I had so many friends posting about the dilemma of meal planning when school started back so thought, hey for a few months, I’ll post and link to things we are eating around our house each week. Who knows how long I’ll keep it going, but I thought I’d share what we ate in September.
It’s always helpful to set up a few parameters I use when creating our meal plan. I usually shop on Friday mornings so I’m set for the weekend. Or, schedule a grocery pick up if we are gone over the weekend. So my planning is usually Friday to Friday and I add to the menu list as the week goes on and I find things in the freezer that I want to eat the following week. My long term goal would be to sit down on a Sunday afternoon and plan for the month and just adjust weekly for the coming week as plans change.
Usual things I use to plan my menus:
- What’s in the freezer or fridge, pantry or veggie drawer that we need to eat up?
- What’s happening this week? Will there be food or do I need to fix something fast or easy?
- Cook at the beginning of the week, leftovers later in the week.
- Eat out one night a week. Usually on a weekend, but maybe mama has an “I don’t want to cook” night.
- Chopped salad kit with weekly leftovers on Sunday night.
September Meal Plan | Week 1:
- Sunday-
- Lunch: pork tenderloin, baked/roasted potatoes, roasted broccoli – this time on the tenderloin, I just seared a garlic and herb pre-seasoned and put it in the crockpot with a little broth while we were at church
- Dinner: chopped salad and leftovers from the previous week
- Monday- Crockpot Gumbo (save part for leftovers and freeze rest for freezer meal later in the month. Or determine if there is someone else who needs a meal this week and take your extras to them!)
- Tuesday- freezer meal- bagged Birdseye Garlic Chicken (includes pasta and veggies) could serve with salad
- Wednesday- church supper- frozen pizza and salad
- Thursday- leftover pork loin with roasted cauliflower and potatoes (intentionally doubled the amount needed for Sunday lunch)
- Friday- BBQ Chicken on a chopped salad – frozen chicken in the crockpot with BBQ sauce and cook on low for 8 hours. It shreds so simply
- Saturday-
- Morning: late breakfast (pancakes, eggs, etc)
- Night: eat out
September Meal Plan | Week 2:
- Sunday
- lunch: leftover meat from the freezer, potato leftovers from pork loin meal last week, roasted cauliflower (use the other half of head from last week or use frozen)
- dinner: BBQ chicken or leftover pork loin on a chopped salad
- Monday- Stacked Enchiladas
- Tuesday- evening mtg, eat on own- leftovers, freezer meal, grab something on way home
- Wednesday- church meal- ultimate nachos
- Thursday- Leftover Crockpot Gumbo
- Friday- date night (whoop whoop!)
- Saturday- traveled for funeral-meals on road and that included snacks at Buc-ees
September Meal Plan | Week 3- weird week, worked late and meetings
- Sunday
- lunch: Mexican Lasagna leftovers
- dinner: Chicken Spaghetti and snacked on a bunch of random stuff I was meal prepping to take to some friends who are sick and had a baby.
- Monday- sliced brisket, roasted cauliflower, green beans
- Tuesday- on my own, the FINAL Mexican Lasagna leftovers and chips and salsa
- Wednesday- church supper- chicken strips, mashed potatoes, green beans
- Thursday- K dinner meeting, C- chicken spaghetti leftovers
- Friday- grilled apple sausages, acorn squash, roasted broccoli
- Saturday-
- lunch: traveling to Ouachita
- dinner: Ouachita Football Game – blue cheese brat! and Chick-fil-A
September Meal Plan | Week 4
- Sunday-
- lunch: Shortcut Lasagna made with spaghetti squash-salad and garlic knots
- dinner: chopped salad – add whatever protein, canned/pouch meat, leftover meat or frozen nuggets
- Monday- Crockpot Tacos on corn tortillas
- Tuesday- Crockpot Corn Chowder – recipe coming this fall!
- Wednesday- church supper- spaghetti, salad, garlic bread
- Thursday- leftovers: corn chowder or lasagna
- Friday- Grilled Burgers with seasoned fries (could do tater tots or veggie fries or onion rings)
- Saturday-
- Lunch: Fish Fry at a local fall festival
- Dinner: eat out night
September Meal Plan | Week 5
- Sunday
- lunch- Crockpot Cheesy Tortellini, Caesar salad, bread – hosted friends
- dinner- leftover burgers
- Monday- Crockpot Deer Swiss steak – recipe coming in November
I’ll plan to post these on the last day of each month so you can use them as a reference for your coming week!
What were some of your favorite meals you ate in Sept? Do you have any meal prepping tips that would help? And, how do you keep down food waste and only buy what you eat? Surely I’m not the only impulse grocery shopper!
