Menu Planning


Recently, I posted on Facebook that I was going to put together 6-8 weekly menus that I can rotate. Several of you asked for me to share what I've put together so that is what this post is all about.

The idea came as a result of reading another blog. A another mom had decided to do this after the frustration of  answering "what am I cooking this week?" If you are anything like me, you loathe making a menu, then a grocery list and realizing you are only half way done with this project. Now you have to go to the store, unload, and then cook. Yuck! Not my favorite thing! So, this idea was appealing to me.

My approach was simple. First, I scoured my recipes, Pintrest boards, etc. for all the meals I knew my family liked and some I wanted to try. I made a master list. It looked like this.


Then I re-organized it into groups that I could then pick from.



I then thought about our eating habits and what makes sense for my family. Since we are still a small family with small kids, I don't need to cook every day. Most meals will give us left overs. I also thought about the days of the week that I would most likely cook. I decided that Monday/Wednesday/Friday would be cooking days. Fridays would need to be meals that Aaron could cook since I work most Friday afternoons and could use the extra time. I lumped Saturdays and Sundays together because weekends are unpredictable.

I then began picking meals from the different categories. I tried to vary the meat type as well as dish type so that we weren't eating a week of chicken or all pasta.



Just a note: I wasn't overly concerned with making the dishes have all the same prep or use the same ingredients. I may do that in the future but for now, that didn't meet my goal. I will also say that these meals are not necessarily healthy. Again, I wanted menus that I knew my family would eat and enjoy. We may begin to substitute as the year goes along. This is our starting place.

Once all the main dishes were selected, I tried to put together side ideas that I thought would be good. This is the hardest part for me. I do not have a large selection of side dishes and my family is rather picky when it comes to veggies. Again, we are working on that.


So, here is what I ended up with…

Week 1
* Italian Chicken with baked potatoes, peas, and corn.
* Taco Soup with cornbread
* Homemade Pizza with salad
* Crockpot BBQ Chicken with baked beans and Velveeta Shells and Cheese

Week 2
* Italian Salmon with rice, broccoli, and squash.
* Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans.
* Southwest Pasta with corn dip and chips.
* Green Chili Cream Cheese Chicken with rice and green beans.

Week 3
* Chicken & Rice Casserole with green beans
* Tortellini with salad
* Tacos/Taco Salad with cheese dip and black beans
* Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots

Week 4
* Lemon Pepper Chicken with rice and broccoli
* Spaghetti & Meatballs with salad and green beans
* Lettuce Wraps
* Brisket with baked beans and baked potatoes

Week 5
* Lasagna with salad
* Tilapia with rice and fresh veggies
* Fajitas with beans and rice
* Beef Stew

Week 6
* Chicken Enchiladas with rice and beans
* Crabcakes with fresh veggies
* Breakfast Casserole with pancakes and bacon
* Beef Tips with rice, corn, and peas

Week 7
* Ham and Broccoli Bake
* Poppyseed Chicken with pasta, salad, and green beans
* BBQ Hotdogs and Mac & Cheese
* Chicken Tortilla Soup with cheese dip and chips

Week 8
* Chili with fritos
* Shrimp with rice and veggies
* Steak with potatoes and green beans
* Chicken Alfredo with salad

Week 9
* Chicen Roll-UPs
* Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs with pineapple bake
* Pizza with salad
* Goolash

Hope this helps give you all a start!