Weekly Meal Plan — What We’re Eating at the Longstreth House May 17–23, 2026
This week’s weekly meal plan for a family of seven leans bright, warm, and a little bit takeout-y at the end of the week — Sunday creamy roasted red pepper pasta with a side salad and garlic bread plus a 3-ingredient cherry dump cake for dessert, Monday maple balsamic grilled chicken with roasted asparagus and baked potatoes, Tuesday BLT salad with a basil and bacon-grease dressing served with bread and hard-boiled eggs, Thursday Asian fusion wraps with shredded carrots, coleslaw mix, pickled onions, chopped peanuts, and sriracha mayo, and Friday fried rice with frozen potstickers for the takeout-night vibe. I plan every weekly meal plan for a family around what we’re really eating at the Longstreth house (seven of us, two cats, and a husband who appreciates a good meal). Below is the full plan, the complete grocery list organized by store section, and a per-meal breakdown if you only want one or two dinners from the week. Saturday we usually order in or go out — five dinners at home is our rhythm.
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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 — May 17 to 23, 2026
Here’s what’s on the table at the Longstreth house this week. Tap any meal to get the full recipe, or jump down to that night’s shopping list if you’re only making one or two dinners.
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 — May 17 to 23, 2026
This is the complete grocery list for this week’s weekly meal plan for a family — all five dinners in one shop, organized by store section so you can get in and get out. Basics like flour, oil, salt, eggs, and butter aren’t listed below — see Stephanie’s Baker’s Dozen above for the 13 essentials I’m assuming you already have on hand.
🥩 Meat & Proteins
This week: 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (Monday grilled chicken — also the optional protein for Sunday pasta, Thursday wraps, and Friday fried rice), 1 lb bacon (Tuesday BLT salad), 2 lbs pork tenderloin (Thursday wraps), and optional Italian sausage (Sunday pasta alternative protein).
🥦 Produce & Fresh
This week: 1 yellow onion (Sunday pasta and Friday fried rice); 10 oz fresh spinach, fresh parsley, and a bagged side salad (Sunday); fresh asparagus, russet potatoes, and optional sweet potatoes (Monday sides); romaine, cherry tomatoes, and fresh basil (Tuesday BLT salad); and shredded carrots plus shredded lettuce or coleslaw mix (Thursday wraps).
🧀 Dairy & Refrigerated
This week: heavy cream and fresh grated Parmesan (Sunday pasta), plus optional shredded cheddar (Tuesday BLT salad topping).
🥫 Pantry
This week: spaghetti or tortellini, roasted red peppers, and chicken broth (Sunday pasta), plus yellow cake mix and cherry pie filling (Sunday cherry dump cake); balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, rosemary, thyme, Kinder’s Garlic & Herb, Kinder’s The Blend, avocado oil spray, coarse kosher salt, and onion powder (Monday chicken and sides); mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, and croutons (Tuesday BLT salad and dressing); burrito tortillas, apricot preserves, ginger paste, cornstarch, optional crushed red pepper, roasted peanuts, sriracha mayo, pickled red onions, white rice, and optional Doritos (Thursday wraps and sides); and soy sauce, sesame oil, and optional teriyaki (Friday fried rice). A few staples pull double duty — apple cider vinegar (Tuesday and Thursday), white rice (Thursday and Friday), and Kinder’s Garlic & Herb (Monday and Tuesday).
❄️ Frozen
This week: frozen peas and carrots, and frozen potstickers — or egg rolls as an alternative (Friday fried rice and side).
🍞 Bread
This week: garlic bread (Sunday pasta side and Tuesday BLT side).
🍽️ Grocery List by Meal
Just making one or two meals this week? Here’s each night broken out so you only grab what you need.
Meat (optional protein)
Produce
Dairy & Refrigerated
Pantry
Bread
Meat
Produce
Pantry
Tuesday — BLT Salad
BLT Salad →Meat
Produce
Dairy & Refrigerated (optional)
Pantry
Bread
Thursday — Asian Fusion Wraps
Asian Fusion Wraps →Meat
Produce
Pantry
Side
Friday — Homemade Fried Rice + Potstickers
Homemade Fried Rice →Meat (optional — eggs work as protein too)
Produce
Pantry
Frozen
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 public blog post goes live. 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.