Menu Plan Monday
I've been menu planning for the past 4 weeks now, and it has made such a huge difference for our family. Since it's still just the three of us, I wasn't concerned about having a specific menu since I'm not feeding a ton of people, but decided to try it for a week, and just in that one week I could see the difference. Knowing in the morning what I was making that night took a huge burden off my day because I wasn't worried that 4 o'clock would roll around and I still would have NO idea what to make for dinner that night. I just plan the dinners for the week, but I know as we eventually add more kids I will have to start planning breakfast and lunch as well. Matt has even commented on how nice it is to have dinner ready when he gets home from work, and he's been able to contribute a bit to the planning.
I've been using this to plan my weekly menu from OrganizedHome, but I use the breakfast column for my shopping list and the lunch column for what I need to prep for the next day, I'm hoping to come up with my own soon, but I'm not very savvy with the computer. I typically have one night of just leftovers, which Matt has been fine with if he knows beforehand, and I try to some sort of pizza on Wednesdays. Pinterest has helped me a bit too having recipes with pictures from different blogs available right there.
I make the menu on Sunday afternoon and plan Mondays meal using stuff on hand, then after I get off work on Tuesday morning at 4:15am I head to the grocery store. There's barely any customers at that time and I don't have to bring the babes with me. This has helped also because the only time I have to head back to the store during the week is if we run out of milk or bananas, so I'm saving gas, money and so much time.
So I'm hoping to post my menu for you on Mondays and I'll be linking up with Organizing Junkie. So without further ado, here's my menu:
Monday:
Rice
Black Beans (done ahead on the crock pot, but frozen)
Tuesday:
Rice
Stir Fried Snow Peas
Wednesday:
Marinara Dipping Sauce
Salad
Thursday:
Creamy Baked Chicken Taquitos (a new fan fav)
Rice
Black Beans
Friday:
Sandwiches (in the car because we're traveling)
Chips
Cookies
Well, there's our menu for the week, I may not stick completely to the menu, but having the guideline makes it so much easier and so much less hectic!!! I really do recommend trying a week or two of planning your menu out if you never have! Or if you do menu plan, and you have some good recipes to share, please do!!
I'm linking up with:
I love meal planning. I have been doing it since right after Connor was born. As you said, it relieves so much stress already knowing what you are going to make. Also, it saves money and we waste almost no food because we actually consume all of what we buy. I am going to try to plan the whole month of April in advance. I am excited about that...cause I am a dork like that!
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