For some reason dinner stresses me out. Lunch sometimes does too but I can usually throw together something decent. I feel like as a SAHM I should be able to manage dinner, you know?
Get started early, have it ready when its dinner time, it should be delicious and healthy and I could have the dishes done before bed time. Bahahahha
Unfortunately life gets in the way.
Example of why dinner time is stressful:
#1: My 1 year old is hungry around 5 pm, my husband is not home at 5 pm
#2: My preschooler loves raw vegetable, my 1 year old cant eat hard veggies yet
#3: I enjoy spice, I have kids that don't love strong flavors or spicy foods
#4: I think we are fairly healthy eaters, and I'm trying to keep us that way
So as you can see, the time we eat, what we eat, how we eat just puts me in a place of UGH about dinner, even thought I love to cook and I'm a SAHM (most of the time).
So I decided to try a month long meal plan and I want to share.
So heres the plan and the steps to get to your own if it sounds like something you'd like to try to make your life simpler. (Instructions at the end)
A month
of “Boo-ya” dinners
Week 1
1.
Peanut Butter Noodle (http://www.dinneralovestory.com/peanut-butter-logic/)
2.
BBQ Beef Cups, cucumber salad
4.
Sloppy Joes
5. Bean burritos with Guac and side salad
PIZZA
Left
overs
Week 2
1.
Mushroom Pork Chops and mack-e cheese
2. Beef and bean chimichangas
3. Tuna Casserole
4. Left overs
5.
Fish & good bread & caesar salad
Pizza
Left
overs
Store
list for weeks 1-2
S:
Spaghetti noodles, garlic, cucumber sticks, Water chestnuts, ginger
M:
Beef, onion, biscuit dough, shredded cheddar, bbq sauce
T:
Salmon, rice and asparagus
W:
refried or black beans, 2 avocados, 1 tomato, onion, garlic, whole wheat
tortillas, lettuce, cheddar
R:
ground beef, onion, bell pepper
2S:
mushrooms, pork chops, onions, elbow mac, milk, butter, cheddar ch.
M:
1lb lean ground beef, corn, bell pepper, taco sauce, 1 can refried beans,
tortillas, 1 tomato
T:
egg noodles, onion, celery, garlic, mushrooms, milk, frozen peas (1cup), ched
cheese (1c.)
R:
Fish(sale), bakery bread, lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese
Week 3
1.
Broiled Tilapia Parmesan &
cauliflower
2. Shrimp, Cheese Grits & corn on the cob
3. Greek Salad (epicurious.com)& grilled
pita
4. Chicken Alfredo lasagna
5. Lasagna goes a long way
Left
overs
Some
type of large salad or healthy take out
Week 4
1. Slow Cooker Ham with green beans
2. Yummy pasta salad and broiled sweet potatoes
3. Veggie soup and chicken noodle for kids,
bread
4. Left overs
5. Grilled Salmon with Asparagus and garlic
toast
Pizza
Left
overs
Store
list week 3-4
3M:
2 lbs tilapia, mayo, celery seed, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs
T:
shrimp, grits, cheddar cheese, corn on cob (fzen or frsh), red pepper
W:
tomato, seedless cucumber, red pepper, pitted kalamata, red onion, fresh
parsley, evoo, feta, pita bread (wheat)
R:
chicken, lasagna noodles, 2 pints ricotta, mozzarella, Alfred pasta sauce,
frozen spinach
4M:
bone in picnic ham, green beans
T:
Spiral pasta, Italian dressing, cheese, cucumbers, carrots, pepperoni, 2 sweet
potatoes
W:
onion, garlic (3cloves), celery, carrots, chicken broth, tomato sauce, red
wine, kidney beans, green beans, zucchinis, fresh oregano/basil, seashell
pasta, parm cheese
R:
4 filets salmon, asparagus, garlic bread
Extra
dinner ideas:
Chicken
Pot Pie Casserole, taco salad, Slow cooker chicken taco soup, Mexican lasagna, Margarita
Pizza and wedge salad, Stuffed Shells and Brussels sprouts, One pot mushroom spinach pasta, Eggplant
Parmesan (nuggets for the kids), Chicken fried rice and egg rolls
Steps of month long menu planning.
1.
Pick a bad ass title for your menu
2. List out your most used dinners, even things as
simple as spaghetti and salad
3.
Use a variety of protein, such as white meat,
red meat, beans, nuts, fish
4.
If you have a “we do pizza every Friday” or
something you will not need list 31 meals
5.
Also if you tend to have left overs in the
fridge, we do because ½ of our eaters are little people, then you can take that
into account as well and have a day for left overs (Americans waste a ton of
food and designating a day to left overs could help you not waste and save some
$)
6.
Check your “Go To” websites and blogs for the
rest of the meals, think easy and inexpensive (if you’re into that sort of
thing)
7.
Break the list into 4 weeks and rearrange if
necessary, such as, if you have 3 fish dinners in one week and none in another
week cut and paste to make each week have one fish, and one meatless dinner.
Obviously if you are vegetarian or don’t eat red meat adjust accordingly.
8.
Add weekdays and make adjustments for your
schedule, if you know Tuesdays are a super busy day then make that your left
overs day
9.
Add easy sides such as salad, rice or corn on
the cob. I googled some sides, such as “what goes good with pork chops”10. Once
things make sense for your schedule start the store list on the bottom of the
menu. I’m trying out a 2 week list but may end up doing weekly bc we go to the
store quite often.
11. Break
down each day on the menu and the main ingredients or the ingredients that aren't regularly in your pantry, I had to go into allrecipes.com
and make sure I “favorited” each dinner that was not in my memory or personal
recipes so I know where to find it quickly.
12. Use
M,T,W,R,F,S,Su. for the week to make sure you are not forgetting any major
items on your store list
13. See
how it goes
