It's October, which means the cozy fall cooking season is officially here. This week's plan is a mix of old favorites and a new one-pan dinner, and it's built to keep your week easy. We start with a sausage and rice skillet that's one pan and about 40 minutes. Then we’re bringing back some of our most-made recipes: the air fryer pork tenderloin and the harvest flatbread with pumpkin, sausage, and sage. The pork does double duty. Cook it once, and later in the week it becomes bahn mi sliders in 20 minutes with almost no work. Everything on the list uses ingredients you'll overlap across meals, so you're not buying a pile of one-off groceries. If you have 15 minutes on Sunday, make the pickled red onions and the bahn mi sauce. It makes Thursday feel effortless. As always, swap what you need to, and use what you have. We've also included a crockpot apple butter as a weekend bonus, because nothing says October like your house smelling like apples and cinnamon all day. The full grocery list and Walmart cart are at the bottom, so you can order everything in about five minutes.
DINNER #1: Sausage and Rice Skillet | Total time: 40 minutes | Serves 6 | One Pan Wonder
We honestly love this sausage and rice skillet for a simple Monday night dinner. It’s reminiscent of jambalaya, but with more Italian leaning flavors. You’ll love this one pan meal that makes clean up a breeze, but the added pesto (and basil if you have it) keep it bright and fresh.
Notes:
Swap: Use any other kind of cooked sausage if you don’t like Italian sausage.
Lean into the sauce: We always add more pesto at the end—its the make it ingredient in this dish!
Add more veggies: This calls for peppers and onions, but you could toss something like mushrooms or broccolini in halfway through cooking the rice to add more veggies!
