Meal Planning

Hey Sweet Friends! Wanted to just make sure you know that I am so grateful you are here and that I hope this post is helpful for you! Being the one who “holds down the fort” means I am in charge of planning, plus cooking, plus making sure there is food in the refrigerator and snacks in the pantry.

I was always good at the snack part, but not always good at the meal planning part. Please tell me I not alone in that?! I was the one trying to throw something together an hour or so before dinner and then being frustrated because we always seemed to be missing an ingredient. One of the bloggers I follow shared what she does and it was such a game changer. You hear about meal planning but it always seemed like so much work and for whatever reason I was really intimated by it. Here I am two years later and I can confidently say meal planning actually makes things, So. Much. Easier!

I started by getting a cute weekly planner and grocery list paper pad! I couldn’t find my exact planner but linked a similar one and the grocery list pad below! This helped (don’t judge) I got myself some fancy pencils (don’t use pens) and got to it! I have a list of family favorite recipes in my head. I alternate them and then try to add something new a few times a month, if it is a hit, I add it to the favorites list!

I pick what dinner I will be planning each day and write it down on the weekly calendar and then on the meal plan pad. I try to plan meals around foods that we have that need to be used up! I see what I already have and lastly make a list of what I will need. Then I make sure I have things to make the girls lunches (I try to have a main item, and a fruit or vegetable and some sort of veggie chip, crackers etc) quick and easy but healthy. I double check their snack bin in the pantry and add items as needed. The hubby and I love sparkling water so we always add that to the list! Lastly I check to make sure we have breakfast items some grab and go and some to cook! Here is a break down of the regular items for each meal.

What I buy for lunches in rotation (not all of this every week) – bread, peanut butter, jelly, mac and cheese, shredded cheese, tortillas, sliced cheese, turkey, blueberries, bananas, mandarin oranges, grapes, carrots, Stacys pita chips, veggies straws, occasionally frozen pizza bites and chicken nuggets.

Snacks for the girls (these are items I rotate in and out) – they are always allowed to have fruit, yogurt, and applesauce pouches. Other snacks we buy are goldfish crackers, popcorn, fruit snacks, all types of Kind bars, Natures Bakery Bars, pistachios, flavored almonds, PB bites, trail mix, and string cheese.

Breakfast items (we rotate in and out) – Kind breakfast bars, Quaker Cinnamon Oatmeal Breakfast Bars, oatmeal, all flavors or Kodiak cakes (individual ones), bacon, hash browns, sausage, eggs, mini bagels and cream cheese, every once and a while I do cinnamon rolls. I like to pair whatever they have for breakfast with a hardy fruit – usually bananas!

Here are a list of our favorite dinner recipes (the girls eat all of these):

• Lazy Lasagna (you can find this on Pinterest, super super easy and so dang good!) I usually add a caesar salad!

• Meatloaf (Its incredible) (recipe is Magnolia cookbook, leave a comment below if you would like me to send it to you!) I usually do Mac and cheese and broccoli on the side!

• Taco Salad (head of iceberg lettuce, 1lb of ground beef and taco seasoning, 4 hard boiled eggs, 1 cup shredded cheddar, thousand island dressing and Fritos (as many as you want)! You can add olives, pinto beans etc. But what I have listed is how my family likes it! No side dish needed!

• BBQ Chicken Sandwiches (2-3lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast in the crockpot 4-6 hours, add your favorite BBQ sauce and then put on a hamburger bun with a slice of cheddar and some French fries on the side! So good)

• Verde Chicken (2-3lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast in the crockpot 4-6 hours, throw your favorite green sauce (we always get mild for the girls) and then toss in a tortilla with jack cheese and avocado!)

• Frozen Tenders and Fries!

• Loaded Cobb Salad (Iceburg Lettuce, shredded chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper or a rotisserie!) shredded cheddar cheese, hard boiled eggs, croutons, bacon bites, avocado, and ranch dressing)

• Crockpot Tri-Tip (pre seasoned try tip ( we love the Santa Maria flavor) in crockpot 6 hours, shred and place on top of white rice!) We usually add steamed carrots (the girls eat them with butter and salt and pepper).

• Grilled cheese and Tomato soup

• Panini Sandwiches (your favorite lunch meat and cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado) we grill them on the stove and usually add a salad.

• Pasta (we found a veggie based noodle that we all love, sometimes we do white sauce and sometimes red, every once and a while I do pink (red sauce add cream cheese) We usually eat this with garlic bread and a Caesar salad.

• Homemade Chicken Pot Pie (recipe is Magnolia cookbook, leave a comment below if you would like me to send it to you!) It is so good and so easy!

More Recipes on Pinterest (Best Crockpot Chili, Crockpot White Chicken Chili, Pizza Stuffed Bell Peppers (can make ahead of time) – click on the Pinterest Botton below for more (this will take you right to my account), my board is called “Meal Time”!

Hopefully this helps if you are in that cooking funk! Share your favorite recipes below! I will save these as I make them and yours to my Instagram highlights so we can all access them anytime we want! Happy Shopping and Cooking Friends!