Menu Plan Monday

Do you plan your meals and make a list before going grocery shopping? I've been doing this for a long time, and it really makes things easy for the rest of the week. I make a menu plan and grocery list on Sundays, and then we go shopping on Monday. The grocery list is always kept in the same place, so if we run out of things throughout the week, they get added to the list and picked up on the next Monday. We plan our budget according to the number of Mondays in the month, and I try really hard to stick to my list in order to save money. It works!

I know it sounds a little overwhelming or tedious if you're used to going into the store and picking up whatever you usually need. But it's worth it! Planning a menu and grocery list prompts you to think about what's going on in the week ahead, so you plan meals that fit into your schedule. You can also check your pantry to see what ingredients you already have on hand, so you're not buying as many duplicates. Best of all, you're less likely to forget things when you use a list, so you're not running back to the store four times a week. Even if you simply create a meal plan and grocery list from the same recipes you always use, you can save yourself time by doing this.

Now, when I say "meal plan," I don't mean a set-in-stone schedule that has to be strictly followed. Not at all! When I create our meal plan, I come up with enough dinners to get us through the week, enough lunch ideas to keep us fed during the day, and one or maybe two desserts. I write it all down according to when I think we'll use these meals, but we don't always follow it to a T. It's ok to switch days around, and it's ok to go out to eat instead if that's what you feel like on a particular day. The idea is to have food on hand that actually goes together to make a meal when you need to cook it. If you skip one of your meals, that's ok, you have one less meal to plan for next week!

To show that it doesn't have to be complicated, here's our meal plan for this week - these are all really easy meals!

Monday - meat loaf & baked potatoes

Tuesday - cheeseburger rolls & veggie

Wednesday - Taco Potatoes (this might get switched to another day, since we just had potatoes on Monday - see how it's flexible?)

Thursday - Frozen pizza (It definitely doesn't get any easier than that! hhahaha... It does NOT have to be a big fancy meal - the idea is just to plan a meal.)

Friday - Easy cheesy lasagna

Saturday - swiss stuffed chicken w/ a pasta side dish

Sunday - grlled pork chops & baked potatoes; also super bowl sunday, so I'll make crab-stuffed jalapenos and peanut butter bars to share at a get-together

I also got some oatmeal for breakfasts, along with ingredients for apple-chicken quesadillas, grilled cheese sandwiches, and hot dogs for lunches, and of course we'll have leftovers for lunches on the weekend. I also pick up frozen veggies almost every week, so we have veggies with meals that aren't complete. We're eating a lot of potatoes this week because I bought too many of them last week and I want to use them up. The great thing about potatoes is that they can be prepared lots of ways... So this meal plan is definitely not set in stone!

There are lots of resources online for help with planning meals. My friend Brenda has a blog about meal planning (http://mealplanningmagic.blogspot.com/), and OrgJunkie (http://orgjunkie.com/2009/01/menu-plan-monday-jan-26th-giveaway.html) has a huge list of real people's meal plans every week (many of them with links to the recipes).

So I know my post is late for this week's "Menu Plan Monday," but I thought some of you might still be interested. Happy eating!