Family Meal Plan #1

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For a LOOONG time, I’ve been thinking about sharing a meal plan with all of you. I’ve recently gotten into a groove of planning the weekly meals on Sunday afternoon and shopping on Monday morning. The one Pinterest Board that I actively use is my Delicious-Savory Food board, a.k.a. dinner recipes I’ve pinned.  I am regularly looking at food blogs for meals that will work for my family, and when I find something new I want to try, I save it there. I’ve found I generally choose 3 new meals a week with 3-4 tried and true meals each week. I like to experiment and change things up, and I’m also tired of all the same ole stuff I’ve made for years.

So in an effort to a) organize myself b)share with you what has worked 3) discipline myself enough to make 7 great meals a week, I’ll be sharing this on Sundays. If you know me and my blog well, you know I mean well with “photo tip tuesday” and “on my mind Monday” and “what I wore Wednesday” but it often falls through the cracks. Well, it’s back…organizing myself! With at least some of those….some of the time. How is that for non committal?

People in the past have suggested using e-meals, which I have done before, but I found they just didn’t mesh with me or my family. My food blog friend Leigh Anne does a weekly meal plan, and so do a few others. I find I’m looking over those and often finding one I like and moving on to the next.

I also try to bring a variety to days (as we all do) with beef, chicken, fish, vegetarian, etc. I’m a meat girl, so most of my meals do have meat, but I am trying to venture out just a touch.

I decided I’d share our meal plan AFTER we eat it, and I’ll give the recap of what the family says about it, why I love it, the difficulty level, etc. Sound good?? Great!

I’ve started to write it out on a mini chalkboard I have on my kitchen counter (that often sits empty). My kids have really loved seeing that, studying it, and knowing what we are eating for the week. I know it’s not a new concept, I’ve seen it done for years, but I think it’s helped all of us!

Without further adeau, here is Family Meal Plan #1

Family Meal Plan #1

Monday:Tacos

 

This is our families’ go-to, easy, more favorite meal. I mixed 1/2 a pound of ground beef with 2 cans of black beans. Add some taco seasoning and tortillas, then top as needed. We’ll have salsa, avocado, sour cream, and cheese. There you have a quick meal. Mondays are tough–driving my daughter to gymnastics, and there is a taco place that I can drive through and get fresh tortillas–YUM! And soooo easy!

Tuesday: Honey Walnut Shrimp

I was quite nervous to present my family this meal. My kids have always turned their nose up at shrimp, and it hasn’t ever been requested from my husband. However, I LOVE this dish at P.F. Changs, and when I saw this recipe from Damn Delicious, I had to try it out. I just crossed my fingers and squeezed my eyes tight that maybe at least my husband would like it. Sometimes I just gotta make a meal that I want to make, and teach my kids that it’s the only option. I was VERY pleasantly surprised that everyone loved it! I couldn’t believe my kids were eating  shrimp! Granted, I hadn’t tried in several years, but I was seriously beside myself. I struggle a bit sugaring the walnuts, so I”ll have to give that one another go, but otherwise, really really loved this recipe (though it did use 4-5 dishes to prep).

Honey Walnut Shrimp

Wednesday: Breakfast Burritos

Eggs! We are trying to have at least one meal a week with eggs, (so if you have a great recipe with eggs and not flour, let me know!). We often mix it with ground sausage, but you don’t have to. We used the leftover tortilla’s from our taco night, two nights before. Pretty much the same topics as the other, adding in fresh red, green, yellow, or orange bell peppers to the adult omelets.

Thursday: French Bread Pizza

I was reminded of how easy I can make a pizza using french bread when I saw it on Two Peas and Their Pod. We like to use: pepperoni, olives, ground sausage, and green pepper as toppings.

French Bread Pizza

Friday: Cashew Chicken Stir Fry 

I love to hear my kids cheer when I say this is for dinner. It’s one of the first dinner recipes I shared on my site, it’s just that good. I just need to get over the pain of chopping a bunch of vegetables to prep for it. My favorite is using fresh ginger, but if I don’t have it, then I’ve got a ginger spice I’ll use. I actually forgot the water chestnuts this week, and  missed them, but the cashews give a great crunch!

Cashew Chicken Stir Fry

 

 

Saturday: German Pancakes

Who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner? This breakfast is one of the easiest for me, I’ve made it ever since my oldest was a baby. My mom made this a lot as a kid, too. I make them in a 9×13 casserole dish, and I’ll often 1.5 times the recipe or double it in the same size pan, to make the pancake thicker/heartier. We’ll add cool whip, syrup, and fresh fruit, often with a side of sausage links or bacon. Loved by all. You can also try “mini’s” in a muffin tin, or in a mug.

German Pancakes

Sunday: Crock Pot French Dip

I’ve been trying to use my crock pot more lately. Need to simplify dinner time, and I’ve never really used it much before. Recently, I ate my friends amazing French Dip sandwiches, and the basic recipe she gave me, I thought was fail-proof. Well, it wasn’t. I think I got the wrong type of meat, and I didn’t realize I needed to cook it according to how big it was–duh! I also thought I’d make my own rolls since I din’t want to go to the store for just rolls (because we know I’d come out with much more. Of course, I invited some friends over for the meal, and well…..several aspects failed me! The rolls didn’t rise, and the meat didn’t fall apart as I had heard it should.  With 20 minutes to go til our friends arrived, I took to trusty Facebook and decided to cut up the meat and let it cook the rest of the time in the juices. The rolls were ok (friends kids said they were amazing, so they were fooled!) Here is another friendly recipe if you want to try it. Or try this recipe with crescent rolls.

crock pot french dip sandwich

Here is a shot of our cute chalk board that sits on the counter

Family Meal Plan Chalkboard

Other weekly meal plans I check:

Your Homebased Mom

I heart Nap Time

Do you know other blogs that share weekly meal plans?

Which one of these above do you think you’d like to try soon?

 

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