This August looks different for my sister than it has in years past. Her son is starting kindergarten for the first time, and that means a new routine to figure out, earlier mornings, a new pickup time, and a schedule that didn’t exist back in the spring. Dinner is one more thing on her plate that’s already full of first-day nerves and school supply lists.
I’m in a different place this fall. My house is a little quieter these days, and I’ve been holding onto summer as long as I can. But, I feel the pull toward cooler days, when the crockpot comes back out and hearty, classic dinners start sounding good again. We’re in two different seasons of life, but we come back to the same need, simple meal planning for busy moms who don’t have time to build a menu from scratch.
And that’s where Weekly Table’s Recipe Packs can help.
What Are Weekly Table’s Recipe Packs?
Recipe Packs are the recipes my sister and I cook for our own families, not recipes we found online or pinned on a board seven years ago. My sister is cooking for a five-year-old with strong opinions about what belongs on his plate. I’m relearning how to cook for two instead of a full house. Between the two of us, we’ve cooked our way through a lot of dinners, and Recipe Packs are how we hand those recipes to you instead of making you go find your own.
My go-to fall recipe is Mississippi Pot Roast. I pull the crockpot out the second the weather turns and let it do the work during the day. Cheeseburger Salad is my other favorite lately, all the flavor of a cheeseburger with the bun swapped out for extra vegetables.
My sister leans toward whatever her son will actually eat without a fight, so Easy Spaghetti and a Kids Charcuterie Board (which he loves to call Morning Snack) show up in her week more than almost anything else. Between the two of us, there’s a mom-approved recipe waiting for you no matter what season of life you’re in.
How to Find the Recipe Pack That Fits Your Family
Every family’s week looks different, so we built five packs around the different ways dinner actually needs to work.
Family Favorites is built around the traditional family recipes you’ve grown up with. In my house our favorite is homemade Macaroni and Cheese, made from scratch with Wisconsin cheese (of course!), and it’s the one my kids ask for most at holiday get-togethers.
Healthy From Scratch is for the nights you want real, wholesome ingredients on the table, without spending hours in the kitchen to get there.
For the Busy Family is built around, quick 30-minute family dinner recipes for the nights there’s no time to spare. Easy Crockpot Chicken is one of the most flexible recipes in the pack, and you can use it in a few different meals throughout the week without feeling like you’re eating the same thing twice.
High Protein was my sister’s idea. As middle-aged women, protein is easy to skip, so this pack is full of high protein family meals that are an easy addition to anyone’s weekly plan.
Cooking for Picky Kids is built for young kids who don’t have the patience to wait for dinner. Picky isn’t only a kid thing, plenty of adults are just as particular. These recipes are made to be swapped and adjusted so they work for whoever you’re feeding that night.
How to Add Recipe Packs to Your Weekly Table Plan
Starting from scratch takes time, both when you’re cooking and starting a new meal plan. When you’re new to Weekly Table, adding your own recipes before you even see what a finished meal plan and grocery list looks like can feel like a lot of extra work before you’ve built a single meal plan. Recipe Packs solve that. You get a full meal plan built in minutes, straight from our mom approved digital recipe box.
When you create a new Weekly Table account, you can start with our mom-tested and approved recipes instead of bringing in your own recipes. You still bring in your own recipes, but now we’re giving you a way to make a plan even faster.
Already have an account? You’ll find the Recipe Packs on your Recipes page. Just press the Browse Weekly Table button. From there you can see every approved recipe, which ones are already in your library, and which ones are ready to add.
You can filter by pack, by meal type, or by dietary need.
You can also open any recipe to see the full details before deciding if it belongs in your recipe collection.
Once you add a recipe, it’s yours. Change the ingredients, adjust the serving size, add your own notes, or delete it later. Once it’s in your library, it’s part of your collection, completely separate from the Weekly Table digital recipe box.
More packs are on the way, so keep an eye out for what’s next!
If you’re looking for a new routine this season and want meal planning to feel simpler, give Weekly Table a try. Get started with a free trial using recipes that other moms already know and love.
