Weekly Meal Plan — What We’re Eating at the Longstreth House July 19–25, 2026
This week’s weekly meal plan for a family kicks off with a Sunday of big baked ziti — plus a warm lemon blueberry dump cake for dessert — and runs all the way to Friday’s Cuban sausage and rice, with a dump-and-bake taco cornbread casserole on Monday, super simple baked fish on Tuesday, and my very first shrimp and grits 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 19 to 25, 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 19 to 25, 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: 1 to 1½ lbs ground beef for Sunday’s baked ziti, 1 lb ground turkey (or beef) for Monday’s taco cornbread casserole, salmon and tilapia fillets for Tuesday’s baked fish, 4 slices of bacon plus 1½ lbs jumbo shrimp for Thursday’s shrimp and grits, and 2 lbs smoked turkey sausage for Friday’s Cuban sausage and rice.
🥦 Produce & Fresh
This week: 1 lb brussels sprouts for Sunday; baked potatoes or sweet potatoes plus a bagged salad for Tuesday; yellow onions and green bell peppers for both Thursday’s shrimp and grits and Friday’s Cuban sausage and rice, plus a red bell pepper for Friday; and a little fresh parsley for Thursday.
🧀 Dairy & Refrigerated
This week: two 15 oz containers of whole milk ricotta and 1½ lbs shredded mozzarella for Sunday’s baked ziti; shredded cheddar for Monday’s taco cornbread and Tuesday’s cheddar bay biscuits; and sour cream and quesadilla cheese for topping Monday’s casserole.
🥫 Pantry
This week: ziti, spaghetti sauce, garlic powder, and dried oregano for Sunday’s baked ziti, plus two cans of blueberry pie filling and a box of lemon cake mix for the dump cake; taco seasoning, canned corn, black beans, dark red kidney beans, Rotel, and two boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix for Monday’s taco cornbread — with hot honey, taco sauce, and hot sauce for the topping bar; Kinder’s The Blend, Old Bay, and a box of Red Lobster-style cheddar bay biscuit mix for Tuesday; Creole seasoning, dried thyme, chicken broth, bottled lemon juice, instant grits, and a jar of jam for Thursday’s shrimp and grits; and Vigo yellow rice for Friday’s Cuban sausage and rice (the black beans and Kinder’s The Blend carry over from earlier in the week).
❄️ Frozen
This week: frozen garlic bread for Sunday’s baked ziti, plus a tub of vanilla ice cream to serve warm over the lemon blueberry dump cake.
🍞 Bread
This week: frozen or canned biscuits for Thursday’s shrimp and grits (with eggs from your Baker’s Dozen and a little jam on the side), and a loaf of Cuban bread — a crusty French loaf or ciabatta works too — for Friday’s sausage and rice.
🍽️ 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 — Baked Ziti + Lemon Blueberry Dump Cake
Baked Ziti → Dessert →Meat
Produce
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Frozen
Plus butter and eggs from your Baker’s Dozen for the ziti. The vanilla ice cream above is for serving the dump cake warm.
Monday — Taco Cornbread Casserole
Get the Recipe →Meat
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Plus eggs, milk, salt, and pepper from your Baker’s Dozen.
Tuesday — Baked Fish + Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Get the Recipe →Meat
Produce
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Plus olive oil from your Baker’s Dozen. Serve the fish with baked potatoes or sweet potatoes — your pick.
Thursday — Shrimp and Grits
Get the Recipe →Meat
Produce
Pantry
Bread
Plus flour, minced garlic, butter, salt, and eggs from your Baker’s Dozen.
Friday — Cuban Sausage and Rice
Get the Recipe →Meat
Produce
Pantry
Plus avocado oil and butter from your Baker’s Dozen, and a loaf of Cuban bread (a crusty French loaf or ciabatta works too).
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?
Right at the top of this page. The printable version of this weekly meal plan for a family — the full menu, the meal-by-meal shopping reference, and the complete grocery list on the back — opens the moment you drop your email in, no waiting and no second page. It’s formatted for the fridge and for your grocery run. Already on my list? Use that same email and it opens the same way. Every printable I’ve made is also gathered together at your Seat at the Table, and a fresh plan lands in your inbox every Saturday morning.
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.