How To Make a Month's Meal Plan

I rely on meal planning as a sure-fire way to stay sane when life is crazy. The more I have going on, the more I need a meal plan!

I have heard people say they could never think up 30 meals all at once, but it's easier than it seems.


FIRST STEP
Gather what you need.

• I personally can't make a first draft on the computer, so I need lined paper and a couple sharp pencils with erasers.
  
• I also bring print outs of any recipes I've been wanting to try.
  
• I make a print out of any holidays or silly celebrations for the month. I Google it and it's pretty easy to find.
  
• I need my phone, because my calendar is in there (very important!)
  
• I go to the pantry and freezer and make a list of what is in there so I can use it over the following month.
  
• I try to also have the sale flyer for my favorite store too.
  

 

SECOND STEP
Make a list of the days in the month. You need to write the date as well as the day.

August

M	22
T	23
W	24
T	25
F	26
S	27
S	28

 

THIRD STEP
Fill in any recurring events or calendar items.

• Kid's activities in the late afternoon or evening, such as soccer practice every Tuesday or Wednesday nite Church.
  
• Calendar items, like your husband's business trip on the 21st.
  
• Then fill in any holidays you celebrate that month and any of the other celebrations from the list that might be fun to base a dinner on. Did you know that Dr. Seuss has a birthday and that there is a Something on a Stick Day? I pick the days that make sense to us as a family and inspire a dinner idea. On Dr. Seuss' birthday we have green eggs and ham and star belly biscuits with a truffula fruit salad. (Yes, I 'm a fan.) Something on a Stick Day is corn dogs, of course!
  

  August
  

M	22	(First Day of School)
T	23	(Soccer Practice)
W	24
T	25
F	26
S	27
S	28
M	29	(No Dad)

 

When all this is on your list, you are ready!

FOURTH STEP
Now I start filling in things that are easy.

• Friday night is pizza night at our house, so that's where I start.
  
• On the days that my good man is travelling, I plan to make easy dinners, like breakfast for dinner or grilled cheese and tomato soup. My kids love frozen dinners, so as a treat, I plan those once in a while when dad is out of town.
  
• If there are any holidays, there is typically a traditional food, so that's easy to fill in. I have made up traditional foods for lots of days that don't have traditional foods. We have hot dogs in crescent rolls with macaroni & cheese on the first day of school, every year. We have mummy dogs on Halloween and heart shaped meatloaf with pink mashed potatoes on Valentine's Day. It makes it easier for me to plan and it's fun time for us as a family.
  
• On birthdays- it's dinner out! No cooking!
  

August

M	22	(First Day of School) Hot dogs in crescent rolls, mac & cheese, garden salad
T	23	(Soccer Practice)
W	24
T	25
F	26	Pizza Night
S	27
S	28
M	29	(No Dad) Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, fruit

 

 

FIFTH STEP

Now I start filling in the rest.

• On days that we have evening activities for the kids (seems like every day lately!), I plan easy dinners or crock pot meals. This is probably the most important nights to have a plan, because it's just too easy to fall back to running through a drive-thru or ordering in Chinese food, cause you are just worn out already!
  
• I try to plan something everybody will really like for Sunday evening, and I make enough to re-invent the left-overs for another meal. Mr. Sahm just loves it when we grill steaks on Sunday and then have steak burritos later that week. Leftover roasted chicken can become chicken enchiladas and leftover meatloaf can make "meatball" sandwiches. So that takes care of a couple of days.
  
• I fill in the recipes that I want to try on nights when I should have the time and energy to discover that Rachel Ray's shepherd's pie recipe is yummy but makes about 25 pans to wash.
  
• I fill in our family favorites that we have every month, like tacos. TACOS! Yum yum yummy! Tacos! Yum.
  
• I keep in mind what I have in the pantry and the freezer and what I can get on a great sale, and I try to make sure that I base meals on those ingredients.
  

  August
  

M	22	(First Day of School) Hot dogs in crescent rolls, mac & cheese, garden salad
T	23	(Soccer Practice) Tacos
W	24	Teriyaki Chicken skewers, rice, asian salad, mandarin oranges
T	25	Crock Pot Italian herb chicken, spaghetti, grilled veggies, garlic bread sticks
F	26	Pizza Night
S	27	Grilled Salmon, couscous, honeyed carrots
S	28	Grilled steaks (cook extra), spinach salad, watermelon, bread
M	29	(No Dad) Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, fruit
T	30	(No Dad, Soccer practice) Kid's cuisine
W	31	(No Dad) Breakfast for dinner: Choc chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, fruit
T	1	(Curriculum Night) Steak burritos (use leftovers from Sunday), watermelon

 

 

FINAL STEP

Now, if there are any days left, you have to come up with some ideas. I try to keep copies of past month's meal plans so I can get ideas for these days. But honestly, by the time you have holidays and easy meals and family favorites and stuff, there should not be many days left. And then you are done, and you have a whole months worth of meals planned! Yay! If you are not doing any meal planning at all, start with a week and see how it feels.

 

Sometimes, stuff happens and you will not be able to prepare what you had planned. It happens! I just do it later that week, swap weeks, or push it off to the next month!

The planning is a bit of work that pays off for a whole month. Totally worth it to me! You can see this complete menu here.

Come check this out!