As promised here is my post on how our family meal plans. I am by no means a food blogger not am I attempting to be so I will leave that up to the experts and tag my favorite recipes on Pinterest (they are all on my Pinterest page here if you want to follow along). However I am very much a busy mama on the go with two little picky eaters and wanted to share the tips and tricks that work for us and help make our families lives simpler when it comes to meals. I truly believe that the weeks I take a few minutes (I’m talking 15 minutes or less) to plan up front the week and what we will eat end up being so much less stressful for our family. I have found that not only does it decrease stress but we also end up spending way less money overall and eating healthier. So here goes…
The VERY first thing I do when I am taking a few minutes to meal plan is to pull up our families calendar for the week and match meals according to what we have going on in the evenings. For example the nights we have baseball or church bible study, school functions, etc. I know need to be very quick meal nights which changes how and what I plan. Once I have looked at the calendar I open up a note page on my phone (I used to use a physical notebook but my phone is always with me and where I keep my calendar so has proven to be easier for me) that shows each day of the week (nothing fancy I just type it up like the below) and begin filling it in with ideas of what I may want to cook.
- Monday-
- Tuesday-
- Wednesday-
- Thursday-
- Friday-
- Saturday-
- Sunday-
- Monday-
If there is a night that we have plans to go out as a family or on a date I just write “out” next to the dash and skip that day when it comes to planning a meal. I always plan Monday-Monday. I have found if I try to do more it ends up taking me too long and it is hard to keep fresh produce and meats good much longer than 8 days and any shorter a time frame just doesn’t prove to be super helpful (especially if we are eating out a few nights already).
Sometimes I struggle with what I want to cook and when I do this I search my Pinterest boards, ask my family if they are craving something particular, and now often even visit Aldi and see what they have and then fill in my meal plan when I get home. I have been meal planning like this every week since June and I will say it has become easier and easier because I now have a pretty long list of meals my family enjoys and I can just rotate them through the month and don’t feel like I have to recreate the entire wheel every single week. I can just add in new meals for fun as a want to instead of starting from scratch. Our family also has a few staple meals we just love and enjoy every week such as designated taco night and often a homemade pizza night if we are home on the weekend.
The beauty to this is that we often have leftovers and those end up being perfect for lunches or a busy weeknight dinner as well. Sometimes I will even designate one night of the week as “left over night” if I know what I am cooking makes a ton of food and we won’t eat it all.
I have include a list of a few of our favorite meals below:
- Homemade tacos (however your family likes them)
- Broccoli chicken and rice
- Hamburgers on the grill with the small potatoes I made into home fries
- Chicken Parmesan (I buy pre-breaded Parmesan frozen chicken fillets and pair with spaghetti and a salad)
- Barbecue chicken sandwiches with peas or some sort of veggie
- Italian chicken with pasta and green beans
- Homemade pizzas (we use the dough you can buy from the bakery at Publix)
- Pork tenderloin on the grill, Lima beans, and rice or potato
- Lazy lasagna with salad
- Tomato basil soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
- Crock pot fiesta chicken and rice bowls
- Creamy chicken and veggie soup
Again, I realize this is super simple and I hope this is an encouragement to all of you who, like I used to, struggle with planning meals. It really does not have to be complicated and can save you so much money and time.
If you have any questions please leave a comment below. Also, I am always looking for fun, new, easy recipes. If you have a favorite drop it in a comment below.
Leave a Reply