Meal Plan for January 1-7

Here's the meal plan for January 1-7, y'all. I'm keeping it easy and comforting! Scroll to the bottom for the grocery list.

Collage of images from this meal plan with text overlay. — *7 great menu ideas for the first week of January 2021!*

Table of Contents

📅 Food Holidays
💭 Tips for success
🍹This week's cocktail
January 1
January 2
January 3
January 4
January 5
January 6
January 7 - Thursday
💬 Comments

📅 Food Holidays

We celebrate a couple of fun food holidays this week. They're silly little holidays but it gives us an opportunity to make some memories and have some fun!

January 1 is National Black Eyed Pea Day. I've put our traditional blackeyed pea soup on the menu but you might prefer this Texas Caviar.
January 3 is National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day so if make some white chocolate cherries or chocolate covered cherry cookies!
January 4 is National Spaghetti Day and you'll find a ton of different recipes in the Pasta category.

💭 Tips for success

Here are some tips for this week -

If you have leftover cornbread save it and spoon the Fiesta chicken over it. Delicous!
The baguette recipe makes 3 baguettes. Use one for a French Bread Pizza! Just split in half longways, cover with pizza sauce and your favorite toppings and bake until the cheese is melted. It's an easy lunch or dinner!
Cook extra chicken for the chicken spaghetti and use it for the chicken and stuffing casserole to cut your bake time in half.
Trouble with meal planning? Read how I've done meal planning with a big family - it really works!

🍹This week's cocktail

Clementine Kentucky Mule

Full of bright citrus flavor! This Kentucky Mule will brighten up the dreariest January day!

January 1

Black Eyed Pea Soup

Simple and comforting, this black eyed pea soup is full of smoky, spicy flavor.

Cornbread

Serve with this easy, southern buttermilk cornbread for an easy, budget friendly, and LUCKY way to start 2021.

Closeup of the snowball cookies with one open to show the interior texture.

Gingerbread Snowballs

Enjoy a few more holiday cookies before they're all gone until next year! This gingerbread snowballs are perfect little bites.

January 2

Wooden spatula removing fried potatoes out of iron skillet.

Fried Potatoes & Sausage

Such a simple, cozy meal! Slice up smoked sausage and add it during the last 5 minutes of cooking your fried potatoes for an easy skillet meal.

Be sure to save some sausage for later in the week.

Cheese Biscuits

Add a batch of these piping hot cheese biscuits to the table if you have time. They're light, flaky, and delicious! No time to make them from scratch? Sprinkle grated cheese on top of refrigerated biscuit dough!

Apple Rings

Add a little something sweet with these cinnamon spiced apple rings. Make extra and using them with the cheese biscuits and some deli ham for sliders later in the week.

January 3

Closeup of the top of the casserole showing all of the cheesy goodness.

John Wayne Casserole

Comfort food time! Settle in with this cheesy John Wayne Casserole!

Green Beans and Potatoes

Make a batch of these vienna rolls but make some of them small (dinner rolls size) and some sandwich sized for later in the week. You might want to triple the recipe - these freeze really well!

Chocolate Upside Down Cake

This is an easy, Depression era recipe! The topping bakes right on this chocolate upside down cake!

January 4

Chicken Spaghetti

Happy National Spaghetti Day! This chicken spaghetti is quick & easy. If you're pushed for time grab a rotisserie chicken from the deli to use in this. I serve broccoli with this.

Cook extra chicken for tomorrow.

Slices of French bread on a linen cloth.

Baguette

This quick baguette is done, literally start to finish, in 30 minutes. While it's baking make some garlic butter! Just add garlic powder and salt to taste to softened butter.

Vanilla Brownies

Vanilla brownies are delicious! They work for anytime of the year - just cut them in squares instead of Christmas trees!

January 5

Overhead view of casserole showing the texture of the topping.

Chicken Casserole

Chicken and Stovetop Stuffing casserole keeps it easy tonight! You deserve a 30 minute meal!

If you use already cooked chicken this only needs to bake for 15 minutes or until warmed through!

Maple Roasted Carrots

Maple roasted carrots are the perfect side dish for chicken and stuffing! Big plus?

They're super easy!

Closeup of a slice of lemon pie with a bite taken out of it for social media shares.

No Bake Lemon Pie

This lemon icebox pie goes together in about 5 minutes and then you just need to chill it! SO easy.

January 6

Fiesta Chicken

Fiesta chicken is so easy and your family will love it! Try to save some to make nachos for lunch tomorrow.

Serve over rice and add a salad if you like.

Feature image for this post - a close up of the finished recipe.

Garlic Butter Breadsticks

You'll love these easy garlic butter breadsticks - make extra to go with tomorrow's meal as well!

Peach Dump Cake

Throw together this super easy peach dump cake for dessert. Use peach pie filling or cherry or apple - whatever you like! Ice cream on top is nice.

January 7 - Thursday

Sausage Alfredo

Smoked sausage, pasta, and Alfredo sauce is cozy and comforting in this easy smoked sausage Alfredo skillet meal. Serve with garlic bread from yesterday.

Overhead view of a bowl of green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and red onions created for the feature image of this post.

Green Bean Salad

Tangy and crispy - this easy green bean salad is best when it's marinated overnight.

Caramel Sauce

For dessert take those leftover brownies and warm them up slightly. Top with vanilla ice cream and this easy Jack Daniels caramel sauce. Sprinkle with some coarse salt crystals if desired.

What’s new? Check out my Restless Chipotle & Co. Store on Amazon where you'll find all kinds of nostalgic goodness! Thanks so much for being a part of Restless Chipotle!

Originally published December 27, 2020. This meal plan has been updated for 2022.