A Themed Meal Plan-Simple, Basic,Helpful

                Do you see all of these posts online about how much time and money meal planning can save you? Do you think “how will I ever find time to meal plan, I barely have time to cook never mind take more time to plan it all out!’ Or do you say “I don’t want to be held to a strict set of meals, I’ll get bored with my food and so wont my family” I have a basic and simple method I use every week. It is freeing to write down the week’s meal plan, it takes away the stress of trying to come up with something every day.  It also helps you give your grocery shopping framework and helps you use the food you have stockpiled in your pantry and freezer. When we first moved into my parent’s house (more on that in this post) things were a little crazy. Four boys adjusting to a new house, sad to leave their old one, leaving their friends they see regularly, shifting to a schedule where we didn’t see the Mister during the week, leaving their church.  I had a nursing baby as well so he was adjusting in his own ways, primarily not sleeping.  Either my Mom, Dad or I would go to the grocery story and buy a bunch of food and then comment on how we will ever find room in the refrigerator when it was all unloaded. Naturally we slowly moved into a rhythm and things settled a bit. I was tired of feeling stressed over how much a full load of groceries cost and then coming home and feeling like I had no idea what to cook. I love to cook, why was this difficult? The order of events was wrong, I just needed to shift the order of how I was doing things. I have been meal planning for a lot of years but themed meals had never come into play until recently and I absolutely love this method. Themed meals just mean having a dedicated type of meal for each day of the week. Our family does well with planning breakfast and dinner. If you need to include lunch go for it, this is completely YOUR meal plan. I started out by laying out a plan on paper. Here is what works for us:

Our Week of Breakfasts-

Monday-eggs and toast. This means any type of eggs. If I have time, I’ll make a couple different kinds if my boys ask for them. If not I make a big batch of boiled or scrambled eggs, toss in several pieces of toast, pour a bowl of applesauce for everyone and call it a morning.

Tuesday-bagels or other baked good and smoothie. This is our homeschool group, CC, day so we are out the door early. I need something fast but also filling to stick with us on a day where our schedule is out of our normal home routine.

Wednesday- hot cereal. This can be oatmeal, hot cereal or brown rice farina, (my favorite is Bob’s Red Mill) Oats are such a budget friendly option I want to keep it in the rotation at least once a week. I make one large pot and have a few different toppings. Mr4 and I like blueberries and maple syrup. Mr1 and Mr3 like peanut butter in theirs and Mr2 enjoys a bit of jam and dried cranberries. 

Thursday- eggs and toast

Friday- pancakes or waffles.  These could be fresh or if we are pressed for time, I take them out of the freezer. On days when we aren’t rushing, I’ll make a triple batch of either pancakes or waffles and freeze them.

Saturday/Sunday- cereal. I find cereal to be rather expensive per bowl and my kids say there are hungry about 3.4 seconds after I finish cleaning the dishes so it’s a weekend treat. Plus, on Sunday it helps us keep it simple to get out the door to church. I didn’t say we get there on time, but it’s certainly earlier than if we had a more time intensive breakfast.

Our Week of Dinner-

Monday- Stir Fry. Either an Asian flavored stir fry or the boys favorite of Italian sausage, pasta and veggie all tossed with olive oil and pecorino cheese

Tuesday- Tacos. Tacos are sooooo versatile. You can use beef, turkey, shredded chicken, deer meat, shrimp or even tofu. Season it and toss it in corn, flour, hard or soft taco shells. You can put it on top of tortilla chips or make bowl style meals and scoop it with a handful of chips. Add rice if that’s what you have instead of tortillas.

Wednesday- Soup or Salad

Thursday- Leftovers or my opportunity to try a new recipe

Friday- Pizza or Pasta. When Mr and I are trying to eat a bit better we’ll do pasta and sauce for the boys and spaghetti squash for us. I often make pizza but if this is a night to buy it and its in our budget we do.

Saturday- Set it and forget it with the slow cooker or Instant Pot.

Sunday- Grilled or roasted meat with veggies. This allows me to meal prep for the week ahead while I’m cooking that night’s dinner.

SO you see how it’s a meal plan with some structure but not so much that we feel restricted? It takes the guess work out of every single breakfast option there is.  It helps me avoid having to wait for everyone to wake up and decide what they want to eat and then start preparing it while my breakfast is getting cold on the counter. I can at least prep most everyone’s meals and even start cleaning up if possible.  This method saves so much time, money and stress. The boys know what the plan is and don’t even have the opportunity to complain and tell me that they don’t want something specific. It’s on the meal plan and they know it. If they want another meal, they’ll probably have it another day in the week so there is not room for whining. It is tailored to our schedule. If you have a new baby and need your older kids to be able to pour everyone cereal while you are nursing the baby for the millionth time in bed, then have cereal every day of the week! Make the plan work for your family and you’ll see the positive changes it’ll do for your kitchen and budget.