Meal Planning - Week 1

One day I was sitting at home and hoping to find ways to simplify my life when I learned about meal planning.  What a great idea!  Why hadn't I thought of this?

So, I began meal planning about a year ago.  I Google searched Meal Plan Template and found one I liked.  There were a ton of images and you really just need to find one you like or create your own.  I then laminated the form and I write on it using a wet-erase marker.  It hangs on the kitchen door so I see it every day before I leave for work.  (This reminds me if I need to thaw anything! )  

I use the meal planning to figure out my shopping list so even more time is saved.  It takes me about an hour on Saturday or Sunday to get this done.  Before I meal planned, I spent hours trying to figure out what I wanted to make for dinner and I never had the ingredients I needed because my shopping list did not align with the improvised menu.  

I also have several cookbooks that I like to use.  I try to find about 3 "new" meals a week for my family.  The rest of the meals are family favorites or freezer crockpot meals.  In the plan, I write out what cookbook I am using and the page numbers so I can find the recipes easily

There are tons of places where posts about meal-planning exist.  All of them different!  But none of them are exactly aligned to my family (mainly because I did not write out the meal plans).  

So, in another effort to save even more time and use the internet blog-world to organize my thoughts, I am going to post my weekly meal plans here.  Then, after a few months, I can come back and revise old meal plans (taking out meals we did not like and keeping in meals we did)!  

This is just an experiment but I really hope it works! I would love to have my meals organized where I can find them easily!

So, without further ado…

Week 1

The 3 New Recipe Meals This Week taken from:

SUNDAY NIGHT SUPPERS by Barbara C. Jones in 2006

Monday: Pizza and bread sticks

Tuesday: Tyson Dinosaur Chicken Nuggets, Mac N' Cheese, Carrot Sticks

Wednesday:  Tuna Noodle Casserole, Emergency CheeseCake (p. 192)

Thursday: Swai, Strawberry & Blueberry Salad, and Rice 

Friday: Loaded Baked Potatoes & Merry Berry Salad (p. 250)

Saturday: Johnsonville bacon cheddar Brat Burgers, Tator Tots, California Veggie Medley

Sunday: Chicken Squares and Corn Pudding (p. 142)