Summer Meal Plan #4

Four dinners, one shortcut, and a lunch you'll actually look forward to.

This week is all about working smarter, not harder. We're starting with a crock pot carnitas on a busy weeknight, and then letting those leftovers do the heavy lifting later in the week when we turn them into a BBQ flatbread that comes together in ten minutes flat. In between, we're throwing in a salmon with a peach slaw that feels genuinely special for a Tuesday night, and some firecracker meatballs that are going to make you want to add them to permanent rotation. We rounded the week out with a Thai chicken salad that's been in our regular lineup for years for good reason — the peanut dressing alone is worth making it. Five meals, one sneaky shortcut, and nothing that's going to have you standing over the stove for an hour on a week night. Happy Cooking!



DINNER #1: Crock Pot Carnitas | Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 5 hours |Serves: 4-6
This crock pot carnitas comes together during the day while you’re not thinking about it. The best description I have for this is to tell you that Tara pulled it off for dinner in enough time to get her kids to 6:00 track practice and everyone asked for more! You’ll use the leftovers for a flatbread later in the week, so you’re getting double duty out of this meal.

Notes:
Quantities: The recipe calls for 2 pounds of pork, it says it feeds six, but we found that it stretched farther than that. We’re prompting you to use the leftovers later this week, but if you have really hungry people use a bigger pork butt.
Boneless vs Bone-in: If you can’t find a boneless pork butt, we’ve had friends use a bone-in! It will weigh more (like probably 7-8 lbs) so you can double the seasoning if you want to make sure it still has tons of flavor.
Simplify: You could definitely serve with avocado and store bought salsa if you need to simplify but the avocado salsa is a great addition