A Month's Worth of Meals...

With school right around the corner our evenings are going to be getting a little more hectic.  How nice would it be to not have to think about what you are going to cook each night?!  I remember seeing or reading about a lady who plans her entire year of meals and although a year sounds a little daunting to me, I think I could handle a month.  I figured August is a good month to try this out since school will begin midway through.  I will also be factoring in eating out and leftovers once a week to make my schedule more realistic.


I found some great websites of moms who meal-plan for a month at a time.  I will also be taking requests from my son and husband for anything they would like on the rotation.  To make it even less time-consuming and more inexpensive I will try to find recipes that can do double duty.  One of my cookbooks with great recipes like that is, Southern Living's Busy Moms Weeknight Favorites.  I will also be firing up my crock pot for busy nights and soup and sandwiches are considered a "meal" in this house!


To attempt to plan for a month's worth of meals, you need to first plan to do a couple of things:

• Get suggestions from your family.  It will ensure everyone is happy and will eliminate you having to come up with new ideas.
• Choose a daily theme such as, Monday: Mexican dish, Tuesday: pasta, Wednesday: vegetarian, etc.
• Factor in leftovers so your fridge doesn't overflow!  
• Choose recipes that use some of the same ingredients to maximize your pantry.
• Look at your calendar to see which nights will be busy, therefor better for a crockpot or make-ahead meal.

Here are some other websites to get you started.  If you find any great, easy recipes please let me know!


http://simplemom.net/month-long-menu-plan/

http://www.aliciashomemaking.com/2010/11/my-first-ever-month-long-menu-plan.html

http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/meal-planner.html