I hope your Fourth was a good one! After a weekend of cookout food and a sink full of platters, I'm always ready to get back to plain, easy weeknight dinners — the kind that don't leave me with a pile of dishes. Here are four I'm leaning on this week, and a couple of them barely heat up the kitchen.
Sausage and Veggies Sheet Pan Dinner — Sausage and roasted vegetables on one pan, done in about 30 minutes. One pan is all it takes, so cleanup is almost nothing — this is my go-to when I want dinner handled without thinking about it.
Walking Taco Bake — Everything baked together in one 9x13 pan, using pantry staples you probably already have. It's an easy, low-lift family dinner, and the kids get a kick out of it.
Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken — The slow cooker does all the work and the oven stays off, which is exactly what I want on a hot July afternoon. Pair it with a quick coleslaw for a crunchy, creamy topping and dinner's basically done.
Honey Mustard Pork Chops — One pan, less than 30 minutes, and the honey mustard sauce thickens right in the skillet while the pork finishes cooking. Simple enough for a Tuesday, good enough that no one will guess how fast it came together.
One quick tip: On the sheet pan dinner, cut your vegetables to roughly the same size as the sausage pieces so everything roasts evenly and finishes at the same time — no half-raw carrots next to burnt edges.
Here's to an easy week back in the swing of things.
Talk soon,
Sara
P.S. — if you've made the Sausage and Veggies Sheet Pan Dinner before, would you leave a comment with a star rating? It takes less than two minutes and it genuinely helps other readers find it. Thank you!
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