Long-Overdue Meal Planning

Image Credit: Life Outside the Yellow Tape

I used to be so good at monthly grocery shopping. Granted, that was when I had Thursdays off, and I could do it during the week instead of carving grocery time out of precious weekend time... but until April when I go back to four-day workweeks, weekends it is.

So today, I'm brainstorming 31 meals and pulling together a month-long plan. Feel free to borrow from any of it and save yourself some hassle! Note, this isn't the order in which things will be served - I'm using The Happy Housewife's idea of pulling a meal plan a week at a time from a master meal list.

A Month of Meals

1. Lasagna Roll-ups with Spinach Salad 
2. Oven Roasted Lemon Garlic Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
3. Chicken Tettrazzini (using leftover chicken/stock)
4. Homemade Pizza with Bacon and Pepperoni
5. Bacon Potato Cheese Soup
6. Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Biscuits and Green Beans
7. Open Faced Roast Beef Sandwiches on Texas Toast with French Fries (using leftover beef/gravy)
8. Pasta Carbonara, Salad
9. Fish Filets with Lemon Pasta
10. Tuna Noodle Casserole
11. Bacon, Egg and Spinach Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing and Breadsticks
12. "Like Panera" Black Bean Soup and Cornbread Muffins
13. Salmon Patties, Fried Potatoes and Green Beans Amandine
14. Swiss Cheese Quiche with Green Salad
15. Baked Ziti with Salad and Garlic Bread
16. Spaghetti with Salad and Breadsticks
17. Ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, corn, biscuits
18. Shepherd's pie (leftover ham/gravy/potatoes)
19. Potato Corn and Ham Chowder (leftover ham/corn)
20. Scalloped Potatoes (leftover ham)
21. Husband's turn - Patty Melts and Potato Fans 
22. Husband's turn - Butternut Squash Soup, Crusty Bread, Goat Cheese and Caramel Cake
23. Husband's turn - new cookbook recipe
24. Husband's turn - new cookbook recipe
25. Red Beans and Rice, Green Salad
26. Tuscan White Beans, Melted Cheese on Toasted Sourdough, Something Green  
27. Slow Cooker Vegetarian Corn Chili and Cornbread Muffins
28. Slow Cooker Cubed Steaks over Egg Noodles with Peas
29. Slow Cooker Meatball Subs
30. Broiled Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Peas, Salad, Chocolate Sponge Cake (vintage Good Housekeeping menu)
31. Sausage Breakfast Strata (leftover homemade bread)

Breakfasts

Most weekdays, Baby Tavin eats oatmeal and dad skips breakfast, but it's good to have options on hand in case Dakota has a day off school or we eat breakfast together on a weekend.

1. Oatmeal (here it is 5 Ways if you're sick of plain oatmeal!)
2. Homemade Granola and Yogurt
3. English Muffins and Peanut Butter
4. Buttermilk Waffles and Bacon
5. Scrambled Eggs and Toast
6. Blueberry Muffins and Hardboiled Egg
7. Hot cereal (Cocoa Wheats, farina, etc.)
8. Cinnamon Raisin Toast and Banana
9. Frozen Banana Chocolate Smoothie
10. Nutella Toast and Sliced Bananas

Image Credit: It's About Time

Lunches

Again, Zack and Tavin are the ones who eat lunch most often at home. Their lunches, though, are my biggest worry when it comes to meal planning. Zack often eats something microwaveable while Tavin eats a boring jar of baby food. We can save money and let them both eat healthier if I have quick homemade options on hand.

1. Leftovers are the primary choice - luckily, they both enjoy them. 
2. Sandwich options- fried egg, tuna, homemade egg salad, the ubiquitous PB&J, ham salad if we have leftover ham.
3. Make and Freeze Cheesy Taco Pockets 
4. Make and Freeze Lasagna Roll Ups (like regular lasagna, but rolled into manageable portions)
5. Make and Freeze Sandwich Rolls (butter split rolls, top with lunch meat, cheese, mayo, mustard, wrap in plastic and freeze)
6. Make and Freeze Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuits
7. Make and Freeze Beef Fajitas
8. Home Canned Soups (I can make a batch each weekend until we have a stockpile. I feel an upcoming blog post on this!)

Snacks and Desserts

A list of available sweets and salties is always welcomed by Zack. We rarely buy packaged snacks, but I've been a little lax about having stuff right there for when the kids get out of school.

1. Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
2. Butterscotch Brownies
3. Peanut Butter Cookies
4. Chocolate Sponge Cake
5. Graham Crackers and Nutella
6. Homemade Granola and Homemade Yogurt
7. Homemade Pita Chips and Hummus 
8. Dried Cherries, Raisins and Sunflower Seeds
9. Cheese and Crackers
10. Homemade "Cheez-its"

Drinks

We've recently given up pop. To ease the transition, I now buy seltzer water and juice for homemade fizzies when the carbonation cravings hit. Other than that, I'm just trying to bury the urge to buy a can of Coca Cola every time I stop at the gas station. 

1. Orange Juice
2. Fruit Juice and Seltzer Water
3. Iced Tea
4. Coffee
5. Milk

Okay, now to assimilate all that into a grocery list. Feel free to comment if you'd like a recipe for anything that's not already linked and I'll look it up for you!