Weekly Meal Plan — What We’re Eating at the Longstreth House July 5–11, 2026
This week’s weekly meal plan for a family kicks off with a cozy Sunday of no-peek chicken and rice — plus a cookies and cream lasagna for dessert — and carries us all the way to Friday’s taco salad, with fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs on Monday, bright lemon garlic chicken pasta on Tuesday, and curried chicken salad sandwiches 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 5 to 11, 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 5 to 11, 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: 4–6 boneless skinless chicken breasts for Sunday’s no-peek casserole, plus about 1 lb more for Tuesday’s pasta; 2 racks baby back ribs (Monday); cooked chicken for Thursday’s chicken salad; and 1 lb ground beef for Friday’s taco salad.
🥦 Produce & Fresh
This week: fresh broccoli (Sunday), a bag of coleslaw mix (Monday), fresh parsley and a bagged salad (Tuesday), and a Honeycrisp apple, green onions, celery, romaine, cherry tomatoes, and a yellow onion for Thursday and Friday. Grab a fruit salad for Sunday and a little extra fresh fruit for Thursday, too.
🧀 Dairy & Refrigerated
This week: 8 oz cream cheese for Sunday’s dessert, shredded Parmesan for Tuesday’s pasta, and 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar for Friday’s taco salad.
🥫 Pantry
This week: Minute rice, cream of chicken soup, and onion soup mix (Sunday); Oreos, powdered sugar, and instant chocolate pudding for the dessert; paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and BBQ sauce for the ribs, plus celery seed, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and mayo for the coleslaw (Monday); spaghetti and lemon juice (Tuesday); pecans, craisins, lime juice, and curry powder (Thursday); and taco seasoning, black olives, Doritos, and Catalina dressing (Friday). Grab a bag of chips for Thursday’s sandwiches, too.
❄️ Frozen
This week: an 8 oz tub of Cool Whip for Sunday’s dessert, a bag of frozen french fries (Monday), and frozen garlic bread (Tuesday).
🍞 Bread
This week: dinner rolls for Sunday’s chicken and rice. Grab a loaf of sandwich bread for Thursday’s chicken salad, too.
🍽️ 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 — No-Peek Chicken & Rice + Cookies and Cream Lasagna
Chicken & Rice → Dessert →Meat
Produce
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Frozen
Bread
Plus a big bowl of fruit salad on the side.
Monday — Baby Back Ribs + Coleslaw
Ribs → Coleslaw →Meat
Produce
Pantry
Frozen
Tuesday — Lemon Garlic Chicken Pasta
Get the Recipe →Meat
Produce
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Frozen
Thursday — Curried Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Get the Recipe →Meat
Produce
Pantry
Plus sandwich bread, fresh fruit, and chips to round it out.
Friday — Doritos Taco Salad
Get the Recipe →Meat
Produce
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
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.