House Dinners
I have always loved cooking for others. It’s my love language. I mean, if “Acts of Service” got really specific…. the Act of Cooking is My Service.
My kiddos’ friends have known this from an early age. I have been the “Cookie Neighbor”. The “Make a Themed Meal for New Year’s Eve” friend. The “Amanda’s Breakfasts are Awesome” post-sleepover house.
Now that a couple of our boys have gone away to college, I’ve become the “How to Cook for a House of College Athletes” mom. Here’s the thing: when your children play sports, they tend to gravitate towards roommates who also play sports. In the case of our oldest, it was a townhome of 4 football buddies (they’ve all graduated now). For our middle child, it’s a slightly larger house that holds 4 football players, a runner and a baseball player.
The end result is the same. These boys can eat. And while most of them try to make decently healthy choices, their meal prep tends to look pretty, well, bland.
Because we visit nearly every weekend for a game, I began making House Dinners. I get everything prepped ahead for a meal and leave it in their fridge. My son throws it in the oven (usually Sunday or Monday night), and they all eat together. I’ve gotten some pretty cute thank you videos as they’re sitting down to eat.
As we’ve been getting ready to move our son back to campus for football camp, I’ve been starting to plan. For my part, the House Dinner calendar looks a little like my weekly household meal planning. Instead of figuring out the next week, however, my planning gets me through the first eight.
Fall Calendar
As we wrap up summer and start into early fall in Minnesota, it means meals that aren’t overly heavy. It stays decently warm here through September, at a minimum. Not quite Soup Season. So I try to get a little creative. I map to what I know our typical weather looks like. I have a list of recipes that will hold well in the refrigerator until they can be baked off. I balance proteins and get in as many veggies as I can.
| Week | Dinner | Dessert |
| 1 | Baked Tacos | Blondies |
| 2 | Chicken Shawarma & Rice Bake | Snickerdoodles |
| 3 | Slow Cooker Beef Birria | Caramel Chocolate Brownies |
| 4 | English Muffin Egg Bake | Maple Sugar Cookies |
| 5 | Baked Chicken Chimichangas | Butterscotch Cupcakes |
| 6 | Homemade Mac & Cheese | Apple Crisp |
| 7 | Chicken & Wild Rice Bake | Chocolate Chip Cookies |
| 8 | Slow Cooker Carnitas | Toffee Brownies |
Yeh, okay. We didn’t really think I’d make dinners with no dessert, did we? I mean, obviously. I’m the Cookie Neighbor.
What makes these combos great?
Week 1: Baked Tacos + Blondies
I have yet to meet a kid who doesn’t like tacos. It’s an easy crowd-pleaser. As long as all the ingredients are chilled before assembly, they can be built a few days before they’re baked. The blondies were the boys’ fave dessert last fall, so it was naturally number one on the list this year.
Week 2: Baked Chicken Shawarma and Rice Pilaf + Snickerdoodles
My guys love Shawarma. So we’re introducing this one to a wider audience. Baking both the chicken and the rice makes this straightforward and simple to serve. The snickerdoodles are the right finish for this dinner. A little cinnamon and sugar never hurt anyone.
Week 3: Slow Cooker Beef Birria + Caramel Chocolate Brownies
Our local Mexican restaurant (which we LOVE, btw) introduced everyone to Birria. Slow-cooked beef that you can wrap in a tortilla and dip in broth. What’s not to like? Filling, cozy and served with the caramel brownies that ranked only behind blondies as the favorite dessert last year.
Week 4: English Muffin Bake + Maple Sugar Cookies
In our house we believe breakfast is good anytime. Sometimes that means it’s dinner. This breakfast bake was actually the first meal I made to feed my oldest and his roommates. They repeatedly asked for it. Again, I like to have a fitting dessert, so maple syrup in a sugar cookie felt like a great add.
Week 5: Baked Chicken Chimichangas + Butterscotch Cupcakes
This might be an exercise in how many different forms of Mexican food you can serve. These fit for taste and ease of prep, though, so they make the menu every time. Butterscotch cupcakes are a September birthday favorite around here. They’re a little bit of fall in cupcake form.
Week 6: Homemade Mac ‘n’ Cheese + Apple Crisp
I thought Macaroni and Cheese was just a thing for the younger boys around our house. But it was requested by one of my son’s college buddies last year and now is on repeat. To hit the fall note, I’m adding some fresh apple crisp. Which may also be an excuse for them to add a dab of ice cream.
Week 7: Chicken and Wild Rice Bake + Chocolate Chip Cookies
Minnesota isn’t Minnesota without wild rice recipes. This is one of the only hotdish recipes I make. (Casserole for non-Minnesota.) This is warm and soothing, without a lot of heavy cream soups included. Followed by some homemade chocolate chip cookies and you have a meal that makes all these boys feel like they went home for the weekend.
Week 8: Slow Cooker Carnitas + Toffee Brownies
Last round for the fall menu is back to Mexican food. I love carnitas because leftovers make amazing breakfasts. It is my absolute favorite kind of taco. It easily sits all day in a slow cooker and becomes more wonderful by the hour. Toffee brownies are fast and easy like a classic brownie, but with just a little twist.
My family is known for saying “I don’t care” when I ask what they’re thinking for weekly dinner menus. To the point that I’ve thought about creating a recipe I call “I Don’t Care” and serving it, but I digress.
In this case, my son did give me the official thumbs up.
And when the food disappears on whatever evening they decide to eat, I know everyone got what they wanted. Including this mom.
