I had a couple people ask about my meal plan and this is it: a simple FREE printable monthly calendar that I write on 😉 . I’m not good at following schedules and am already forgetting to look at this one but I am going to give it a shot.
Before you look to close at my meal plan let me tell you my Method of Operation for it and what the Abbreviations mean.
A Simple Way to Meal Plan
Because too many details make it even harder for me to follow, I need simple. I’m also using my affiliate links to resources to help you meal plan. Using my links may earn me a few cents but at no cost to you. It helps support my blog, thank you.
This plan is basically a month of meal ideas broken down by a different theme for most days of the week. Find more help on meal planning made simple here.
- Monday is Meat,
- Tuesday is Chicken/Tuna/Fish,
- Thursday is Ethnic (Chinese, Mexican, Italian)
- and Friday is FUN.
Because of church Sundays and Wednesdays will be covered by foods already prepared food like…
- Freezer Meals (F.M.),
- Crock Pot (C.P.),
- Left Overs (L.O.)
At the bottom of the meal plan is a list of lunch ideas for the kids. I also plan on using left overs, etc..
The meal plan is put inside a plastic page protector, taped to a cupboard door so that I can use a dry-erase marker to cross off the meals as we have them.
I allow myself to jump all over the place picking what meals I want for when I want in “real life”.See my M.O. below.
Meal Planning
Simple and flexible meal planning are the keys here for me. I can plan my grocery list by the week and/ or month based on themes if I want. My grocery buying is very limited to what’s on sale and what I have coupons for or where I can find the best prices where there are no sales/coupons available.
I can look at the monthly plan and decide what meals (from any week) I want for the time period I’m buying for. For example, because I wasn’t finding hamburger on sale for “our” price for months, we rarely had it for meals. This past week I found it on sale for $1.89 a pound and bought about 12 pounds of it.
And thats it.
Do you have any meal-planning tips to share that have revolutionized your meal times? Please share in the comment section!
*Click here for a list of free printable organization forms including the one I use for this meal plan.
P.S. –Â The plan is very basic. I should have added that I already know I can throw in some veggies, applesauce, etc. to go along with the main dish!
Tracy Zdelar
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I don’t think I have anything revolutionary, lol! I do like to cook chicken and then freeze it. That way I can thaw it in the microwave and use it for a quick casserole dish. I like to cook up ground turkey too, although that is soooo quick and easy to brown that I don’t do it very often.
I have a similar theme night for my meals too. It makes it much easier when you’re meal planning! Thanks for linking up to Making Your Home Sing Monday!
Steal away, Jennifer! lol
I LOVE this idea!! I am completely stealing it. I’ve used pages from the site you gave before, but never considered doing a monthly plan.