Good morning and happy Wednesday! Today, I’m linking up with my some of my favorite bloggers, Mix and Match Mama and A Little Bit of Everything, to share meal planning! It’s a good thing we are talking about this now rather than the beginning of summer. Summertime starts to get a little out of control. Some days I am good about planning and having dinner ready – other days we will snack and play all day outside until 7 pm rolls around and then start asking what is for dinner.
Meal planning during school has been much easier. There is time to prepare, THINK and hungry kiddos to feed after a school day! Here is how we meal plan for the week!
How we meal plan
We really started meal planning in an effort to save money and eat healthier. About 5 years ago, we noticed our spending on food was CRAZY, so our goal was to cut the spending in half and also make some healthier meals at home rather than consuming junk food!
My husband and I will sit down with the calendar and see what we have going on for the week . We’ll then think about what we have in our fridge, what sounds good to eat, what we haven’t had in a while and start filling in the calendar. I normally grocery shop Tuesday or Thursdays so I will take inventory to see what is needed for the meal.
If I can at the very least plan dinners for Monday-Wednesday, I then have the freedom to review grocery ads to see what is on sale that week and come up with meals using those ingredients.
Things are also very fluid. One day I might not have the time to cook one of the planned meals due to an unexpected change in the day so I will review the meal plan for the week and swap with an easier meal or just opt for easy meals such as breakfast for dinner and frozen pizza – things I ALWAYS keep on hand!
Pretty simple, nothing crazy to it, but always try to switch things up so we aren’t having the same things constantly!
Sharing some of our FAVORITE meals and would love to hear yours!
- Grilled/Air fried salmon, sticky rice & broccoli
- Chicken noodle casserole & broccoli
- Spaghetti & meatballs & garlic toast
- Taco night!
- Italian wedding soup
- Pot roast
- Grilled Chicken, sweet potatoes & salad
- Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes & peas
- Steak, asparagus & mashed potatoes
- Breakfast for dinner
- Homemade chicken noodle soup
- Mediterranean Bowls
- Greek Turkey Feta Burgers
- Burgers, Fries & fruit
- Grilled cheese & tomato soup
- Taco bake
- Salad bar at home
- Chicken Parmesan, buttered noodles, veggie or salad
- lasagna
- Meatless meals (ie zucchini roll ups, Greek bowls, balsamic veggie pasta)
- Chicken pot pie
- Chicken Crescent bundles
- Honey mustard Chicken
- White chicken chili & cornbread
…to name a few! What are some of your go-to recipes?!
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I am the exact same way about mixing up meals throughout the week. As long as I have bought food enough for 5-7 meals I don’t necessarily care if I cooked it on the day it was planned. Tonight I’m making homemade pizzas which were really on the calendar for Friday but they just sounded so good to me this morning! We have lots of the same “go to” meals– we just had spaghetti/ meatballs/ garlic bread and then grilled chicken with roasted sweet potatoes & salad (though I threw in corn on the cob at the last minute when our orchard had some freshly picked that very morning- YUM!).
Do you have a favorite marinade for your grilled chicken? I have started to make a turkey breast on some weekends. Then I can use the leftover turkey in salads and in some other dishes like turkey mac n cheese a family favorite!
Also, I find it interesting that your family, like mine … does not enjoy fish very often!
Hey Lindsay! So it is my husbands concoction! I will have to see if he can write it down exactly! I know he loves using Italian dressing, salad supreme, pretzel salt, olive oil, garlic salt, garlic & herb seasoning and red pepper flakes – SO RANDOM, but sooo good! I love the turkey breast idea! We do that with Costco rotisserie chicken! Also, funny you mentioned fish, we have it 1-2 times a month! Salmon, shrimp and tilapia are our favorites! Just had air fryer salmon tonight!