Welcome to Day One of our Funky Fresh Kitchen series! Make plans to join us for fresh kitchen challenges, new healthy recipes and (hopefully) inspiration for you as we get organized in the kitchen and work our way toward a kitchen full of healthy foods! (And don’t forget about the awesome upcoming giveaways!!)
Since I normally post our menu plan on Sunday, I decided we’d work today’s Funky Fresh Kitchen Challenge around menu planning. As you can see from my menu list below, I typically plan all three meals for each day. I don’t always stick to the plan exactly, but having an outline makes life so much easier for me, plus makes our meals well balanced and healthy.
I know that some people function just fine without a menu plan. But if you are someone who tends to panic at 5:30 because you don’t know what you’re fixing for dinner – and then you just grab something quick and unhealthy to fill the tummies of your family members – let me encourage you to take this small step toward a fresh, healthy kitchen.
First, read through my menu plan for this week to get some tasty meal ideas, then stay tuned for the Challenge stated below!
Sunday, August 28
Blueberry muffins, honeydew melon
Spaghetti, tossed salad, fresh corn, green beans
Leftovers
Monday, August 29
Simple soaked pancakes, blueberries
Tuna salad on tomatoes, fresh peaches with cottage cheese
Teriyaki chicken and veggies, fruit salad
Tuesday, August 30
Applesauce bread, bananas
Taco corn fritters, green beans, watermelon
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas
Wednesday, August 31
Creamy orange cooler, fried eggs on toast,
Turkey ranch pinwheels, cantaloupe, sweet pepper slices
Italian roast wraps, green beans, applesauce
Thursday, September 1
Orange muffins, freeze dried strawberries
Creamy mac and cheese, peas, watermelon
Salmon patties, ranch potato wedges, tossed salad
Friday, September 2
Honey whole wheat bagels, peaches
Sloppy cornbread muffins, green beans, pears
Homemade pizza, cherries
Saturday, September 3
Homemade whole wheat donuts, applesauce
Leftovers
Grilled chicken, stir fried veggies and rice
As you can see, I am not a gourmet chef. I do not cook fancy foods. I do not cook anything “weird”. I simply make very basic, healthy, kid friendly foods that are full of the nourishment our bodies need. I am very intentional about including fruits and vegetables with each meal. I find that if I’m not purposeful about including fruits and veggies, we simply do not get enough nutrients, then we start wearing down and getting sick. Bring on the veggies!
Your challenge today is to plan just one meal. (Of course, you can plan more if you want to!) Figure out tomorrow night’s dinner, figure out what you’ll be serving Wednesday evening, figure out whatever will help you the most. Base the meal plan around food you already have, or if you need to go to the store, pick up what you’ll be needing for this meal so that you’ll be prepared and relaxed.
Be sure the meal you plan is well balanced and includes vegetables. If you don’t have vegetables in your house GO HENCEFORTH WITHOUT DELAY AND BUY VEGETABLES. No excuses. If you need to start with fruit because your family struggles with vegetables, fine – get some grapes. But please be intentional about feeding your family good, nutrient filled foods. (Read through this series of Simple Steps to Healthy Eating to give you some easy ideas for where to start!)
Leave a comment here sharing your one meal plan. Your comment will be considered an entry for the five $10 Heavenly Homemakers Shop gift certificates drawing. Plus, it will serve as inspiration for all of us! I love reading what others are planning to eat! In fact, after reading through your comments, I may just change my menu plan for this week!
(P.S. There are 0 Funky Kitchen ebooks still available at only $1.50. Once those are sold out, you’ll find the next 200 books at $2.00 each! Still less than half price!) :)
I am planning on Grilled chicken, grilled veggie packets, watermelon, whole wheat rolls and potato salad.
Love, just love menu planning. My life would be a mess without it. I am sharing tomorrow dinner: Grilled chicken legs, orzo with pesto and cherry tomatoes, corn on the cob and peach cobbler/crisp for desert!
I would go crazy with out a menu plan. Sadly out menu plan this weeks is out of wack because my husband gets his wisdom teeth pulled tommorrow. But I made lots of jello, hard boiled eggs, pudding and mashed potatoes.
I don’t love menu planning, but my life would be a wreck and totally unhealthy without it. Friday night’s dinner is Gardener’s Pie – a spiced lentil, pinto and vegetable base, covered with homemade garlic, herbed mashed taters. Nom Nom Nom. :)
Love menu planning! Learned it here about three years ago and haven’t stopped! Tomorrow night we are having Taco salad over blue corn chips! Family favorite! Great way to start of the week! :)
Mexican Shepherds Pie (ground beef, corn bread, tomato, corn.) Salad. Fruit smoothie.
I have chicken in the crockpot and plan to shred it to put on a pizza made with flat bread, alfredo sauce instead of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, then layer on the chicken and veggies of choice (gr pep, onion, spinach), then put a layer of cheese to kind of hold it all together. I cook this on the griddle I use for pancakes and when the cheese has melted a little, I fold it over and it’s like a large crunchy taco, sort of.
I am new to menu planning but trying to do better. Monday night’s meal will be homemade wholewheat pizza with salad and apples and peaches for dessert because my kids are obsessed with apples right now. :)
Meal planning is a struggle for me, but my goal is to beat that. For dinner tomorrow we will have chicken and sausage gumbo made with brown rice, and I think tomatoes and corn on the side.
BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans from my mother in laws garden :)
we’re having blueberry muffins for the first day of school tomorrow, and the kids have been helping me with the menu for the last week or so, it makes for alot less leftovers in the fridge. i need to get more intentional about those since the kids are eating more.
Chicken corn chowder and apples for dinner here. (Irene has cooled the temperature down enough for soup… the wind certainly helps with that.)
I love menu planning!
Daddy is out of town for a few days, so spaghetti and green beans will do for tonight. How do you eat the tuna salad on tomatoes? Thanks for sharing your plans, it always helps me!
Tonight we’re having BBQ chicken sandwiches from the crockpot, sweet potato fries, and grapes. Never been consistent with meal planning but here’s to a fresh start!
veteran meal planner here.
chef salad with grilled chicken
fruit k-bobs
that reminds me, I need to print up next month’s menu calendar and get started filling it in. I usually do a month’s worth of main dishes (in pencil) but I keep the weekends open and free (leftovers or we’ll “wing it”).
Ok, I’m thinking about making some salisbury steak, corn on the cob, gotta have a potato dish (loaded mashed), fresh fruit(peaches) and I better toss in a salad. hmmm, maybe I need to make some fresh dinner rolls.
I run a small daycare in my home and have 2 children of my own with all their activities so I don’t have time to do a lot during the week and we ate a lot of prepackaged meals. Until I discovered some meal planning services on-line! I started with emealz, but now I use 5dinners1hour because it allows me to prepare all the meals in advance and they use fresh healthy ingredients. They run about $5 per month which comes out of my grocery budget. I have found I save far more money than the $5 per month cost by having a meal plan and preparing actual healthy meals. The menu plan comes with a grocery list, so it pretty much eliminates my need to think (which is wonderful because my brain is overtaxed as it is!) My goal this year is to do the same with the daycare lunches and breakfasts. Meal planning has helped my life and my family so much!
With 6 kids in the house, 5 of them boys who eat A LOT, I would be crazy without a menu plan. Tonight’s dinner is grilled chicken over spinach and baby lettuce with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and cheese. Cantaloupe and grapes as well.
This week, I will continue canning tomatoes. I will be making a simple sauted lemon chicken, steamed broccoli and brown rice :)
If I don’t have at least a shell for a menu plan – things don’t go well.
Tonight we’re having salad, chicken tacos, guacamole & blueberry pie
We’ll be having Paprika and apple lettuce wraps for dinner. They sound fancy and difficult, but there is no cooking involved. They are perfect for the hot days of summer here! Also, they involve both fruit and vegetables! Good wholesome meal!
I rarely have a formal, written menu plan (certainly not for breakfast and lunch!) but always have a general idea of what my options are based on how I’ve shopped. I do plan future meals based on what I cook today.
My favorite “multiple meal” menu plan is one I’m using for tonight’s dinner.
When we have tacos I always make homemade yellow rice as a side and homemade refried beans. I make a triple batch of taco meat, beans and yellow rice, freezing 2 for later.
A few days later I’ll make a double batch of burrito filling using one each of the prepared meat, beans and rice. To this, I add a package of frozen corn and some black beans. I assemble a second pan of burritos for dinner on a rushed night the next week.
Plus, there is still a set of meat, beans and rice for another taco night.
Tonight we are having burritos, Part One :)
we eat out of the garden alot, tomorrow we’ll probably have the following for lunch, grilled burgers (or steak), fresh tomatoes, and potato salad, might add sweet corn too if it’s ready :-)
this is a great day for the challenge since i was going to plan out our month of suppers today anyway! :) we’re deffinatly having minestone soup one day!
*minestrone*
I have been so bad about menu planning the past two weeks with the start of school, but I actually have started again for this week. Tomorrow will be bbq ribs in the crockpot, cheesy baked potatoes, baby spinach salad, and baked pears for dessert. Would love to see more recipes for things with pears on here. Our youngest has an apple allergy and I try to keep apples out of the house!
My sister in law has a pear tree, and I get tons from her at the end of summer. I have successfully substituted pears in many apple recipes. They’re pretty interchangeable!
I’ve been planning our evening meals for a few years. We found that if I did not actually write down what meals we would have then we would go to the store and get a bunch of food without actually getting meal ingredients or we would get the ingredients but I wouldn’t be able to remember what we had the stuff to make.
Thanks for the challenge & inspiration. I am just starting to replace all of our new fangled “food” with whole foods. I am going to try your teriyaki chicken & veggies this week. I have a 4 year old & a 1 year old & I’ve found that most of the time they won’t eat the veggies that are mixed into the dinner, but they will eat them off the counter when I am washing & slicing them before dinner!
plan for supper today: lamb chops, quinoa, spaghetti squash, and grapes
Our meal: Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad, carrot sticks with ranch dressing (for my toddler who is a non-salad eater right now), maybe fruit for dessert…or maybe homemade choco-banana pops (so yummy!). I make several batches of meatballs and freeze them for later, so this meal is easy…the sauce and meatballs go in the crockpot early in the day, add the cooked pasta at dinner time…tada! dinner is served.
Love your blog, Laura!
I plan menu’s each week! It helps me stay sane :-), especially homeschooling 3 children and taking care of a newborn. Tomorrow night, we are eating Garden Fresh Pasta salad and homemade bread
Monday night we’ll be having chicken kabobs with green/yellow peppers and mushrooms, corn on the cob, and fruit salad. I have a six week old baby so Im just now getting back in the swing of cooking “real” meals :)
Supper tonight – make ahead baked pasta with roasted chicken, spinach and edamame and a salad.
Meal planning makes our family life so much easier! I appreciate the menu ideas.
I will be making your mini apple pies for breakfast this week plus extras to put in the freezer!
Planning Taco Salad for dinner tonight:D Yummy!!
Tomorrow we are having chili with veggies and dip and apple slices. Yummy! I could not make without my menu plan.
leftovers for dinner tonight. =0) (WITH veggies!) We are trying to be more intentional about more veggies too.
I never formally planned my meals until I started reading your blog! I especially enjoy Sundays, I can look at your meal plan and get some ideas for my week. Now I am LOST without a meal plan for the week. I am preparing to plan my meals for the week later today, so I don’t have a “certain meal” for any night yet. But….something that helps me is to ALWAYS have homemade pizza on Friday nights. My family loves the predictability and so do I. That is the night I fill in first, because it is always the same. Wednesday must be something simple, like a pasta dish or tuna salad on whole wheat pitas; we attend church on Wednesday nights and the supper hour can get a little crazy, trying to get everyone out the door :)
You have also inspired me to cook ahead. Like doubling batches of muffins and freezing one for later. On Saturdays I make a huge batch of whole wheat waffles, freeze them on cookie sheets, and VIOLA! “Eggo” waffles ready to be toasted and eaten.
Keep up the inspiring words to us homemakers!
We are big meal planners around here! I’ve gotten even crazier now that i have an iPad and can change or move meals easily!
Tomorrow is chicken night – we always have some form of chicken on
Mondays! So I’m making a whole roast chicken! (and then canning the chicken stock!)
Tuesday is Taco Tuesdays – we always have some form of tacos ( my husbands would eat them 5 days a week!)
Wednesday is burgers on the grill
Thursdays is spinach chicken rolls and
Friday is always pizza!
Having some days that never change has really helped us and my husband is happy because he would eat pizza and tacos for dinner every night for the rest of his life!
Thanks for the giveaway! I hope I win!!
I plan to make grilled chicken, baked red potatoes, and peas for dinner tonight.
I menu plan for 2 weeks at a time for dinner. Breakfast and lunch are the same plans for each week so I don’t have to think about it. For dinner we are having honey nut chicken stirfry that includes lots of veggies (always carrots and then broccoli or peas depending on what we have) over brown rice with cantaloupe.
Menu planning is essential when feeding a family of 7 on a very tight budget. Tonight’s dinner will be vegetable chowder, homemade bread and fruit salad. Tuesday is grocery shopping day so I am using the fresh fruits and vegetables left in the refrigerator for tonight and tomorrow’s meals.
Hearty Lasagna Soup but with rice instead of the noodles;
I also currently have two batches of chicken stock going in my crockpots……LOL….I thawed chicken last night so I could crockpot a chicken for lunch today only to discover this morning that it was chicken carcasses I had frozen following a fried chicken meal. Sometimes even with planning things go haywire. We had homemade pizza instead of chicken today. That will teach me not to label a bag again…….at least I hope:).
Tacos–beef taoc meat with pinto beans, Shredded romaine, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa
tortilla chips
cantaloupe
I *have* to menu plan or else I just don’t feel right anymore! Thursday night we’re having some sort of egg dish with veggies and meat in it along with watermelon or pears.
Tonight: Steak stroganoff, baked brown rice, steamed broccoli and tossed green salad with sweet dressing :)
I so love planning menus (even if I end up changing meals and days) It really helps me to stay on budget and cooking.
Taco Salad (taco seasoned ground beef, lettuce,diced tomatoes, green onion, red and yellow bell peppers diced, black olives, grated cheddar cheese, corn chips and salsa ranch dressing)
fruit salad with whipped cream
I find that when I have a menu planned for the week, things go so much better at mealtime. Tomorrows menu is chicken in the crockpot, rice and a vegetable.
dinner tonight: lamb kebabs with roasted vegetable couscous, dinner on Monday: salad (consisting of lettuce with chicken, apple, avocado, corn and blue cheese), dinner on Tuesday: black beans and rice with avocados, fresh salsa, and sour cream
Since we just moved, my menu planning has been lacking some. Today I’ve done well though! Breakfast was funnel cakes with honey (special treat!), hard boiled eggs, plums, and milk. Lunch was lighter with tea, rolls, and a homemade salad bar since the kids will eat more salad if they choose what is on theirs. Tonight we’re having a spin-off of chile rellenos, refried beans, corn, and homemade salsa.
I love menu planning! Chicken and rice with carrots is one of our meals this week.
Tomorrow night’s dinner: zucchini soup made in the crockpot (using up some of our garden surplus!), homemade bread sticks, and a green smoothie. I love adding smoothies in for meals because we’re getting fruits and veggies, but it feels like dessert!
I would be lost without my meal plan! I usually don’t cook on Sundays and we eat leftovers, but we have fresh zucchini from the garden so I will be making zucchini boats, French fries, cucumber salad(because I am picking almost 2 a day from our garden) and peaches! Yummy! I get hungry reading everyones great plans!
We’re planning on having lettuce wraps this week. Basically stir fry packed with chicken and veggies, but chopped a bit smaller and served wrapped in a crisp lettuce leaf. Fruit and maybe some brown rice on the side.
I love to menu plan! Tonight we’ll get spaghetti, salad (with Laura’s homemade Italian dressing, yum!) and our fresh cantaloupe from the garden. Tomorrow it’s sushi, and peaches.
Meatloaf (or meatloaf muffins), mashed potatoes, green veggie (green beans, broccoli, etc) and homemade rolls.
I love how I meal plan. Last weeks meals are the same as this weeks, so I plan less, spend less, shop less, cook less (if the meal is freezable) and most importantly think less. Tomorrow we’re having tuna noodle casserole with peas in it and maybe green beans.
We just had this exact same meal: tuna noodle casserole with peas, and green beans from the garden. :)
Monday night we are having grilled salmon and asparagus spears (both grilled on the outside grill, which keeps the house cool) and a salad. I’m considering trying your chocolate chip cookie recipe for desert as I made the chocolate chunks a week or so ago and they are staring at me from their beautiful jars everytime I open the fridge. Oh and BTW, your simple soaked pancakes with real maple (Grade B!) syrup are a big hit here!! Thanks!
ha ha. After you read our menu plan you may change yours. I was thinking the same thing since you keep tempting us with some new recipes :). I’ll be trying two soups from Kitchen Stewardship’s Everything Bean Book this week and need to go grocery shopping after that to see what’s next.
I do have a couple of semi (okay, not really) related questions I’ve been dying to ask you…
1. I know you do a lot of freezer cooking and I do too. (Your stromboli freezes awesome by the way!). But, how do you reheat freezer foods or leftovers? I’ve really decreased our microwave use but sometimes find myself using it more than I would like for lunch when we have 6 different types of leftovers. LOL
2. How do you keep up on all the deals there are online? I’m always thankful when you post a good deal at Tropical Tradtions or Amazon and have wondered if there is a way to “watch” for these deals without going to the website randomly and typing it in. Thanks!
I’ll try to do a post sometime about reheating food. I use either the stove top or our toaster oven. :)
I typically just click over to look for the items at Amazon or Tropical Traditions that I regularly get there and look for the specials. If I find a good one, I let you know. I’m also on the TT newsletter list, so I get emails from them sharing sales and free shipping deals!
Tonight we are having spagetti, California blend veggies, and choice of vanilla or peach yogurt with or with out frozen blueberries.
Tomorrow either chicken alfredo, or fire roasted tomato chicken with penne pasta, veggies (not sure yet which veggies) and yogurt with or without frozen blueberries.
Excellent timing for the challenge. I normally plan a week to two ahead, but as a teacher with a busy month approaching, I’m working on a whole month plan! I know you only said one meal, but I just finished 1 day. Tomorrow will be:
B-Almond Cherry granola bar and milk
Snack-applesauce or pear and cucumbers
L-Leftover zucchini, orzo, chickpeas and feta (last night’s one pot meal)
D-Frittata with chorizo, spinach, broccoli, cheddar, onions and potatoes (potatoes and broccoli from my garden!) ooh, and maybe peas, I love peas, but too much stuff an my frittata will not stick together.
I can’t live w/out a menu plan!! It saves time, and money. Tonight we will be having cheesy salsa enchiladas, salad, and cantaloupe. Keeping things simple is the only way for me to do things :)
Tonight is steak, potatoes, corn on the cob, salad and bread.
Tomorrow we are having salad with chicken, wraps(salad stuff in it), and cantaloupe.
I love to meal plan! It helps me so much!
Tonight: Spaghetti with cut up chicken breast, garlic bread and tossed salad.
I usually plan out our dinners. Monday night we are having mustard-baked chicken breasts, roasted cauliflower and green beans.
Tonight we’re having homemade chicken noodle soup, made with homemade broth and garden fresh veggies. I’ll also serve a salad with lettuce and veggies from the garden, with homemade ranch dressing. Either watermelon or canteloupe from a local Amish farm for dessert. YUM!
We are having grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup for dinner! Made with homemade bread and YOUR tomato soup recipe! My kids actually beg for that soup! They have even been known to use it as dip for pizza. :)
Tomorrow I am going to pick green beans at a local farmers garden. He is 75 and just plain tired out so I will pick enough beans to can a lot. He also has yummy corn so I will get some of that. So BBQ sounds yummy to go with it. I am also going to make some bread to go with the homemade butter I made yesterday. Awesome!
I always rely on a menu plan! It saves me work and it keeps us eating healthy meals!
Sunday nights we usually just have popcorn (popped in coconut oil on the stove) because we eat a bigger lunch.
Monday night we have a Bible Study that includes dinner at a friend’s house.
Tuesday: Crockpot Roast, Potatoes, and carrots; homemade rolls, and green beans.
Wednesday: Chinese-style Chicken, Broccoli and Mushrooms over Soaked & Baked Jasmine Brown Rice (a favorite around here); fresh fruit salad
Thursday: Leftover Roast turned BBQ on homemade rolls, Sauteed Squash, and fresh peaches
Friday: Leftovers or Breakfast for dinner (eggs, soaked pancakes, fruit)
I menu plan always around beans since they are cheap and filling and I have big teens and a huge hungry husband to feed. Organic beans are easily bought in bulk from Azure and I make LOTS on one day every week and then incorporate them through out the week. YUM
~Cynthia
I think I’m going to try salmon patties for the first time (love salmon, but have never made these) and serve some kale and collard greens sauted in virgin palm oil with some green onion… maybe some fresh garden potatoes too; have lots of those this year!
LIfe is so much easier with menu plans. I usually plan my menus on Friday for Saturdays thru Friday. I do need to plan more fruits into our meals. Thanks for the post.
I have been wanting to get back into meal planning and this is great encouragement.
Monay we are having roast with potatoes and carrots, salad and rolls.
planning on having leftovers tonight from last night’s meal. LOVE cooking once & eating twice!
Monday evening we are having shredded beef/pork sandwiches with a spinach salad, fresh cukes and tomatoes from the garden and a fresh fruit salad. I LOVE eating fresh produce during the summer months!
I went to the grocery store today to pick up what I’m going to need for the next few meals, and it was a little more expensive than what I would have liked. But, a lot of the stuff, like honey, bread flour, balsamic vinegar, coffee, red pepper flakes…will last me quite a while. So, it all balances out.
Tonight i’m about to start making your Italian pasta bake, homemade breadsticks, and honey-glazed carrots (gotta get that veggie in.)
A few of my other meals are crockpot meals because I’m going to be at school for the day, and it’ll be good to have dinner waiting for me when I get home. So, I’m making venison tenderloin in the crockpot and Asian chicken in there as well.
I’ve gotten lazy with meal planning. Oops. I’m trying to plan 2 types of produce with each meal, and breakfast is the hardest for me. So tomorrow morning’s breakfast is french toast with strawberries and blueberries.
I do our menu plans for a month at a time. I am gluten free (celiac) and my husband is not. Tonight, we had grilled burgers, boiled potatoes, carrot sticks and grapes. He had his burger on a bun and I did not. :)
You can see my entire menu plan here:
http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/08/menu-plan-828.html
Hi Emily, I too am gluten free, although I’m gluten intollerant. Have you
tried wrapping your hamburger in a lettuce leaf? I heard this suggestion
somewhere, but not sure where. I’ve checked out your blog and I think there’s
a couple recipes I’m gonna try on my family. Thanks for the link. Have a great week!
I have used a lettuce leaf before but I honestly prefer the plain burger. :) I do like to eat “Unwiches” at Jimmy John’s, though – yummy!
Biscuits and gravy( homemade of course!) For breakfast, smoothie, tuna sandwich for lunch, spaghetti for dinner, and I.just organized my recipe box today and am going to find some long lost recipes for the next two weeks!( I hope) ;)
We’re going to have chicken casserole, strawberries, salad, peach cobbler.
Tomorrow night DH and I are having hamburgers, our son is having a turkey hot dog (beef allergy), and we’re all sharing sweet potato fries and baked cinnamon apples for dessert :)
I would be lost without menu planning. Plus the kids don’t have to ask what is for dinner, they can just go and read it on the refridgerator.
For dinner one evening this week we are having: Pinapple Salsa chicken served over rice with green beans.
Tomorrow night I plan on serving up Three Cheese Baked Spaghetti, garlic bread and salad (with veggies fresh from the garden!) It’s a favorite around here!
Tonight’s plan went out the window thanks to Irene and her lovely power outages! Tomorrow, pending we continue to have power, breakfast will be banana choc chip muffins and a pear, snack will be nuts and maybe some cheese, lunch will be a sandwich or soup and dinner I think we will try laura’s country friend steak strips! with rice and broccoli and salad if there is any left!
I always plan a months worth of dinners for our big grocery shopping trip and then just run out for produce when needed for dinners, lunch, etc… Here is this weeks dinner menu (I normally do not plan for other meals)
Monday : porkchops w/ applesauce, green beans and oven fries.
Tuesday: homemade pizza topped with red and green peppers, tomatoes, cheese and maybe a little pepperoni. I am thinking of doubling the dough and making an extra pizza with “refried” (I just mash and season no frying) beans instead of sauce, red and green peppers, tomatoes, and a mix of cheeses including monterey jack.
Wednesday: leftovers from Mon. and Tues.
Thursday: CowPoke beans (new recipe I found on Allrecipes.com) w/ rice, tortillas and some kind of veggie)
Friday: breakfast for dinner (my kids love this), scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, pancakes
Saturday: Leftovers from Thursday.
Sunday: If there are still leftovers from a previous day we will have a “clean out the fridge dinner” if not then I will make crockpot meatloaf with mashed potatoes and broccoli. If I don’t have to cook then the meatloaf gets bumped to Monday :)
I actually have my whole week’s meals planned. It is so helpful for me when I do that. Especially now that we’re back into our school routine. Tomorrow night’s dinner is stir fry veggies and rice with fresh melon. I am so encouraged by your funky fresh kitchen posts! Have a blessed week.
Tomorrow night – fried chicken and steamed green beans!
Thank you for sharing you meal plan each week. It is encouraging and helpful to me because it reminds me that planning healthy meals is very simple and I don’t have to have expensive or elaborate ingredients to prepare nutritious meals for my family!
Tue: BBQ chicken pizza, pears
Tomorrow night’s plan is for meatballs, Parmesan potatoes, garden tomatoes & cukes with ranch dressing, and probably fried okra, which just keeps going and going in our garden!
Dinner for tomorrow will include salsa chicken (cooked in my crockpot while I am at work) served over brown rice. I will add peaches or watermelon.
Due to an unexpected car repair bill, I’m doing a lot of cleaning out the fridge and freezer cooking this week. I HAVE to have a plan or we’ll be eating really strange odds and ends by the end of the week!
Chicken piccata
Cheeseburger mac
Breakfast casserole
French toast and bacon
Mexican chicken soup – which I’m going to make up using the stuff I have on hand – black beans, rice, tomatoes, chicken stock, etc. Hopefully it turns out.
We are going to have bow tie pasta with sauteed zucchini, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms in a garlic white wine sauce served with a fruit salad on the side. Grilled chicken served with grilled zucchini and a salad is on the menu for another night.
During this summer I have gotten lazy with menu planning. With canning and everything else, supper often is something quick! Tomorrow we are grilling sausages and corn on the cob, with a garden fresh watermelon to go with it!
No plan so far this week, we are leaving Wed. for the rest of the week to camp. So, I am just winging it! I normally plan my weeks menu with grocery store ads and what I have on hand. We did have Chicken, green beans from the garden and herb noodles on Saturday and today was a pot luck dinner with 15 family members. When school starts back up I will plan out our weekly menu and post it on the fridge.
I forgo the menu planning during the summer, but since I am a teacher with 2 boys it is essential during the school year. Tomorrow begins my first full week, so the menu is all set. I only plan dinners and provide a varieyt of options for the boys to pack in their lunches. Tomorrow is grilled steak, mushrooms, and potatoes. Tuesday is chicken parmesan.
I love menu planning, but we are just home from holidays and have a busy week coming up with swim lessons. Tomorrow is Laura’s whole wheat waffles with raspberries from our bushes and whip cream.
I’m having leek and potato soup for lunch, yum!!
Dinner – Shepherd’s pie (already made just waiting to be re-heated) with broccoli
Tuesday – Mac Cheese with salad.
PS I LOVE your applesauce bread recipe, I have modified it but it is so good, kids love it! (works very well with pumpkin mash as well!)
I don’t plan as much as you, but always keep a list on the fridge of foods I want to make and have ingredients for. It helps me get focused if I’m not sure about that particular day and also helps make sure nothing disappears in the fridge until it is gross!
Tonight we grilled chicken, onions and peppers for fajitas (along with corn on the cob and pico de gallo and chips) so we’ll have planned leftovers of a fajita pizza using the salsa blended up as the sauce. Top with cheese and some sour cream of course and served with the rest of the corn along side.
Tuesday’s lunch will be pizza and broccoli with cheese.
I do not normally plan a menu. I should really start. I work part time, and when my schedule is for an evening shift, I am not able to cook. We do not eat very healthy most of these nights. It is usually something my husband and oldest daughter can cook quickly when he gets home from work: chicken tenders, frozen pizza, etc…. You get the idea. My goal is to start planning a menu and trying to prevent my family eating foods like this. Tomorrow night I am roasting a turkey breast and making stuffing and veggies to go with it. After we eat I plan on deboning the turkey and making a turkey tetrazzini for Tuesday.
I very much need my menu plans, or we dive into eating out which is unhealthy AND expensive! One of our menus for this week (I think it is scheduled for Wednesday) is Beans and Rice (aka Homemade Chipotle)…which means cooked black beans, cooked brown rice, and then a homemade veggie salsa of chopped tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, and corn. I’ll probably serve apples with it since we have a lot of those in the house right now!
My meal plan for tomorrow is spaghetti with meat sauce and salad.
Thanks for the challenge – meal planning really takes the stress out of health meals! Thursday night we’ll be having enchiladas in the crockpot. Planning to serve them with “the fixings” … ie. lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, olives, avacado, and fresh salsa! Yum!!
We’re having a guest tomorrow!
On the menu is spaghetti carbonara, peas (always a necessity with pasta in my house!), we’ll-see-what-else-I-find, and peach sorbet (which is really pureed peaches, lime juice, and a touch of sugar).
We’re not great about veggies, but tomorrow we’re doing well!
Homemade pizza made with whole wheat crust…1 traditional and 1 with a pesto sauce topped with chicken and tomatoes…and a fresh salad! One of our favorite meals…usually Friday nights!
Thanks so much for this post! It really encouraged me :) We live overseas and getting my hands on veggies is not always the easiest. I need to make buying veggies more of a priority!
As far as meal planning goes, I have found that it works for me to write down 3-5 meal ideas for the week and make sure we have the ingredients on hand for all of them. Then when my husband and I get home from work, we look at the list and decide what sounds good.
We don’t have an oven (or crockpot), so we do a lot of stove top cooking. We will be having Thai Chicken Pasta from Taste of Home one night this week. It is one of my husband’s favorites.
tomorrow night we will have crockpot chicken, fresh green beans from the garden, fresh baked bread, and probably cherries because there are a ton in the fridge that need to be eaten or I’ll have to freeze them!
Spaghetti with meatballs and whole grain pasta and homemade marinara sauce, steamed zucchini and tossed salad with homegrown tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. That is what we will have tomorrow, the rest of the weeks’ menu is not quite finished yet!
Tomorrow we’ll be having Mexican rice…brown rice, chicken, seasoned with your recipe of taco seasoning, fresh tomatoes from the garden, black beans, leftover corn on the cob, and LOTS of cilantro. Maybe a little cheese sprinkled on top.
Yummy!
We eat Paleo so I just make sure I have lots of meat and veggies on hand. I decide what we will have just one day in advance so I can thaw the meat. Tomorrow is soyfree pasture pork sausage sauted with cabbage, carrots and onions for breakfast. Dinner will be homemade meatballs and a big green salad.
Sunday nights are usually a snack since we have a big lunch (tonight was fresh picked apples)
Tomorrow for supper will be vegetable soup with deer burger in it. We are going to the beach in two weeks and I’m trying to use up what’s in the freezer that’s been in there the longest to make room for new things. I’m going to make some bread sticks to go with it. I cant’ wait to learn more in this new series!
Tomorrow night we will be having Stuffed Green Peppers and grapes. Who knew three green pepper plants could produce so much!
Thankfully, my husband really likes simple stuff and doesn’t mind repetition. So, Monday = ground beef, Tuesday = beans, Wednesday = chicken, Thursday = eggs, Friday = pizza, Saturday = pancakes or waffles, Sunday = eggs. We have 3-4 favorite meals in each category, so each week I just pick one of our favorite meals in each category. One of our favorites this summer is tortilla chips with black bean hummus, fresh fruit and either a salad or carrot sticks — it also travels well so we’ve had it on a few picnics and outings this summer!
So fun to see everyone’s menu ideas. On my menu for tomorrow night is meatball muffins, mashed potatoes and peas. My oldest doesn’t like meatloaf, but she likes meatloaf muffins;)
We will be having sausage jimbalya with carrots,celery, and peppers. I will serve it with rice and broccoli. Yummy.
Crockpot ham, cucumber salad and green salad. If it’s not too hot, I’ll make some cornbread also.
I love the idea of more fruits and veggies. Here is one of my meals.
Sloppy Jo’s with turkey meat
Carrots
Pasta Salad
Chips
Cake
I’ve been trying real hard to plan at least one crockpot meal a week, to eliminate eating out. Here’s my crockpot meal:
Porcupine Meatloaf
Rice
Steamed broccoli & cauliflower
Grilled chicken breast with coconut rice and brocolli.
Must. Eat. Veggies.
I bought some Chinese Okra at the farmer’s market this past week. They are about 10″ long!
I am planning on making gumbo with it. It will have meat & vegetables in one pot and I will serve it over brown rice.
We are trying out a new cabbage soup recipe for dinner tommorrow so hopefully it is good!
Beef stroganoff served with either broccoli or green beans. We’ll see. ;)
Found a new egg recipe for breakfast-separate the egg white and yolk. Beat the white until fluffy (mixer is best for this). Use parchment or roul’pat and put the white on, make a well in the middle and put the yolk in it. Bake for 4 minutes at 450. You may add salt and pepper or parmesan cheese to it.
Egg Nests
Tuna Melt and carrots
Mac and cheese (yours) and salad
Tomorrow night: Loaded baked potatoes, tossed salad, and pears!
My husband has a dinner meeting every Monday, so it’s just the kids and I. We’re going to have quesadillas made with leftover shish-ke-sketti toppings (grilled chicken and peppers), sliced carrots, and applesauce.
On the menu for tomorrow night is baked pork chops with jerk seasoning, broccoli, mashed potatoes and homemade bread.
Rebecca C
Our menu for tomorrow night is a rather simple one: hamburgers on the grill, corn on the cob, caprese salad, green beans, and peaches.
I couldn’t survive without a plan. I don’t always stick to it exactly, but without it we eat a lot of pizza and fast food.
Tomorrow we are having chicken quesadilla’s using homemade wheat tortillas, and left over chicken that I roasted tonight. They will include fresh onion, just picked today and green and purple peppers, also picked today, and fresh homemade salsa.
Vegetarian loaf: Special K with dilly carrots
We are going to have chicken and zucchini alfredo with a salad and sliced peaches!
I truly find it much easier to use a weekly menu. It feels good to have a plan and if something comes up during the week and I don’t make a particular meal I just move it to the following weeks menu. Two of our meals this week include: Crockpot Stuffed Pepoers with mashed potatoes and grapes and/or pineapple; Lemon & Garlic Grilled Chicken with chicken flavored brown rice, steamed broccoli and strawberries.
I gotta say that I just checked out a great cookbook from the library, Don’t Panic… Dinner’s in the Freezer. For a mom of soon to be six children, a pastor’s wife, and a homeschool teacher this book has been most helpful. It has each recipe listed and then it lists it x3, x6, and x9. We were able to triple 3 main dish recipes and 3 breakfast recipes over the weekend.
My whole meal will be posted at my website on Monday (8/28). We’ll be having tuna salad, spaghetti, chili, chicken and rice and carnitas for our dinners this week.
We are having homemade pita bread, stuffed with homemade chicken patties, tomato and cucumber slices, shredded lettuce, and sour cream. My hubby loves them!
I use a book called Saving Dinner, by Leanne Ely, and I love it. It is a book of menu plans for a week, with included shopping lists. I’ve had it a number of years. I just go through and check off what I need, and add whatever we’ll need for breakfast and lunch to the list. We eat a LOT of fruits and veggies around here. It is soooo easy to know what is next for dinner. I have tried to do it myself, but this book has the menus by season, so the produce changes, and the recipes are easy and terrific, and inlcude items anyone can find. We enjoy the variety and the recipes. Leanne is a nutritionist, and doesn’t use convenience products in the recipes. We use the low carb version of the book, but there are others too. All that said, we are having fruit smoothies for breakfast, leftover teriyaki fish and summer squash for lunch and “Low Carb Beef Stroganoff” on a bed of spinach with a salad for dinner.
Love that book. Havent used in a very long time. Thanks for the reminder…Have to go did it out.
I have found menu planning to be greatly beneficial for my grocery bill! I try to plan 4-5 evening meals/week plus an evening for leftovers. We don’t always get to follow that plan, of course, but what I don’t make one week most likely gets placed on the following week’s menu, making that menu even easier!
Last week, I began making a lose menu plan for lunches. Sometimes lunches are the hardest thing.
Right now, our evening meal plan for this week looks like this:
Monday~ Taco corn fritters, green beans
Tuesday~ Pizza, salad
Wednesday~ Sandwiches, cottage cheese, peaches (chips for kids & hubby)
Thursday~ Sundried tomato, artichoke & chicken penne (although, we may be going out Thursday evening)
Friday~ Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Saturday~ Leftovers
I have some venison in the freezer that I want to use up before the new hunting season is upon us…I am making Venison Chili in the crockpot…loaded with fresh onion, shredded zucchini and peppers from my CSA. We also had pick your own tomatoes this week, so I added a bunch to my blender and made chopped tomatoes with basil that I will be adding to the pot as well…add some Cayenne pepper, cumin and chili powder, black beans that were soaked over night and my house smells fantastic. A fresh side salad will be served as well…YUMMY
Menu plans are life savers for me. Today will be pasta, tomato-meat sauce & marinated cucumbers. Tomorrow will be beef roll-mops, mashed potatoes (from our garden) sliced tomatoes (ditto) and home frozen corn.
Chef’s Salad with grilled chicken strips and dinner rolls.
Tonight we will be having a fresh whole roasted chicken that we just butchered last night along with new potatoes from the garden and fresh corn given to us from a friend. I envy your menu planning, I have tried time and again to stick to a menu plan it seems that I always veer off from it. But, I will keep trying to keep with it.
Tomorrow night: Cube Steak, Mashed potatoes, & green trees (aka broccoli)
Your Beef Stroganoff Recipe, Home-grown and canned green beans, homemade applesauce and choc. chip cookies. (I love to look through your previous menu plans to put our menus together and REALLY enjoy using the printable menu planners) :)thanks!
Tonight we’re having tacos (half ground beef, half lentils), leftover from Friday’s dinner, and probably roasted broccoli with garlic salt because I’m trying to get better at serving two fruits/veggies at each meal. I’ve gotten pretty good at planning dinners and sometimes breakfasts, but I need to get better about lunch!
This is my second week using a menu, and I love it! I hope I can stick with it. I’ve tried it before and it’s fizzled out. Tonight I’m planning on making a homemade “hamburger helper” and some garlic almond green beans.
Menu planning for me isn’t hard… following through on the menu plan… I.E. PREPARING or remembering to pull meat out of the freezer or whatnot… that is difficult!
I used to menu plan all our dinners and then fell out of it. Trying to get back to it as it is so much easier and less stressful than trying to figure it out last minute.
FALL 3 MONTH MENU PLAN
Extras to have on hand: COTTAGE CHEESE, RANCH, BLUE CHEESE, APPLE SAUCE, PASTA ( for boys), PARMESEAN CHEESE
ALL GROUND AND STEAK IS VENISON
DAY MEALS
1 BK-Eggs and Bacon With berries
L – Tacos
D- Taco Salad
Dessert- Baked Apples
2 BK-Egg Sandwich with orange smoothie
L – Turkey Pinwheels
Di – Whole baked Chicken with roasted Veggies & Potatoes
Dessert- Berry Crisp
3 BK- Quiche
L – Chef Salad With Leftover Chicken
D – Pork Chops, Green Been casserole, scalloped Potatoes
Dessert- Left over Crisp
4 BK- Quiche With Orange Smoothie
L – Leftovers from Dinner
D – Chef Salad or Turkey Pinwheels
Dessert- Frozen Strawberry Smoothie
5 BK- French Toast with Bananas
L – Tuna Salad in Lettuce cups
D – Stuffed Peppers
Dessert- Baked Apples
6 BK- Eggs and Bacon With berries
L – Tacos
D – Pork & Veggie Stir-Fry
Dessert- Fruit Crisp
7 BK-Breakfast Scramble With Green Smoothie
L – Leftover Stir-Fry
D – 2X Roasted Chicken
Dessert- Baked Apples
8 BK – Breakfast Scramble With Green Smoothie
L – Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups
D – Tortilla Soup
Dessert- Fruit Salad
9 BK- Quiche with Orange Smoothie
L – Leftover Soup
D – Pork Chops, Green Been casserole, scalloped Potatoes
Dessert- Berry Crisp
10 BK- Quiche with Orange Smoothie
L – Leftover from Dinner
D – Chef Salad
Dessert- Berry Crisp
11 BK-French Toast with Bananas
L – Grilled Ham N Cheese with small Salad
D – Almond & Parmesan Chicken with Veggie Marinara and Salad
Dessert- Baked Apples
12 BK- Mexi Breakfast Scramble With Green Smoothie
L- Grilled Ham N Cheese with small Salad
D – Meat Loaf with Potato wedges & Veggie sticks
Dessert- Baked Bananas with chocolate
13 BK-Mexi Breakfast Scramble With Orange Smoothie
Lunch Leftovers
Dinner- Stuffed Peppers
Dessert- Apple Wedges and Almond Butter
14 BK – Bacon and Egg Sandwiches with Grapes
Lunch – Stuffed Peppers with small Salad
Dinner- Oven Fried Chicken with Broccoli & Cauliflower
Dessert- Trail Mix
15 BK- Biscuits and Gravy with Green Smoothie
Lunch – Hamburger and SW Potato Fries
Dinner- Chef Salad
Dessert- Pumpkin Squares
16 BK – Quiche With Green Smoothie
L – Grilled Ham N Cheese with small Salad
Di- Chile and Cornbread
Dessert – Pumpkin Squares
17 BK – Quiche With Strawberry Smoothie
L – Chile & cornbread or Grilled Ham N Cheese with salad / Veggie sticks
Di- Fajita Mix with Cilantro Lime Rice
Dessert- Apple Wedges with Almond Butter
18 BK – Oatmeal with Berries
L – Leftover Fajitas and Rice
Di- 2X Roasted Chicken and Veggies
Dessert- Crisp
19 BK – Cheerios with Ham Steak and Green Smoothie
L – Chef Salad
Di- Chicken Veggie Pizza
Dessert- Crisp
20 BK – Bacon & Eggs with Green Smoothie
L – Chicken Veggie Pizza
Di- ( Venison )Stir- Fry Veggies
Dessert- Fruit Salad
21 BK – Bacon and Eggs with Orange Smoothie
L – Grilled Ham N Cheese with small Salad
Di- Clam Chowder with Veggie sticks
Dessert- Fruit Salad
22 BK – Cheerios With Green Smoothie
L – Chef Salad & Leftover Chowder
Di- Pulled Pork Sandwiches With Veggie sticks
Dessert- Baked Apples
23 BK – Biscuits and Gravy with Orange Smoothie
L – Chef Salad
Di- Pork Enchiladas With Fresh Salsa
Dessert- Fruit Salad
24 BK – Mexi Scramble with Orange Smoothie
L – Turkey Pinwheels
Di- Hot Wings with Veggie Sticks
Dessert- Berry Crisp
25 BK – Mexi Scramble with Green Smoothie
L – Chef Salad
D – Lemon Chicken Cutlets & Couscous
Dessert- Crisp
26 BK – Burritos with Orange Smoothie
L – Tuna Melts with Veggie Sticks
D – Stuffed Peppers
Dessert- Fruit Salad
27 BK – Quiche with Green Smoothie
L – Chef Salad
Di- Steak Finger with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli Casserole
Dessert- Fruit Salad
28 BK – Quiche with Green Smoothie
L – Leftover Steak Finger with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli Casserole
Di- Chef Salad
Dessert- Strawberry Smoothie
29 BK – Pancakes & Sausage with Orange Smoothie
L – Soup and Salad
D – Stroganoff with Sautéed Squash
Dessert- Apple Wedges with Almond butter
30 BK – Biscuits and Gravy with Orange Smoothie
L – Chef Salad
Di- Oven Fried Chicken Mustard Broccoli and Cauliflower
Dessert- Berry Crisp
31 BK – Scrambled Eggs & Smoked Sausage with Green Smoothie
L – Chicken Veggie Pizza
Di- Steak & Ranch Potato Wedges with Veggie Sticks
Dessert- Crisp
Homemade Pizza and Green Beans
Roast with carrots and onions and homemade rolls on the side.
chicken fettucine(whole grain) alfredo with broccoli, salad (this is a homemade sauce with organic butter, cream cheese, parmesan, milk, s&p, garlic and onion powder to taste)
Tonight for dinner we are going to have chicken cordon blue casserole with sautéed peppers, zucchini, and onions on top of the casserole and steamed broccoli on the side. Tomorrow we will have cinnamon struesel muffins and cantaloupe for breakfast, ham and cheese sandwiches, carrots and bell peppers on the side, and for dinner we will have tacos.
Whole grain Spaghetti, homemade applesauce (no sugar added), green beans and homemade garlic bread. A staple dinner in our house.
We plan the week ahead so that grocery shopping is easier. Tommorrow night we are having:
Grilled salmon
Grilled pineapple slices
Sauteed sweet peppers, onions and zucchini
Coconut cheddar rolls
I usually plan our meals (whether we follow it or not!) and this week will likely include the Moroccan Vegetarian Stew I like to eat because it’s low in calories!
Mon – brown sugar chicken, mashed potatoes
Tues – baked beans, cornbread
Wed – creamed chicken with cornbread stuffing
Thur – meat-potato quiche
Fri – pizza
Sat – tuna bunsteads
Sun – hearty hashbrown casserole
baked chicken tenders, green beans, corn on cob
I really don’t menu plan anymore but I really need to start back! Thanks for the encouragement!!
Scrambled eggs, toast and melon.
Turkey sandwiches on leftover hamburg buns, carrot and celery sticks with dip, applesauce and pb cookie.
Grilled chicken legs, corn on the cob and peaches.
For tonight: Stir-fry chicken & veggies
(peppers, onions, carrots,
broccoli, & garlic)served
over brown rice, with sliced
garden tomatoes & cucumbers.
YUMMY!!!
sausage and cheese zucchini boats
Today’s menu:
Breakfast: Homemade zucchini walnut bread
Lunch: Egg McMuffins (NOT from McDonald’s ;)), fresh peaces from the Farmer’s Market, cucumber slices from the garden
Dinner: BBQ Chicken, fried okra (from the garden) corn on the cob (from the garden) and caprese salad (from the garden)
MONDAY:
-Peanut Butter (spelt) Pancakes w/homemade grape syrup
-Ground Beef Hash, romaine salad, fried okra
-Hearty Beef Stew, Artisan Bread, jelly
snacks: Cappuccino Gelatin Ring, celery sticks
Donna, your pancakes are intriguing. Would you share the recipe?
We have an abundance of basil and I am making Baked Pesto Chicken for tomorrow night.
Make Laura’s Easy Alfredo Sauce, and then add about 1/4- 1/2 cup of pesto to the sauce. Stir into 4 cups of cooked pasta, I use egg noodles, and add 2 cups of cooked, chopped chicken. Pour into a casserole dish and sprinkle on mozzarella cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.
This is my husband’s favorite summertime meal!
We’re having company tonight. We will eat Roasted Pork Shoulder, Chinese Lettuce Salad, Garlic/Parsley Potatoes, and fresh Black Berry floats for dessert. The rest of the week we will eat various forms of leftovers from the roast! And some good veggie soup and homemade biscuits later in the week.
Tonight we are having Taco Pie. This has taco meat, eggs, green chiles, cheese, and bisquick. Topped with tomatoes! With either corn or applesauce. Perhaps we may even end up with both!
GREAT IDEA!!!
We are going to have egg casserole, which will have tomatoes and peppers in it as well as potatoes. Then for our side we are going to have homemade yogurt with org strawberries and org bananas in it. Along with that we are going to have sprouted bread for toast with homemade jam on it, finish it off with a cold glass of raw milk. YUM – I can’t wait until dinner time!!
Monday – Soft tacos with lettuce, tomatoes, and homemade applesauce on the side.
Tuesday – Twice-baked potatoes with a green salad
Wednesday – Turkey sandwiches with lettuce and tomato, finishing the applesauce so it doesn’t go bad
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are still up for grabs.
Tomorrow night we are going to have Pork tacos with fresh garden salsa, homemade spanish rice and pineapple. Yum!
I try to make a weekly menu plan each week – it so helps with keeping my grocery budget under control! But this week I am trying a whole new menu item! Friday night we are having brown sugar brined pork chops with sugared asparagus!
Today: breakfast-giant breakfast cookies, grapes, bananas, & milk
lunch-brown jasmine rice, black beans, salsa, cheese, carrots
dinner-taco salad w/beef & beans
I love your menu plans. I actually use your suggestions and combine them with suggestions from money saving mom. It is so helpful to have menu plans. My kids feel better knowing what they will be eating that day.
Thanks for sharing.
I’m going to make macaroni and cheese tonight (homemade, don’t worry :) ). For veggies, we’ll have a spinach salad with cucumber, red pepper, tomatoes, and carrots. The veggies are already chopped, so that shouldn’t be a problem even if I forget until the last minute.
I started menu planning the week we had the stepkids here. LOVED it! I did the following week, too, but things happened and guests cooked and we got invited places, so the plan fell by the wayside, and now my stove is broken (should be back together tonight) but… all I have to do is take the menu plan for the couple weeks we didnt’ get to really use it and… use it! :) Even if I DO change the dinner plans, I still really like having the menu plan to go by.
I’m playing with other ways to do it… some people write each meal on an index card and then pull those out for the week… others write on a blackboard… there’s lots of ways to make it work good for you. Love it!
What to do with all that delicious summer squash and zucchini from your garden? Slice it up into 1inch rounds, diced an onion and saute until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix together with 1 can cream of mushroom, 1 can cheddar soup and 16oz sour cream or Greek yogurt. Put it all in a casserole dish and top with crushed Ritz crackers. Bake at 350 about 30-45min. Grill up some chicken breast and serve with a tossed salad with all the yummy tomatoes and great veggies from your garden.
Easy Chicken Divan:
Layer of Broccoli in a pan followed by a layer of cubed chicken.
Mix 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 3/4 cup mayo and 1 tbsp lemon juice and pour over broccoli and chicken.
Sprinkle shredded cheese (we use cheddar) over top and bake at 350 for 35 mins.
We sometimes serve with brown rice.
Country Style Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and pears.
Just wanted to let you know that I planned every meal this week (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Thanks for the challenge. I would have stood in front of the fridge a few times this week scratching my head. :)
I try to meal plan for our dinners every week, as it is the only meal we eat together. But I’ve been not so good doing it the last few weeks. Thanks for the motivation to start again !
I haven’t done the meal plan for this week yet (a little behind… you should see my laundry pile!) but we are planning to have home-made pizza with grilled chicken and olives as toppings and steamed broccoli as a side for tomorrow night.
Including fruits and veggies IN the menu plan is so important! Then you know how much you need and how much to buy. Thanks for all your great tips!
Tonight we are going to have breakfast casserole made with shredded baked potatoes, onions, diced ham, shredded cheese, and eggs from our backyard chickens. For a side, I’ll slice up some of the fresh peaches that still have not made their way into a jar.
I try to plan at least 2 weeks in advance, if not 3 weeks of meal plans for 3 meals/day. Today was mostly leftovers, because sometimes I forget to account for them.
Tomorrow’s menu:
B: blueberry muffins, pears
L: Indian Lentil Curry, rice & green beans
D: Bistro Chicken, broccoli, sweet pot fries
I am planning a recipe called Steph’s Yummy Chicken Stuff (delish!) for dinner tonight. It has mushrooms and peppers on top that give it a great flavor.
I have the whole week planned out, so I will just give you what’s upcoming! Tonight we are having Tacos (sans tortillas) with salsa, avocado and kraut. Tomorrow lunch will be Salmon soup with avocado and dinner is baked lemon-garlic chicken with sauteed asparagus and mashed cauliflower.
Tomorrow we’re making Ginger chicken. Fresh tomatoes and hot peppers from the garden, Ginger root or Ginger powder, a little diced onion, and chicken all in the crock pot. Shred the chicken once soft and serve over rice or in taco shells with chips. Sooooo yummy! And Wednesday will be a cabbage, beef and cheesy noodle casserole. Just started menu planning, it’s great!
I just love your daily emails. It helps keep me focused on feeding my family healthy foods for a reasonable price.
Thank you so much for all the hard work you do!
We are having Spicy Chicken Noodle Salad from anoregoncottage.com and sliced pineapple for dinner. Yum!
Blessings,
Courtney
I love reading what everyone has planned to eat! Tonight we are having Southwest Pasta, corn on the cob and fresh peaches. Yummy!
I love the meal plan ideas. I’m always looking for new ones to spice ours up a bit. Tonight we are having Grilled Chicken Tenders, Fresh Salad Greens, Fresh Corn on the Cob and black grapes. :)
Today’s Menu
Breakfast: Applesauce Coffeecake, Yogurt
Lunch: Turkey/Pesto Sandwich Rolls, Kettle Chips
Dinner: Grilled Chicken with Dilled, Roasted Yukon Gold Rounds, Tossed Green Salad, Grilled Peach Halves with Homemade Strawberry Sorbet (strawberries, water and raw honey in the Vitamix)
I’ll be planning our weekly menu tomorrow, but for tonight we’re having slow simmered local beef cubes in gravy – choice of noodles or potatoes, and green beans.
I’m still deciding tonights dinner – maybe a yummy shepherds pie (trying to use up my baked potatoes by turning them into mashed potatoes), or maybe we’ll just have left-overs from the broccoli bacon baked potatos we had last night.
Breakfast: fried egg sandwiches with tomato and swiss and berries
lunch: pasta, lots of zuke and onion sauteed together, and homemade sauce
snack: apples and peanut butter
dinner: bbq brisket, mashed potatoes, green beans and leftover boiled beets made into “harvard” beets
love everyone’s ideas!
My husband is making fried rice for dinner tonight and we’re having leftover chicken pot pie for dinner tomorrow and leftover fried rice for dinner on Wednesday.
We are having coconut/curry chicken stir fry. Very easy and one of our favorites. We mix in all kinds of frozen veggies and put it on top of quinoa or brown rice!
Homemade pizza with black olives and roma tomatoes (from our garden), red bell pepper and green beans.
We have sliced grilled chicken (thanks to my brother who has helped me do some cooking ahead in these last days of pregnancy) in the freezer and I plan on making chicken quesadillas for tomorrow with onion and bell pepper. We’ll probably have a salad, too. And maybe some apples. And quite likely some chips and salsa. :-) Yum!
Loved reading through overyone’s meal plans. :) Weekly meal plans don’t really work for me. Being newlyweds on a very small budget, we eat a lot of beans and rice. Tonight we’ll probably eat leftover beans and boiled potatoes with green salad. Sometime this week I’m gonna make beef pot pie, and use the extra filling to make mini pot pies for the freezer (great for quick lunches)
Tonight we will be eating your Veggie Stir Fry, whole wheat garlic bread and fruit (grapes, bananas).
Tomorrow we are having stuffed peppers (new recipe for me that uses italian sausage), corn on the cob and bread. Now to plan for Weds…:-)
Tomorrow night’s dinner is shepherds pie and steamed cabbage. Probably peaches for dessert.
For Sunday dinner I took some stew meat and put it on a bed of onion in the crock pot. I put a carrots on top of that and a few cut up taters. I used one cup of water and a seasoning packet of beef stew seasoning. I made some crescent rolls to go with it. yum. Monday night I made pork steaks, baked taters and stir fried some onion, banana peppers, and tomato from the garden. tossed with a little green onion and italian dressng. Oh I stir fried it with all of 2 teaspoons of olive oil. We drink milk with our meal, they had just finished a pecan pie, I made some cookies of which we used 2 per person for dessert. Watermelon and plums have been the add in fruit of late. Thanks for sharing all you do and I hope to see plenty more from you.
OK…
Monday 8/29/11: Cheese Quesadillas with a green salad
Tuesday 8/30/11: Pork Cutlets with boiled potatoes & brussel sprouts
Wednesday 8/31/11: Spaghetti with italian sausage & salad
Thursday 9/1/11: Chicken with brown rice & broccoli
Friday 9/2/11: Hamburgers, baked fries, & peas & carrots
I follow you rather faithfully since I started making changes to our eating habits here in the Almengor home. I need the constant encouragement.
I have been aiming to include a fruit and/or veggie at all meals. Breakfast is the hardest to do for my kids. But, instead I have them eat a piece of fruit for their mid a.m. snack. However, on occasion, I can get a banana in them by making what we call “chocolate bliss”. It’s a frozen banana, almond milk and cocoa powder. DELISH!
I usually serve cucumber slices and/or carrot slices to the kids at lunch time. We have no problem getting fruit in. They all have their favorites and I keep a lot of fresh (and frozen) produce at the ready.
Additionally, I will try serve a veggie at dinner or for my hubby and I, I try to serve 2 serving sizes of one veggie or 2 veggies. For now, I’m happy just to have my kiddos be eating the one serving.
Because we belong to an organic produce co op, there is typically a good deal of produce here to eat up. And, after taking some time to grow intentional about having produce in the house, it’s now 2nd nature to bulk up at the stores and eat up on the good stuff when we’re at home.
Fish, macaroni and cheese, and lima beans. If we eat all that and are still hungry, then we have fruit.
We had taco salads with spanish rice. All stuffed with veggies!
For breakfast it is eggs and bacon, lunch is usually a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for the kids and a heaping salad of whatever is in the fridge for me. Dinner has been one experiment after another because I am new to healthy cooking (okay, cooking in general) but our favorites so far are sausage lasagna with zucchini noodles or meatballs and zucchini pasta. We snack on fruits, mostly bananas and apples.
Whole wheat pita pockets stuffed w/ garlic and chive hummus, shredded carrots, baby greens, tomatoes, red onion, and either grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast or falafel balls. Served with 3-bean salad and fresh berries.
I just planned my menu today so this will be easy! Tomorrow we are having hot rice cereal for breakfast. (Just grind one cup brown rice in blender for 2 minutes or until fine and stir into 4 c. boiling water. Add salt. Serve with butter and milk and sweetener. Yum!)
Lunch: French toast made with cinnamon raisin bread, turkey sausage, fruit.
Supper: Grass-fed beef roast in the crockpot. I’ll make gravy by sauteing fresh mushrooms and vidalia onions in butter. Then add the juice from the roast and thicken it with flour. Season it with salt, pepper and red cooking wine. Potatoes of some sort to go with it! Green beans from our garden!
We are going to eat peanut butter banana chocolate chip smoothies in the morning with some bagels. Yum. I hope they all like our new meal idea.
Grilled marinated chicken, cucumbers with ranch dip and a noodle dish. Yum!
Grass fed sirloin steak, baked beans(made from dry navy beans), sweet potatoes, honey wheat biscuits
I recently found your blog and I love it! It fits perfectly with what I have been trying to do with my family. Your menu plans are great. I couldn’t survive without mine! We are lucky to have a local produce co-op and I plan my meals around what I get in that basket. Thank you for all your great information!
I just sat down and made the weeks menu. I typically only plan the evening meal as my toddler and I (and my husband at work) will eat leftovers and fruits and nuts through the day and a variety of GAPS friendly pancakes or baked goods and smoothies in the mornings. SO, this week we will be having:
Taco salad (meat, olives, tomatoes, spinach, onions, and avacados) and Southwestern baked squash
Baked Seasoned Chicken Thighs and Saut’ed Zucchini
Chili (with navy beans) and Almond flour biscuits
(Packing leftover Chili and snacks for the Fair)
Ribs in homemade BBQ sauce in the crockpot w/ veggies on the side
Roast Chicken w/ carrots, turnips, cauliflower, etc.
Boy I’ve NEVER been in my kitchen so much! And I am definitely making it functional! :)
We live in Virginia Beach, and had a nice brush with Hurricane Irene this past weekend. Our power just came back on – it’s been out since 11am Saturday. But Wednesday, I plan to roast a chicken, make cornbread and a summer squash/sweet pepper saute. I won’t waste either- I’ll make stock with the bones!
I am excited to try a new recipe for Orzo Chicken Soup (with lots of veggies)…
Eggplant and Garbanzo Bean Hummus with Peppers, Cucumbers and Carrots.
Whole Wheat Rolls.
Have a great day!
Shepherd’s Pie(made with leftover mashed potatoes from the night before), cooked spinach, steamed broccoli and applesauce. Oh, and homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream because it will be the first day of school for two in our family and we always have a special ice cream treat for the first day. :)
I always menu plan but I think get too complicated. I am going to redo ours.
We love fried chicken in our house, but it is not my favorite dish to cook, so I found a way to make a healthier version that was quick and easy for me to make. I use chicken tenders that I oven fry using whole wheat panko bread crumbs, grated parmesan cheese, and whole wheat flour. I served these with brown rice, steamed broccoli, and a yogurt/dijon mustard/honey dipping sauce. We had fruit sorbet for a perfect ending.
We need to do more meal planning. I have been letting my SAHD-husband do the meal planning, but we’ve gotten very busy lately and we’ve done more instant meals and eating out the last couple of weeks. Tonight I hope to make a chicken, mushroom and peppercorn dish from scratch. We have fresh cantaloupe in the refrigerator, so we’ll probably have that with it, along with cooked egg noodles and a large glass of ice-cold milk.
A one dish baked meal of lean beef patties,with potatoes, chopped onions,baby carrots, and sliced green bell peppers,sprinkled with sea salt and garlic powder,add a few pats of butter and bake for about one hour.Fruit for dessert.
I’m a planning-junkie…love organizers and printable organization forms. As for one meal I have planned this week (hubby is out of town), we will have grilled chicken strips (on a stove-top grill pan), over salad, fresh carrots, broccoli, and all the other good stuff on salads. Or, my kids can put chicken and salad stuff in a tortilla for a chicken wrap, with veges and dip.
man you’re all making me really hungry!! we’re actually going out tonite, so we’ll go with tomorrow’s menu plan… breakfast (dry cheerios and raisins), lunch (pb&honey sandwiches, apples, and veggie straws), supper (homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade crescent rolls)
Monday: Oatmeal with raisons and Toast with raspberry fruit spread and raw milk; PBJ on homemade bread and watermelon; Salmon Patties, Sweet Potato dollars and watermelon.
Tuesday: French Toast with Blueberries and Maple syrup; Greek salad, watermelon, cantaloupe, carrots, blueberries; Cheddar burgers on homemade buns, french fries, corn-on-the-cob.
Wed: Pumpkin muffins, leftovers, Spaghetti and green beans and bread.
Thurs: Granola Cereal, Leftovers, Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, fried okra.
Friday: Blueberry muffins, leaving for a weekend to the lake.
Black Bean Burgers, mashed sweet potatoes, salad
I menu plan a month at a time (well-stocked pantry and freezers!) and then add veggies and sides based on what I have. Tomorrow’s dinner:
Spaghetti (homemade whole-wheat noodles)
Sauce (garden-fresh: tomatoes, basil, onion, squash)
Salad
Melon (canteloupe, honeydew, and watermelon from the garden!)
Gardening season makes it easy to eat lots of fruit and vegetables- they’re abundant!
We do two weeks at a time, and find that it helps to include a note on each day’s plan detailing any prep that needs to be done for the next week. For instance, if french toast casserole is planned for the following day, a reminder on the plan to pull a loaf from the freezer the day before helps us a lot.
Thank you for this challenge. I forced myself to plan an entire week of meal plans, and I discovered a few interesting things. By not meal planning I waste a lot of foods (not using veggies I buy, not using leftovers, etc). Also, when meals are planned, life is much less stressful, and finally, I have been spending more on food than I need to. I thought I was doing pretty well, but this week has been an eye opener.
i started serving fruit with our dinners. the kids love this and i feel great about it!
Swiss Chicken Casserole served with rice, green beans, and a wheat roll. Mmm, now I’m hungry!
Ready, set, go! :o)
M-Spaghetti
T-Tacos
W-Rice bowls
Th-Fish and quinoa
F-Pizza
S-Hamburgers
S-Grilled fruit and veggies with rice
We’re going to a potluck tomorrow, and I’m taking pasta with roast vegetables. It’s about the only vegetables I really like, unfortunately. :( Retraining a palette is hard work!
I’ve just stared planning out my weekly menus and it has really helped me to not over buy at the store. I plan around what I already have on hand and what needs to be used up. Then I just have to pick up the basics and a few specialty items.
tomorrow morning we are having homemade biscuits, sausage, gravy, eggs and WHOLE milk! thanks for the inspiration.
I always check ur meal plans before I plan mine each week. We have LOvED each recipe we have tried from ur site…you have helped my entire family embrace and enjoy “real” food…ur recipes are family friendly and do-able…no more impractical gourmet meals for us! This week, we are trying a new one of your recipes…the hamburger mac ‘n cheese…along with broccoli and fruit. thanks for all you do! :)
I love menu planning! I’m still trying to get in the groove of it, but it has been helping us save on our budget! I plan all our meals, but here is dinner for this week!
Sun- Spaghetti and Meatballs with Garlic bread
Mon-Broccoli Mac and Cheese
Tues- Tacos in a Sleeping Bag (new)
Wed- Chicken Shepards Pie
Thurs-Daddy’s Choice
Fri- Brinner probably pancakes and bacon
Sat- Pizza Pockets (this time with pepperoni!)
Sun- Mini Meatloafs
Veggies and Fruit will be added into all of those meals!
Tonight’s dinner is Stuffed Peppers, Tossed Salad with Ranch Dressing, Cooked Peas.
Menu planning is my biggest struggle. So I appreciated this challenge.One of my planned meals for the past week was one pot spaghetti, green beans and a tossed green salad.
I have always planned dinner menus but you have inspired me to include lunch and breakfast each day as well. It really is helpful to just have it all planned out for you. Thank you :)
Tomorrow night:
Baked fish fillets, rice, & salad
Boneless Chicken Breast, cooked in a wok with 2 tbsps of Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil, long grain white rice for the kids, brown rice for the adults, and steamed summer mix!! Delicious!!
I love all of your ideas as I try to switch over to a healthier life style of eating
Hashbrowns, eggs, and ham with fresh picked peaches for dessert.
We usually plan three dinners for the week: one for Sunday & Monday, one for Tuesday & Wednesday, and one for Thursday & Friday. Saturday is date night! :) We make enough the first night of the pair to have on the second night. This is very helpful for us, since we both work.
Example week:
Sun: Grilled Chicken & Green Beans
Mon: Salad with leftover chicken
Tues: Chinese Stir Fry with veggies
Wed: leftover stir fry
Thurs: Pasta with zucchini and sauce
Fri: leftover pasta
We pack our lunches which includes a sandwich and fruit.
This helps us to not waste food, and helps us save money on groceries.
I plan out my week just like you do. And I plan it a week in advance so I can make sure I have everything I need on my grocery list come Friday. Sometimes I just copy your meal plan. It works out great.
I do a menu of 10 dinner items and B/L options every week and grocery shop for those items, that way I have “wiggle” room and options for each weeks menu!
We are having breakfast bars (your breakfast cookie recipe just tossed in a bar pan b/c it is easier:), fruit and peanut butter bread with raisins for lunch, and baked spaghetti for dinner!
Thanks for all of your great ideas!
I love your menu plans!! They help me soooo much! Menu planning is a wonderful skill that I need all the help I can get!! Thanks and God Bless!
The Lord is good and is all that we need and I’m so thankful for the help He has been giving me to get back on track for meal planning. I had totally gotten to the place you described above (5:30, no plan, no idea…). I just spent the day working on Once a Month Mom’s plan and now, I’m hoping to figure out some veggies side dishes and work at getting fresh homemade bread on the table once in a while again.
Thanks for posting your menu plans. The Lord has been leading me to be more intentional about my life, and your ideas helped me so much. Made a plan for this week yesterday! Bless you.