Meal Planning

I don't know about your house, but I definitely make better dinners if I have a plan ahead of time. If its 430 pm and I'm suddenly realizing these people need to eat, we don't eat very good meals...and I start to look and sound like this:

haha. Anyway, my system works like this:
We get paid every 2 weeks. I have a grocery budget which I try very hard to stick to. I like to get my major shopping done on payday, allowing for the fact that will need to restock milk and produce, and whatever else may come up. So if I plan dinner ideas for at least 14 days, and then buy the food we need to make those dinners, we should be set! (I also keep a pantry full of "food storage" that we rotate into our fridge food...if that makes any sense to you.)
Recently I was trying to put together my menu and was not in the mood to think of meals, so I was asking friends for ideas. (friends are a fabulous resource!!!) Two of them half-jokingly told me that when I came up with my menu I needed to do theirs as well. Hence this post! *grin
I get my dinner ideas by asking my kids what they want (which is always pizza and spaghetti), looking at food blogs (I bookmark specific recipes when I see them), checking my food emails (from Pillsbury & Betty Crocker), and flipping thru our stack of recipe books. And when I can't fill a menu from that I scroll thru this blog for meals that I know we like! I also make sure to have at least one leftovers night per week to make sure the fridge isn't hoarding any science projects, although honestly my husband often takes the leftovers to work for free lunches!

So here is my current menu plan, with links to recipes where I can add them! Enjoy!!

• Saturday: Domino's Pizza
• Sunday: Crock Pot Orange Chicken, Fried Rice
• Monday: Tortilla Soup, chips
• Tuesday: Leftovers
• Wednesday: Mexican Shepherd's Pie, chips, mixed veggies
• Thursday: Tomato Zucchini Pasta, garlic bread, peas
• Friday: Grilled hamburgers, deep fried french fries, grapes
• Saturday: Cheesy Chicken & Broccoli, mixed veg, slice of bread with jam
• Sunday: Meatballs, baked potato with butter & cheese, roasted broccoli
• Monday: Leftovers
• Tuesday: German Pancakes, bacon, fruit
• Wednesday: Beef & black bean enchiladas, chips, lettuce
• Thursday: Hash
• Friday: Baked chicken tenders, baked french fries, apples
• Saturday: Crepes, fruit
• Sunday: Swedish meatballs (recipe found on McCormick Swedish Meatball seasoning & sauce mix packet) & fettuccine noodles with alfredo sauce, mixed veggies

I just noticed, we've been having a LOT of chicken lately...hmm.

Sometimes I like to sort of have a "schedule" that is really just me spacing out similar foods, where each week we have a soup, an Italian meal, a Mexican meal, a breakfast dinner, a super simple meal like burgers or mac n cheese, leftovers and then some kind of meat and potatoes type meal. That gets me thru a week without a whole lot of brain power, haha. Also, since I shop for all these things just as the menu period is beginning, I easily can switch things out depending on how busy I am or what I am more in the mood for each day.
Hope this helps you out today too!