This Week's Meal List — Oct 12–18

Happy Sunday, friends! October in California means warm afternoons, cool mornings and a farmers market suddenly full of squash, cabbage and cranberries, so this week's menu leans fully into fall. I've got five weeknight dinners that mostly take 20–25 minutes of hands-on time, a night out on Saturday, and one Sunday shop plus a little batch cooking today so the whole week runs itself.

This Week's Menu

What We're Cooking

Tuscan Bison Pasta Salad (Prep Step Lunch)

Thirty minutes of active time today buys you four weekday lunches. The dressing is jarred roasted red peppers and cottage cheese blended smooth, so you get all the tang and body of an Alfredo with none of the cream, and canned artichoke hearts do real work for zero effort.

Chai-Spiced Cranberry Orange Cream Smoothie (Blended & Bowled)

Five minutes, one blender, and it tastes like cranberry sauce and a chai latte had a very good idea together. There's half a cup of butternut squash or pumpkin blended in where nobody will notice, and frozen cranberries make it thick enough to eat with a spoon.

Dijon-Thyme Chicken & Silky Cabbage

This is the one you start before you leave the house. Bone-in thighs braise over cabbage wedges, leeks and carrots until everything goes silky, then get a creamy spoonful of blended cottage cheese, toasted walnuts and raw apple on top so it never reads heavy. Plan on 25 minutes of active time, then an hour in the Dutch oven or 6–7 hours in the slow cooker. Sear the thighs either way, because that color is what makes it taste deep instead of boiled.

Parm-Crusted Halibut & Cauliflower Mash

Twenty minutes of active time and a 12–14 minute bake. A thin layer of mustard and yogurt glues the Parmesan and almond flour crust to the fish, and the crust browns where breadcrumbs would burn. Steam the cauliflower and dry it in a hot pan before mashing, and it comes out a mash instead of a puddle. Roasted Swiss chard goes on the side.

Pepper-Pecorino Chicken & Charred Broccoli

The savory one, with no sweetener anywhere: tenders showered in sharp Pecorino and coarsely cracked pepper over a cold whipped Pecorino sauce, with charred broccoli and carrots. It's 20 minutes of active time, and the veg finish in 15–18 minutes in the oven or 12–14 in the air fryer. Crack the pepper yourself, since that's the whole point of the plate.

Sun-dried Tomato Pork over Whipped Cauliflower

Pork tenderloin seared and roasted, sliced over silky whipped cauliflower and finished with a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce made from blended cottage cheese and Parmesan (no flour, no cream), with roasted green beans and zucchini on the side. Active time is 25 minutes. The one rule is 145°F and a full rest before you slice. This recipe serves six, so the leftovers make a great Friday lunch.

Chili-Lime Bison & Cabbage Skillet

A taco filling that never becomes a taco. The spice blend is made from scratch, so there's no packet, and the cabbage collapses into the bison and soaks up everything. It's served over a cauliflower rice mash with a whipped cottage cheese-lime crema and avocado. That's 20 minutes active and 15 in the skillet, or 4–5 hours in the slow cooker. Get real color on the bison before the lid goes on.

Out to Eat

Night off! Nobody cooks, nobody does dishes.

Cider-Glazed Chicken & Crispy Delicata

Everything comforting about a braise with none of the heaviness: cider-glazed tenders, caramelized delicata half-moons (no peeling, ever) and a raw shaved Brussels slaw that stays loud and crunchy, all finished with whipped goat cheese and pecans. This is the longest one of the week at 35 minutes active plus 22–25 in the oven, which is why it lands on a Sunday.

How to Provision for the Week

Shop once. One grocery trip covers the whole week. The list below is built for that, so take it with you and check the pantry section before you leave.

The order is on purpose. The most delicate produce gets cooked first. The leeks, thyme and apple go into Monday's braise, and the Swiss chard and dill go on Tuesday, before they wilt. Broccoli and green beans hold fine through midweek. Cabbage, carrots, delicata and Brussels sprouts are the sturdy ones that wait patiently for the end of the week. Buy your avocado firm so it's ripe by Friday.

The halibut: If you buy it fresh, cook it Tuesday as planned, or swap it to Monday if your fish counter suggests it. If you buy frozen, move it to the fridge Monday night and it'll be thawed for Tuesday.

Protein and the freezer: Keep the chicken thighs in the fridge for Monday. Freeze everything else that's cooking after Tuesday the day you shop, then thaw each one overnight in the fridge the night before:

• Tuesday night: Wednesday's chicken tenders
• Wednesday night: Thursday's pork tenderloins
• Thursday night: Friday's bison
• Friday or Saturday night: Sunday's chicken tenders

Sunday prep (about an hour, alongside the lunch batch):

• Wash and slice the leeks, cut the carrots (thick coins for Monday, steep angles for Wednesday) and cut the celery. Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into florets and trim the green beans. Store each in its own container lined with a paper towel.
• Core and chop one cabbage for Friday's skillet. Leave Monday's head whole, since it gets cut into wedges through the core.
• Toast all the nuts at once: the walnuts for Monday and Wednesday, and the pecans for next Sunday. Once they're cool, store each in a jar.
• Mix the dry spice blends into small jars: the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano and cayenne for Friday, and the oregano and crushed fennel for Thursday's pork.
• Blend the sauces that keep. Wednesday's whipped Pecorino sauce is meant to be served cold anyway, and Thursday's sun-dried tomato sauce (blended cottage cheese, Parmesan and broth) can wait in the fridge. Make Friday's lime crema and next Sunday's goat cheese drizzle midweek so they're fresh.
• Leave these whole until cooking day: the apple, avocado, Swiss chard, delicata and Brussels sprouts. The slaw is meant to be shredded fresh and dressed while dinner cooks.

Sunday Batch: Set Your Week Up for Success

Before the weekend's over, make one batch of the Tuscan Bison Pasta Salad. One batch is four weekday lunches. Then blend a couple of Chai-Spiced Cranberry Orange Cream Smoothies to grab on the way out the door. A few things that make both work:

• Undercook the pasta by a full minute and rinse it under cool water. Gluten-free pasta keeps cooking after it drains, and nobody wants mushy pasta salad on Thursday.
• Stir the spinach in while the bison is still warm so it wilts slightly and stops tasting raw and grassy once the salad chills.
• Pack the dressing separately and toss just before eating. Divide the salad among four containers, top with extra Parmesan and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
• Blend each smoothie a full 60–90 seconds so no cranberry skins survive. Zest the orange before you peel it, and keep the squash chilled so the smoothie stays thick.
• For the rest of the week, portion each remaining smoothie's cranberries, orange segments and zest, and squash into its own container. Then all that's left each morning is adding the almond milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, maple, chai spice and vanilla and hitting blend. Taste before adding extra maple. It's only needed if the cranberries are especially sharp.

Grocery List

Covers all six dinners as written, one batch of the lunch (4 lunches) and five smoothies (one per weekday). The pork serves 6, so expect leftovers.

Produce

• Green cabbage – 2 small heads (Dijon-Thyme Chicken, Chili-Lime Bison)
• Carrots – 7 medium, loose or a 2-lb bag of whole carrots (Dijon-Thyme Chicken 4, Pepper-Pecorino Chicken 3)
• Leeks – 2 (Dijon-Thyme Chicken)
• Celery – 1 bunch, for 3 stalks (Dijon-Thyme Chicken)
• Cauliflower – 1 large head (Halibut)
• Broccoli – 1 large head, about 1 lb, for 3 cups florets (Pepper-Pecorino Chicken)
• Swiss chard – 1 large bunch (Halibut)
• Baby spinach – 4 oz, one 5-oz clamshell (Pasta Salad)
• Green beans – 1 lb (Pork)
• Zucchini – 3 medium (Pasta Salad 1, Pork 2)
• Delicata squash – 2 (Cider-Glazed Chicken)
• Brussels sprouts – 10 oz, about 20 loose sprouts (Cider-Glazed Chicken)
• Red bell pepper – 1 (Chili-Lime Bison)
• Jalapeños – 2 (Chili-Lime Bison)
• Yellow onion – 1 small, uses ½ (Chili-Lime Bison). For low-FODMAP, buy 1 bunch scallions instead.
• Garlic – 2 heads, for 15 cloves (Dijon-Thyme Chicken 4, Halibut 2, Pepper-Pecorino Chicken 2, Pork 2, Chili-Lime Bison 3, Cider-Glazed Chicken 2)
• Avocado – 1, firm (Chili-Lime Bison)
• Crisp apple – 1 (Dijon-Thyme Chicken)
• Large oranges – 5 (Smoothie)
• Limes – 3 (Chili-Lime Bison)
• Lemons – 2 (Pepper-Pecorino Chicken, Cider-Glazed Chicken)
• Flat-leaf parsley – 1 bunch, for about ½ cup chopped (Dijon-Thyme Chicken, Pepper-Pecorino Chicken, Pork)
• Cilantro – 1 bunch (Chili-Lime Bison)
• Fresh thyme – 1 package (Dijon-Thyme Chicken)
• Fresh sage – 1 package (Cider-Glazed Chicken)
• Fresh dill – 1 small package (Halibut)
• Cranberries – 5 cups, two 12-oz bags fresh (freeze them) or frozen (Smoothie)
• Frozen riced cauliflower – two 16-oz bags (Chili-Lime Bison 3 cups, Pork 1¼ lb)
• Optional: 1 small butternut squash, roasted and mashed, to use instead of canned pumpkin (Smoothie)

Protein

• Chicken tenders – 3 lb (Pepper-Pecorino Chicken 1½ lb, Cider-Glazed Chicken 1½ lb)
• Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs – 2 lb (Dijon-Thyme Chicken)
• Ground bison – 2½ lb (Pasta Salad 1 lb, Chili-Lime Bison 1½ lb)
• Pork tenderloins – 2, about 1¼ lb each (Pork)
• Halibut fillets – 1½ lb, fresh or frozen (Halibut)

Dairy & Refrigerated

• Cottage cheese – 7¾ cups, two 24-oz tubs plus one 16-oz tub (Smoothie 2½ cups, Dijon-Thyme Chicken 1¼ cups, Pepper-Pecorino Chicken 1 cup, Pork 1 cup low-fat, Chili-Lime Bison 1 cup, Pasta Salad ½ cup, Halibut ½ cup)
• Plain Greek yogurt – about 3 cups, one 32-oz tub (Smoothie 1¼ cups, Pork ¾ cup, Chili-Lime Bison ½ cup, Cider-Glazed Chicken ½ cup, Halibut 1 tbsp)
• Parmesan – 1½ cups grated plus extra for serving, one 8-oz wedge or tub (Pasta Salad ½ cup, Halibut ½ cup, Pork ½ cup)
• Pecorino Romano – about ⅔ cup finely grated, one 4-oz wedge (Pepper-Pecorino Chicken). Optional: use it in the Pork instead of Parmesan.
• Goat cheese – one 4-oz log, uses 3 oz (Cider-Glazed Chicken)
• Unsweetened almond milk – 5 cups, one half-gallon carton (Smoothie)
• Unsweetened apple cider – ¾ cup, 1 quart (Cider-Glazed Chicken)

Grains, Pasta & Cans

• Gluten-free rotini or penne – 8 oz, one 12-oz box (Pasta Salad)
• Chicken bone broth – 2½ cups, one 32-oz carton (Dijon-Thyme Chicken 1½ cups, Chili-Lime Bison ½ cup, Pork ½ cup low-sodium)
• Pumpkin puree – 2½ cups, one 29-oz can (Smoothie)
• Artichoke hearts – one 14-oz can (Pasta Salad)
• Roasted red peppers – one 12-oz jar (Pasta Salad)
• Oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes – ⅓ cup, one 8-oz jar (Pork)

Pantry (check before you go)

• Walnuts – about ⅔ cup (Dijon-Thyme Chicken ⅓ cup, Pepper-Pecorino Chicken ¼ cup)
• Pecans – ⅓ cup (Cider-Glazed Chicken)
• Almond flour – ¼ cup (Halibut)
• Arrowroot powder – 1 tsp (Cider-Glazed Chicken)
• Dijon mustard – about 4½ tbsp (Dijon-Thyme Chicken 2 tbsp, Cider-Glazed Chicken 2 tbsp plus ½ tsp, Halibut 1 tsp)
• Pure maple syrup – 5 tbsp plus 1 tsp (Smoothie, Cider-Glazed Chicken)
• Vinegars: apple cider vinegar 2½ tbsp (Dijon-Thyme Chicken, Cider-Glazed Chicken) · red wine vinegar 2 tbsp (Pasta Salad, Pork)
• Oils: avocado oil 9 tbsp (all recipes) · extra-virgin olive oil 11 tbsp (all recipes) · optional garlic-infused olive oil, for low-FODMAP
• Spices: chai spice 2½ tsp · smoked paprika 4 tsp · chili powder 1 tbsp · dried oregano 2 tsp · Italian seasoning 1 tsp · ground cumin 1 tsp · fennel seed ½ tsp · cayenne ¼ tsp · whole nutmeg · bay leaves 2 · black peppercorns (plenty to crack) · sea salt and kosher salt
• Vanilla extract – 1¼ tsp (Smoothie)
• Optional: unflavored or vanilla protein powder – 5 scoops (Smoothie)

Looking Ahead: Future Weekly Menus

Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming up, so you can plan ahead and stock the freezer. Full recipes, prep plans and shopping lists post each Sunday.

Week of Oct 19–25

Week of Oct 26–Nov 1

Members, every full recipe from this week, with step-by-step method and swaps, is waiting in the Recipe Club. Happy cooking!