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Friday, July 30, 2010

Meal Planning for Our Household

In yesterday's Small Successes comments, ViolinMama asked about my 4-week meal plan, so I thought I'd share it w/ you. (BTW - She is going to be homeschooling this fall & has started a second blog to highlight their adventures. Check it out - A Rosey Outlook Adventure: Homeschooling)

The first thing I did was make a list of the main dishes most of us like. I do have one extremely picky eater, but I've decided that if he doesn't like what we're having, he can make himself a PB&J sandwich or have a bowl of cereal. Next, I took a blank calendar page & started plugging in the food, making sure that there were not two chickens in a row or two pastas in a row.

So, the following is what is on our schedule for one month of main dishes.

Week One
Sunday - Quiche
Monday - Quesidillas
Tuesday - Kielbasa
Wednesday - Meatloaf
Thursday - Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole
Friday - Subs
Saturday - Pizza

Week Two
Sunday - Stir Fry
Monday - Chicken Nuggets or Patties
Tuesday - Pasta
Wednesday - Turkey Noodle Casserole
Thursday - Spaghetti w/ Beans & Broccoli (no sauce)
Friday - Chicken Wraps
Saturday - Pizza

Week Three
Sunday - Roast
Monday - Tostadas or Tacos
Tuesday - Baked Chicken
Wednesday - Ham Steak
Thursday - Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole
Friday - Subs
Saturday - Pizza

Week Four
Sunday - Stir Fry
Monday - Taco Pie
Tuesday - Pasta
Wednesday - Burgers
Thursday - Pork Schnitzel
Friday - Ham w/ Beans & Rice
Saturday - Pizza

One of the first things you probably noticed is that pizza is listed for every Saturday. This is for Casinodad's benefit! I work all day Saturday, so having either a frozen pizza or a roll of pizza dough in the fridge makes things easier for him.

Also, there are a couple meals that occur every other week. The Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole is a favorite around here, so I made sure to put it on twice. Other things can be varied: Pasta might be spaghetti, rigatoni, or lasagna. The stir fry may be w/ chicken, pork, or steak & the veggies will be different each time. Quiche could be spinach or bacon or both. Subs one week might include turkey, salami, & cheese while the next time might be ham & cheese. So, even though the meals are planned for each week, there is a lot of flexibility.

I make my shopping list once a week, depending on what we already have on hand & what we'll need for the next week's meals. I also make sure to have a variety of veggies & fruits for side dishes, plenty of lunch & breakfast items (mac & cheese, hot dogs, PB&J, cheese tortillas, cereals, bagels, eggs, bacon, etc.)

This plan may not be perfect 100% healthy, but over the past few weeks, I've found that it works for us. As we move into fall & winter, I'll probably tweak a few things here & there to include soups, chili, & other comfort foods.

If any of the above meals sounds good to you, let me know & I'd be more than happy to pass on the recipe.

2 comments:

ViolinMama said...

Hey! Just getting back to the blog and saw your comment and came here and you were so sweet to say what you said and post all this. WOW!! What organization!!

I need to make myself sit down and do this. I really appreciate you typing it all out here. I guess I always assume one has to list everything, and your list is much more manageable with the list format.

YUMMY foods!! What is Kielbasa? Sounds yummy!

Blessings, and many, many thanks!

Maria said...

Hey ViolinMama! You're very welcome! Kielbasa is like Polish Sausage (which I use sometimes instead...just depends on prices!) It comes in vacuum sealed packages & can be found near the lunch meats & hot dogs at the grocery store. I just chop it up into bite size pieces & saute it in a bit of olive oil & freshly chopped garlic. Sometimes I throw in some chopped cabbage & top it w/ some shredded cheese. Even my pickiest eater loves it!