For this week’s menu, I chose old favourites from our meal plan, and one almost-new recipe – Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup. And scroll down to see the fun food day ideas too, like National Cherry Day (Thu Jul 16).
- Click here to get your copy of this week’s Excel Weekly Meal Plan.
There’s a week of hot and sunny weather ahead, so get outside and enjoy it, if you can!
And Happy 7-Eleven Day, if you’re celebrating! Today, you can get a free small Slurpee in Canada, and perhaps in other places too.
The Weekly Plan
Here is our plan for the week starting Sunday, Jul 12, 2026. There are links for some recipes, and others are made “freestyle”.
- Note: Beside each recipe, I show the number of times that we’ve made this recipe, since I started keeping track in 2015.
Sunday — Rotisserie Chicken ( 27 times )
- Purchased
Monday — Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi and Veggies ( 3 times )
TIP: use frozen cauliflower gnocchi
- Total Time: 25 mins
Tuesday — Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup ( 1 times )
- Total Time: 30 mins
Wednesday — Sheet Pan Pork Chops & Brussels Sprouts ( 143 times )
- Total Time: 35 mins
Thursday — 15-Minute Wonton Soup ( 16 times )
TIP: low-sodium wontons
- Total Time: 15 min
Friday — Sheet Pan Lemon Garlic Salmon ( 47 times )
- Total Time: 30 mins
Saturday — Rack of Lamb ( 40 times )
- Depends on size and cooking method
Food Celebration Days
Almost every day of the year has a food celebration that we can enjoy, or ignore! Here are a few of the food days for the upcoming week, with recipe ideas for you.
Tuesday, Jul 14 – National Mac And Cheese Day
It’s not clear how this celebration got started, but lots of people love mac and cheese for supper.
You could make a box mix, or try one of these quick recipes:
- This Easy Homemade Mac and Cheese Recipe only needs one pot. It takes 5 minutes to prep, then cook for 20 minutes. and it serves 8
- If you like veggies in your supper, try this One-Pot Broccoli Mac and Cheese recipe. It takes 5 minutes to prep, cooks for 10 minutes, and serves 4-6
Thursday, Jul 16 – Fresh Spinach Day
There are two fun food days on July 16th! Maybe you can have spinach in your main dish, and cherries for dessert
Here are a couple of quick spinach recipes to try:
- This recipe for Skillet Lemon Chicken with Spinach takes a total of 25 minutes, and serves 4. The ingredient list includes chicken thighs and baby spinach.
- Or, try this recipe for One-Pot Orzo with Sausage, Spinach and Corn Prep time is 5 minutes, it cooks for 25 minutes, and serves 4
Thursday, Jul 16 – National Cherry Day
Also celebrated on July 16th, National Cherry Day started in 2008. It was part of CherryAid, a campaign by Henrietta Green, to save the British cherry.
Here are a couple of main dish recipes that include cherries:
- This recipe for Grilled Lamb Chops with Tart Cherry Sauce has a prep time of 5 minutes, cooks for 15 minutes, and serves 4
- Or try this Cherry Basil Orzo Pasta recipe. It takes 10 minutes prep time, then cook for 10 minutes, and it serves 6-8.
Tip: To create your own meal plan, get my free Excel Weekly Meal Planner template.
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Weekly Meal Plan 2026-07-11
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