But first some useful information on how I make this work and how I do it!
I'm all about trying to save as much time as I can, so each week, I make out our menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My favorite template is from http://www.theprojectgirl.com/2009/01/19/menu-planning-form-free-download/ I save it as a pdf and print them every week. I write out our menu and hang it on the fridge like this....
When the week is over, I rate the recipes and hole punch the menus and store them in my binder....so that we can refer to them later. Right now, meal planning is a big chore and I'm hoping after we have a few months under our belt, this task will be so much easier to just look back and easily find our most loved meals.
My menu planning started by us simply being sick of having the same meals every week with only a change or two each week! Planning a menu gives me the ambition to try and find new things to try and it saves me money (I very much stick to my list at the grocery store) and time (no more trying to figure out what's for dinner or not having everything we need to fix something). For breakfast, I always alternate Hot/Cold breakfasts each morning and I have veered away from sugary cereals. On a regular basis, I only buy Multigrain Cheerios (favorite around here), Rice Krispies, Special K. Occasionally, I will buy Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but usually Macaw or Emu will remind me that it's not healthy, lol!
Sometimes, I do take one afternoon and cook meals for the week and freeze them...but rarely do I have the freezer space to do this.
So there you have it....that's how I do it!
January 19-24
Sunday
Breakfast - Eggs or waffles
Lunch - Pizza rolls
Dinner- Slow Cooker Cheesy Chicken & Rice
Monday
Breakfast - Pop Tarts or Eggs
Lunch - Mac & Cheese
Dinner - Honey Butter Pork
Tuesday
Breasfast - Pancakes
Lunch - PB&J
Dinner - Ravioli
Wednesday
Breakfast - Waffles
Lunch - Spaghetti
Dinner - Beef & Noodles
Thursday
Breakfast - Toaster Strudels or eggs
Lunch - Hot Dogs
Dinner - Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
Friday
Breakfast - Eggs & Sausage
Lunch- Chicken Nuggets
Dinner - Left Overs
Old Menu's below...
Week of January 24-30
Monday
Breakfast - Muffins
Lunch - Peanut Butter & Jelly
Dinner - Crockpot Chicken & Gravy
Tuesday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Mac & Cheese
Dinner - Crockpot Beef Stew
Wednesday
Breakfast - Sausage & Eggs
Lunch - Hot Dogs
Dinner - Spag. & Meatballs
Thursday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Bologna, Cheese & Crackers
Dinner - Crockpot Mac & Cheese
Friday
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Ramon Noodles
Dinner - Chicken & Noodle Casserole
Saturday
Breakfast - Homemade Donuts
Lunch -
Dinner - Italian Sausage & Rigatoni
Sunday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Homemade Broccoli Cheese Soup
Week of January 3-January 9 (Thank you Cardinal for planning our meals this week)!
Monday
Breakfast – Cereal & Fruit
Lunch – Pizza Rolls
Dinner – Spaghetti & Meatballs, Broccoli, Apple Sauce and Garlic Bread
Tuesday
Breakfast – Muffins (choc. chip & blueberry)
Lunch – Mac and Cheese
Dinner – Taco's
Wednesday
Breakfast – Cereal & Fruit
Lunch – Corn Dogs
Dinner – Beef Stroganoff, corn, dinner rolls
Thursday
Breakfast – Toaster strudel
Lunch – Cold Cuts, chips, carrots w/ranch
Dinner – Flat Iron Steak, green beans, mashed potatoes
Friday
Breakfast – Cereal & Fruit
Lunch – Grilled Cheese
Dinner – Chicken and Dumplings, corn and homemade bread
Saturday
Breakfast – French Toast
Lunch – Hot dogs & chips
Dinner – Pancakes, eggs, sausage, biscuits/gravy and hashbrowns
Sunday
Breakfast – pancakes
Lunch – Chili
Dinner – Leftover/Buffet night :)
Week of November 29 - December 5 (in an effort to stay within our budget, we have cheaper meals this week)
Monday
Breakfast - Toaster day! (If it can go in the toaster, you can have it)
Lunch - Pizza Bagels
Dinner - Taco's
Tuesday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Homemade Gold Star Chili
Dinner - O'Charley's Baked Potato Soup
Wednesday
Breakfast - Breakfast Buritto
Lunch - BLT's
Dinner - Marinaded Cube Steak with Gravy, mashed potatoes, peas, mac&cheese
Marinade Recipe:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon pepper
1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary
3 tablespoons steak dust or your favorite steak seasoning
Thursday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - PB & J's
Dinner - Olive Garden's Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
Friday
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Ramon Noodles
Dinner - Braised Beef with Tomato-Garlic White Beans
Saturday
Breakfast with Santa :)
Lunch - Leftovers
Dinner - Homemade Turkey Chili
Sunday
Breakfast - Homemade donuts
Lunch - Grilled Cheese
Dinner - Flat Iron Steak, baked potato, corn
Here's our menu for the week of November 8-14
Monday
Breakfast - Cereal & Fruit
Lunch - Ramon Noodles
Dinner - Homemade Bagel Pizzas (Choir practice tonight calls for a quick meal)
Tuesday
Breakfast - Omlets, Sausage & fruit
Lunch - Homemade Corndogs, Fries & Applesauce
Dinner - Chicken Gnocchi Soup & Homemade Garlic Bread (using left over italian rolls from last nights dinner)
Wednesday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Pizza Rolls
Dinner - Brats/italian sausage/hot dogs, Fried Potatoes & Green Beans
Thursday
Breakfast - Pop Tarts (I know, not healthy...but sometimes I give)
Lunch - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches & Fruit
Dinner - Fried Chicken Strips, Mashed Potatoes/gravy, Corn & rolls
Friday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Chili Dogs/3 ways
Dinner - BBQ Ribs, Baked Beans & Stuffing
Saturday
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch - Grilled Cheese & Soup
Dinner - Fish & Chips, Homemade Mac & Cheese
Sunday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Pork Roast, Baked Beans, Corn & Baked Apples
Next weeks menu is missing lunch...but here it is so far!
Week of November 15- 21
Monday
Breakfast - Omlet & bacon
Lunch -
Dinner - Homemade Cheesy Potato Soup
Tuesday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch -
Dinner - Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday
Breakfast - Waffles
Lunch -
Dinner - Steak, Butterfinger Potatoes & Corn
Thursday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch -
Dinner - Garlic Parmesan Chicken w/Rotini, Broccoli & Garlic Bread
Friday
Breakfast - Pancakes
Lunch -
Dinner - Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes/Gravy & peas
Saturday
Breakfast - Your choice
Lunch -
Dinner - Salsbury Steak, Green Beans & Mac/Cheese
Sunday
Breakfast - Homemade Donuts
Lunch -
Dinner -Left over buffet
