What's cooking this week?! What about easy pan-fried flank steak? Or maybe some ginger-garlic shrimp? We've got plenty of ideas to help you feed your family all week long!

This week, please welcome Rachel Knecht and her meal plans! Rachel is a recipe tester here on Simply Recipes and the blogger behind Baking with Rachel.

Up until nine years ago, my husband took care of cooking dinner and grocery shopping for our family. Sure, I made bread and cookies, but dinner? No, thanks! Then we had a life-changing move and it made sense for me to take this on. I loved eating dinner, and now it was time I learned to cook it. Once I started, I was hooked.

Following recipes is an essential part of the way I cook. Learning to read a recipe correctly is a huge bonus. Once I started following the steps correctly, cooking became much easier.

Here’s what I recommend doing:

First, read the ingredient list and set all the items out.

Then, one by one, measure and prepare each item as indicated. For example, if the recipe calls for one cup carrots, shredded, that means to wash, trim and shred a few carrots before you start cooking. Then measure out one cup and put the measured amount in a small bowl. It may seem like a lot of extra dishes to clean, but trust me, it’s worth it.

For example, if the recipe calls for one cup carrots, shredded, that means to wash, trim and shred a few carrots before you start cooking. Then measure out one cup and put the measured amount in a small bowl. It may seem like a lot of extra dishes to clean, but trust me, it’s worth it. Once all the ingredients are prepped, read through the whole recipe. Visualize each step and look up any terms that may be unclear.

Cooking is a life-long skill, and I encourage you to dig in. This week’s meal plans include delicious, fool-proof recipes, no matter your level of cooking experience.