It’s Monday which is meal planning day in our house, but thankfully I don’t need to come up with anything new since I have my 365 day meal plan rotation in full effect. If you haven’t seen it yet, I made a template for you to make your own rotating meal plan that repeats throughout the year. It takes all the guesswork out of meal planning!
If your resolutions include eating out less, eating healthier, losing weight, or cooking at home more this it’s not too late to start with this easy system.
For more on how to set up a year long meal plan (including a grocery list!) check out my 365 day meal plan post.
One Week Down
So how is my meal planning going? Really well despite a really bad cold that has made our house plague central. (Seriously you may want to sanitize your screen now.)
Last week was our first full week of living off the meal plan. (the first week of the year I was away with my husband-more on that soon) The only day we deviated from the meal plan was to celebrate my oldest’s admission into our district’s STEM Academy (they focus on science, tech, engineering, and math and the students are self-directed). I couldn’t be prouder. He worked really hard the last two years to move from homeschooling to traditional schooling, and the admission process was nearly as nail biting as I remember college applications being-only this time he only had one choice and no safety school to back him up!
We celebrated with his favorite takeout (Five Guys) but I frugalized our order by skipping the second order of fries, and removing my order since I’ve been sick and had little appetite.
In the past I would have gotten frustrated that we ‘cheated’ and probably scraped the whole system, but this year I’m trying to be kinder to myself and stick with it even if I fall off the wagon.
This week’s menu will have to be modified since the grocery store was out of stock of some of my main dish ingredients. No worries though since we have a few things in the freezer I can substitute.
The best observation I made though is that everyone loves clean out the fridge night! Since I put out all kinds of food everyone had a little of this and a little of that. I’m looking forward to Saturdays dinner every week now.
Menu for week of January 16th:
Monday: Key-West style baked grouper, Brown Rice, Salad, Fruit Salad
Tuesday: Burgers and hot dogs, salad, chips or homemade frugal fries, pickles
Wednesday: Gluten-free pasta, broccoli, garlic bread, cheese & sauce, salad
Thursday: Cider glazed pork loin, gluten-free corn bread, salad, honey glazed carrots
Friday: Pizza night, garlic bread, salad
Saturday: Clean out the fridge night
Sunday: Stir Fry night (shrimp, steak, veggies) with rice and salad
What’s on your menu this week? Have you tried a rotating menu plan?
Kelly
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