get a printable PDF of the full weekly meal plan for a family plus the grocery list every Saturday morning — before the new meal plan goes into effect. It’s formatted for the fridge and for your grocery run. Sign up for the newsletter here and I’ll send you this week’s PDF as a welcome.
Do you include breakfast and lunch in the meal plan?
No — this weekly meal plan for a family covers dinner only, because dinner is where most families need the most help. We do breakfast casually (pancakes, eggs, oatmeal, cereal) and lunches are a mix of leftovers and easy builds. If there’s demand for a breakfast or lunch plan later, I’ll build one.
Can I swap out meals I don’t like?
Of course. This is your plan — use whatever’s useful and ignore the rest. Every recipe on the menu links to a full post with ingredients, so you can grab just what you need. The per-meal grocery cards above make swapping especially easy — pick the three or four nights that sound good, and shop only those.
Want a little note from my table every Saturday? Join my weekly newsletter — meal plans, recipes, family moments, and whatever’s happening at the Longstreth house. Sign up here.
About Stephanie Longstreth
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.