I was excited when I saw that Stephanie at Keeper of the Home was going to be starting a meal planning challenge: Plan It- Don’t Panic. I have been majorly lacking in the meal planning department lately and our budget, and our waistlines, have been hurting because of it. I knew I needed to get back on board with meal planning, but I needed a little kick in the pants to do so.
I planned my meals last week, just to get a little head start on the challenge, and things went much more smoothly with making and serving meals during the week.
I’ve decided to plan breakfast and lunch, along with dinner. My daughter is in preschool now, so we have to get up and get breakfast and ready to go, and then we eat lunch as soon as I get home from picking her up, so this helps me to serve a variety of foods without just resorting to cereal in the mornings and PB&J for lunch every day.
Also, we try to eat meatless meals at least once a week, and sometimes two, I’ve enjoyed browsing around the Veggie Delights Recipes over at Frugal, Fun Fortune. She has some great recipes that I’m looking forward to incorporating into our future meal plans.
So, here’s my menu plan for this week:
Monday
- Breakfast – Banana Muffins, Fruit
- Lunch – Lentil Soup
- Dinner – Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps
Tuesday
- Breakfast – Oatmeal & blueberries
- Lunch – Chicken Salad
- Dinner – Black Bean Soup in the crock pot
Wednesday
- Breakfast – Green Smoothies, Eggs
- Lunch – PB&J, Fruit
- Dinner – Home Group – Sloppy Joes and Lentil Joes
Thursday
- Breakfast – Pumpkin Pancakes
- Lunch – Egg Quesadillas
- Dinner – Steak Stir-Fry, Rice
Friday
- Breakfast – Waffles (from freezer), Eggs
- Lunch – Homemade Mac & Cheese
- Dinner – Crockpot Indian Curry
Saturday
- Breakfast – Yogurt & Fruit
- Lunch – PB&J, Fruit
- Dinner – Skillet Chicken Chili Mac
Sunday
- Breakfast – Oatmeal & blueberries
- Lunch – Ground Beef Vegetable Soup in crock pot
- Dinner – Leftovers/Easy Dinner
Snacks: fruit, air-popped popcorn with salt & butter, hummus and veggies, and no bake energy bites
Head over to Keeper of the Home for more Plan It-Don’t Panic meal plans!
What’s on your menu plan this week?
__________________________________________
If you’d like to learn more about living green and living frugally I’d love to have you as a Live Renewed reader! You can subscribe, either by email or in a reader, to get the latest posts, ideas and inspiration for living frugally green. I’d love to have you join with me! You can also connect with me on Twitter and Facebook!
Here from Keeper of the Home… I started planning all 3 meals & snacks! I hated eating the same things everyday. And wanted to make sure my kids were eating a variety of healthy foods! It really does simplify things too, when you’re busy! Good luck! 🙂
Sounds great! I REALLY need to start meal planning…I’m just waiting to hear back about all the kiddos’ food intolerances, then I can go from there.