Back from Break: Meal Planning!

I'm sorry for the break from blogging--well, not really sorry, since it was a holiday-thing; December is so busy and fun for us! But here I am, back with a gentle reminder from friends ;) , and wanting to share my meal plan! This has worked really well for me in the past; and then, honestly, I lost the list and sort of just didn't replace it. With the start of a new semester AND teaching a night school class from Jan-June, I realized I needed to be on top of things at home. The meal plan that has been most successful for me is listing each date of the month and assigning it a meal, with a few dishes repeating through the month. Then I simply look at the dates for the upcoming week, and my meals are planned! I make my grocery list accordingly. The beauty of this is, besides taking the guess work out of things (which is honestly my biggest hang-up at times, deciding WHAT to make), if things are on sale (like meat, veggies, etc.) and not in that week's line up, I can either stock up or exchange meal dates! Also, this Sunday I presliced all our lunch veggies and lunch fruit, made a big batch of tomato soup and cooked four yams for my lunches, and precooked all my week's meats. It took about an hour and half in the morning, but it has been so incredibly worth it this week. I'm hoping I can keep it up! :)

Here is my meal plan:

1: Orange Chicken, Rice, Broccolli
2: Pizza muffins
3: Chilli
4: Burritos and quesidillas
5: BBQ Chicken, mashed potatoes, and veggies
6: Chicken Caesar Salad and bread (rosemary)/Kale and Romanie Caesar salad w/homemade dressing
7: Leftovers
8: Split Pea and Ham Soup
9: Spaghetti and meatballs
10: Chicken Pasta
11: Regular Tacos and corn on the cob
12: Bacon Tortellini Alfredos
13: Leftovers
14: Burritos/Quesidillas/fruit and veggies
15: Raviolis and Salad
16: Chicken Teriakyi Bowls
17: Kielbasa and potatoes
18: Slow Cooker Lasagna
19: Leftovers
20: Chicken Casserole
21: Spaghetti and veggies
22: Chicken Lime Cilantro Tacos OR crockpt chicken fajitas
23: Homemade Cheesy Mac
24: Whole Chicken and rosemary potatoes*
25: Leftovers
26: Burritos/Quesidilla/fruit and veggies OR Jumbalya
27: Pot Roast/carrots/potatoes OR maple dijon chicken
28: Enchilladas/Pinterest Idea
29: Brats and Tater Tots (hot dogs)
30: Green Beans, chicken, potatoes/3 ingredient chicken off pinterest
31: leftovers

As you can see, there are a couple places where I give myself a choice, and a couple places where I give myself the option of choosing something off pinterest--I've had a lot of success with pinterest recipes, and it keeps things new! The two things that make repeat appearances are burritos and spaghetti--easy, healthy and cheap. :) Also, notice--no take out on this menu! (we'll see how long that lasts, lol)

Happy cooking!