Like a lot of people, I tend to spend the little free time I get looking at social media. Lately it seems I’ve been using my instagram like I do Pinterest and save all the yummy food and drinks I see and want to try. I’ve also noted a lot of people saying they are aimlessly snacking and not having a clue what to make for meals, so I thought I’d put up my weekly meal plans for those who might be interested.
Meal planning is a lifesaver in our house. It helps us know what we need to buy from the store so we don’t over shop or buy things we don’t really need. It also helps us just get through the day to day since we really don’t have to think very hard about what’s for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It’s already planned out for us and I know we have what we need since the weekly grocery shopping was based off what was needed to complete the meal plan, so it’s a win win all the way around.
One thing I want to make note of is that we use our meal plan as a guide a lot of times. If something just really doesn’t sound good, that’s ok because there are other meals we can swap it with. I also leave room for days that I just don’t feel like cooking or where we need to eat leftovers to clean out the fridge. We don’t like too much fuss in our house so all meal plans are easy and take less than 30 minutes to cook for dinner, less than 10 for lunch and breakfast is either grab and go or something fast and easy.
Also, we don’t necessarily follow recipes step by step and may substitute ingredients if we know we have a replacement that will work just as well. This helps us eliminate additional items from our grocery list and use what we already have in the fridge and pantry. What I hope to do is show you how we actually do this in our house since it works for us and maybe it’s something that can work in your busy households too.
Sunday
Challah Bread– you will need to make this the day before you want to use it. It’s a easy recipe but it does take several hours
Mango Salsa Chicken and Rice – Substitutes: fresh mango with frozen mango, Tyson frozen chicken, enriched white long grain rice
Monday
Tuesday
Pasta Sauce – This is a great recipe to make in bulk and freeze for future meals. This recipe yields 8 meals for my family of 2.5.
These are the only recipes you really need to make it through the week. Now, I know I have 3 Hello Fresh Meals and a couple of Daily Harvest smoothies in this meal plan, so if you want to see a week that’s completely on us and doesn’t utilize any services, stay tuned for next week! It will be just as easy!
P.S. My baby is 6 months old so what you see for those meals, is nothin special and is simply roasted veggies / steamed fruits and veggies that I make enough to last a couple of days!
Let me know what fun things you’re cooking this week!
~Mandy