Soup Sunday
(moved) Mushroom Marsala Gnocchi
Salad Monday
Sandwich/Pizza Tuesday
Bagel BLTs
One Pot Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
Fiesta Friday
Brisket tacos + homemade salsa
Stir Fry Saturday
Trader Joe's orange chicken + rice + broccoli
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Friday, June 4, 2021
Weekly Meal Plan 6/6 - 6/12 - With new summer themes!
Sunday Stir Fry
Salad Monday
Pizza Tuesday
Naan Pizzas
One Pot Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
Fiesta Friday
Saturday Grill and Chill
Ribeyes + asparagus + bread
Weekly Meal Plan 5/30 - 6/5
Homemade salsa + chips
Salad Monday
Sheet Pan Tuesday
Parmesan crusted tilapia + carrots + green beans
One Pot Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
BBQ Chicken + baked potatoes
Fiesta Friday
Fish tacos
Stir Fry Saturday
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Weekly Meal Plan 5/16 - 5/22
Soup Sunday
Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup (from freezer)
Salad Monday
Chicken Caesar Salad
Sheet Pan Tuesday
Pizza Chicken Bake + frozen veg
One Pot Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
BBQ Chicken + baked potatoes
Fiesta Friday
Fish tacos
Stir Fry Saturday
Friday, May 7, 2021
Weekly Meal Plan 5/9-5/15
Soup Sunday
Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup (from freezer)
Salad Monday
Buffalo chicken salad
Sheet Pan Tuesday
Parmesan Encrusted Tilapia Fillets + sweet potato + frozen veg
One Pot Wednesday
Spaghetti + frozen meatballs + frozen veg
Slow Cooker Thursday
Beef stroganoff + egg noodles + frozen veg
Fiesta Friday
Frozen taquitos + guacamole + sour cream
Stir Fry Saturday
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Weekly Meal Plan 5/2-5/8
Soup Sunday
Slow Cooker Ham and Potato Soup (from freezer)
Salad Monday
Sheet Pan Tuesday
One Pot Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
Instant Pot Spicy Crack Chicken + romaine hearts
Fiesta Friday
Shrimp tacos + Easy Chipotle Aioli + homemade salsa
Stir Fry Saturday
Ground Kung Pao Chicken + rice
Sunday, April 25, 2021
Meal Planning
Once upon a time, I took a teaching job halfway across the country and so Brandon and I packed up our belongings and trekked from Austin, Texas to Tacoma, Washington. Our decision was made, in part, because my newly-acquired Masters degree would earn me quite a bit more money in Washington. We were living large, right? Wrong! Long story short: When you accept a teaching job for only half the school year, but there are nine months left in the fiscal year, your paychecks are two-thirds what you expected them to be. Thus began my love affair with all things frugal including meal planning.
Back then, my meal planning was based solely on budget, but here are my current meal planning parameters:
1. Look ahead and mark off any days we may not be eating at home or that require a special menu. (Three weeks ago I straight up forgot to plan Rollie’s birthday dinner and put a normal dinner there instead. Whoops. But the system does work most of the time.)
2. If there was anything I skipped this week for any reason (like a forgotten birthday dinner or eating a backup meal* instead) - move it to next week and/or reappropriate the ingredients for another meal.
*One of my FAVORITE frugal living blogs is the Frugalwoods. They taught me to always keep easy backup meals on hand for those days when I just cannot bring myself to cook, but we want to save money. For example, right now I have a box of Costco frozen pizzas in the deep freeze and some of the Costco chicken enchilada soup in the fridge. If I haven’t used them as their expirations near, I build them into the weekly meal plans.
3. Any recipe requests from the house? Any meals that were a big hit that we haven’t had in a while? (By the way, having this blog to look back on is SUPER helpful for this step.)
4. Fill in the gaps with our weekly meal themes** and our current dietary goals***.
**I stole the meal theme idea from Haley and ran with it. I find it SO HELPFUL. Our current weekly themes are:
Soup Sunday
Salad Monday
Sheet Pan Tuesday
One Pot/Skillet Wednesday
Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Thursday
Fiesta Friday (basically anything I can pair with a margarita)
Stir-Fry Saturday (or any Asian dish)
We’ve also had, in the past: sandwich night, leftovers night, breakfast for dinner, grill and chill, meatless Mondays. The possibilities are endless. Choose categories that you like and that work for you and change them up when they don’t! I will 100% be reinstating grill and chill as soon as the Washington weather cooperates. I also hope to instate regular date nights once life is more normal.
***Right now we aim for at least one vegetarian meal a week, two seafood meals a week, limit red/fatty meats to one meal a week, and are working to up our veggie intake. This changes periodically, but we’re feeding two toddlers and working hard to teach them healthy food habits.
5. Plug meal ingredients into Walmart Grocery app as I confirm each meal. (If you are a first time user - signing up with my link earns us both $10.) Then I add our weekly staples and schedule my grocery pickup for a convenient time. It’s free and I’m usually in and out of the parking lot in less than ten minutes.
Friday, April 23, 2021
Weekly Meal Plan 4/25-5/1
Soup Sunday
Cherry tomato and carrot soup + grilled cheese
Salad Monday
Sheet Pan Tuesday
One Pot Wednesday
Jambalaya + shrimp + turkey sausage
Slow Cooker Thursday
Beef stroganoff + egg noodles
Fiesta Friday
Pizza quesadillas
Stir Fry Saturday
Thursday, April 22, 2021
Weekly Meal Plan 4/18-4/24
Soup Sunday* - moved from Friday
Salad Monday
Kale salad with quinoa and cranberries + rotisserie chicken
Sheet Pan Tuesday
One Pot Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
Maple dijon chicken + rice + incredibly delicious brussels sprouts
Fiesta Friday
Shrimp tacos + easy chipotle aioli + homemade salsa
Stir Fry Saturday
Poke bowls
Saturday, December 19, 2020
Christmas Meal Plan 12/20-12/26
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday - Zoolights @5:30
Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken
Wednesday
Thursday- Christmas Eve!
Oyster Stew, Honeycrisp Harvest Salad, Breadsticks
Friday - Christmas Day!
Saturday
Puff Angels
Donuts
Charcuterie Board
Fudge
Sugar Cookies
Puppy Chow
Cranberry Warmer
Cranberry Margaritas
Eggnog
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Weekly Meal Plan 12/13-12/19
Simple Sunday Dinner
Frozen Chicken Wings in Air Fryer and Fries
Meatless Monday
Salad Tuesday
Kale Salad with Quinoa and Cranberries and Chicken
Soup Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
Chicken and Stuffing with Frozen Veg
Fiesta Friday
Pizza Quesadillas
Stir Fry Saturday
Weekly Meal Plan 12/6-12/12
Simple Sunday Dinner
Spicy Shrimp Ramen
Meatless Monday
Instant Pot Macaroni and Cheese and Frozen Veg
Salad Tuesday
BBQ Chicken Salad
Soup Wednesday
Chicken Noodle Soup
Slow Cooker Thursday
Fish Tacos
Fiesta Friday
**Takeout - Wok Teriyaki II
Stir Fry Saturday
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Weekly Meal Plan 11/29 - 12/5
Simple Sunday Dinner
Pizza Chicken w/salad
Meatless Monday
Mushroom Marsala Gnocchi
Salad Tuesday
Blackened Salmon Caesar Salad
Soup Wednesday
Crawfish Corn Soup with Rolls
Slow Cooker Thursday
Paleo Sausage Stuffed Peppers
Fiesta Friday
Green Chicken Enchiladas
Stir Fry Saturday
**Takeout - The Float
Sunday, November 15, 2020
Weekly Meal Plan 11/15-11/20
Simple Sunday Dinner
Spaghetti and Frozen Meatballs
Meatless Monday
Salad Tuesday
Chicken Caesar Salad
Soup Wednesday
Chicken Noodle Soup
Slow Cooker Thursday
Fiesta Friday
Monday, November 9, 2020
Weekly Meal Plan 11/8-11/14
Simple Sunday Dinner
Meatless Monday
Honey, Thyme, Pear, and Goat Cheese Sandwiches and chips
Salad Tuesday
Soup Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
Spaghetti and Frozen Meatballs
Fiesta Friday
Crunchy Shrimp Tacos with pico de gallo and chipotle aioli
Stir Fry Saturday
Food Court Bourbon Chicken with rice and green beans
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Weekly Meal Plan 11/1-11/7
Simple Sunday Dinner
Meatless Monday
Salad Tuesday
Soup Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
Fiesta Friday
Crunchy Shrimp Tacos with pico de gallo and chipotle aioli
Stir Fry Saturday
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Weekly Meal 10/25-10/31
Simple Sunday Dinner
Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole and broccoli
Meatless Monday
Salad Tuesday
Soup Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
Mississippi Roast with potatoes and green beans
Fiesta Friday
Stir Fry Saturday
HALLOWEEN
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Weekly Meal 10/18-10/24
Simple Sunday Dinner
Meatless Monday
Salad Tuesday
Blackened Salmon Caesar Salad w/ veggie pasta
Soup Wednesday
Slow Cooker Thursday
Fiesta Friday
Stir Fry Saturday
Weekly Meal Plan 10/11-10/17
Stir Fry Sunday
Poke Bowls
Meatless Monday
Salad Tuesday
Buffalo Chicken Salad
Soup Wednesday
Chili Mole
Slow Cooker Thursday
Creamy Italian Chicken with pasta
Fiesta Friday
Stir Fry Saturday
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Weekly Meal Plan 10/4-10/10
Sunday Stir Fry
Meatless Monday
Deli Tuesday
Philly Cheesesteaks w/ fries
One Pot Wednesday
Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil and Shrimp
Instant Pot Thursday
Fiesta Friday
Crunchy Shrimp Tacos with pico de gallo and chipotle aioli
Saturday Grilling
n/a
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