August Meal Plan

I have been doing terrrrrible at meal planning this summer, and we've just kind of been throwing our meals together at night with whatever we have available at the house. It's been working out alright somehow, but it's not making feel great about not having 'real meals' for family dinners.

Part of my back-to-school prep includes making sure that we are stocked and planned for the first week of school with dinners. We have been doing Keto for over two months now and we've slowly been incorporating our kids into eating more keto-type foods (low carb/non-processed foods). So we are making the full transition come the school year, because ain't no momma got time for making two meals at dinnertime!

In an attempt to hold myself accountable, I'm sharing the rest of the month plans here. Send over some inspiration too for back-to-school meals (especially Keto-friendly!) please! xxox

grilled pork chops & cheesy baked brussel sprouts

(the rest of) August Meal Plans:

F 8/9: (camping): mtn pie pizzas, bacon & eggs, walking tacos, cinnamon rolls over the campfire

M 8/12: ground turkey & green beans over cauliflower rice
T 8/13: chicken & zucchini casserole
W 8/14: keto chili
R 8/15: grilled salmon (and hot dogs for the kids)
R 8/16: keto pizzas

M 8/19: air fried chicken tenders
T 8/20: taco salads
W 8/21: chicken & brocolli alfredo soup
R 8/22: buffalo chicken stuffed zucchini boats
F 8/23: (teacher in-service!) church picnic grilled chicken & cheesy baked brussel sprouts

M 8/26: (first day of school!) chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes
T 8/27: elote style baked cauliflower and turkey burgers
W 8/28: breakfast for dinner
R 8/29: cheesy chicken & broccolli casserole
F 8/30: creamy lemon cauliflower chicken

Grilled Church Picnic Chicken

I'm no food blogger (nor food photographer, clearly, LOL) but this Church Picnic Chicken is our go to recipe when we need a delicious, quick grilled meal in the summertime.  We had a volleyball double header last night and even though we really need to do a shopping trip, and even though it was so late (10:30pm!), we were still able to pull a proper meal out of thin air  and enjoy the heck out of it.

If you're local to Johnstown, this is very similar to the St, Gregory Chicken recipe from back in the good 'ole days of summer church picnics.  It's been a few years since we've had one, so I'm not spilling any secrets, right?  Sharing the delicious wealth is how I'm going to think of it.  

Ingredients: 

4-6 chicken breasts/tenders 

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup vinegar

2 tsp salt

Heat grill to medium/high.  Melt the butter and mix in the vinegar and salt to create the marinade. Salt & pepper the chicken.  

Use a basting brush to paint the chicken on both sides with the marinade. As chicken is grilling, continue to brush on marinade with each flip.

I wasn't kidding, it was almost 11pm for dinner last night.

When finished grilling, plate and enjoy (no condiments necessary, but our kids like it with ketchup).  Great sides include haluski (go full western PA church picnic style!), corn on the cob, or green beans.  The vinegar and butter keep the chicken so moist and delicious.  Honestly, it's our absolute favorite way to grill chicken.  

Hope your family enjoys it as much as we do!
xxox

Six of our favorite kid-pleasing dinners

It's the end of another month and I'm getting ready to start my next month's meal planning and grocery list building.  If you read here regularly, you'll know that I do monthly meal plans and we do one big grocery trip a month and supplement produce (and lots of gallons of milk!) throughout as needed.

I've been planning my meals monthly for about three-ish years now and it suits my sanity levels come dinnertime.  My method is to plan five meals during the weeknights and mark them in my planner on those particular days.  Weekends are left to leftovers, grandparents house visits, eating out/ordering in, or something we are craving (like buffalo mac&cheese this past weekend!)

Now, if we arrive at the actual day and I glance at my planner and for whatever reason have an aversion to whatever it is I had planned weeks ago, I skim the rest of the week's plans and swap the days' dinners.  And sometimes if we're having a particularly difficult day (kid tantrums, surprise challenges, etc) then I will slip in one of our favorite kid-pleaser meals because the one thing this momma can't handle on top of an already difficult day - are kids that whine about dinner.

So if you are in the middle of a particularly challenging kid day - or you just need to add some kid-pleasing meals to your rotation - here are six of our go-to favorites.

1. Spaghetti 
As plain and boring as possible.  We literally make the noodles (our kids prefer 'spaghetti' noodles. They think other kinds aren't as good - I personally like Linguine noodles best, but what the heck do I know, right?!) and we heat up spaghetti sauce (our favorite is Meat flavored Aldi sauce).  All you parents out there know too just how much sauce gets added to each kid's pile of noodles, amirite!? Hahhah, parenthood is full of tiny little details you get to learn and must.live.by.or.else.  The kids add Parmesan cheese on top of their own then for the final touch.  We don't add any ground beef, or meatballs, or chicken. nothing - the more plain and boring, the more widely pleased everyone is.  It's crazy.

They also are happy to have garlic bread or jelly bread (weird Studer tradition) to dip.

Grown up version:  I sometimes top my spaghetti with steamed veggies and add a salad on the side.

2. Chicken, veggie, stuffing casserole
I found this recipe a million and a half years ago in a Real Simple magazine advertisement and I tore the page out and have kept it in a big white binder I have in our cupboard.  I almost have the recipe memorized by heart but I like to glance at it just to make sure I have the temp/time right.  This is a pinterest copy of the same recipe that I have on my little torn out magazine ad - it's from All Recipes 

I 'cheat' a little and boil the chicken (slow cooker) first all day and then shred it before adding it to the casserole.  We use greek yogurt instead of sour cream too just because we always have greek yogurt in the house and rarely do I remember to buy sour cream.  The kids eat several bowls of this and we almost never have leftovers.

3. 3B porkchops
This one is befuddling, but our kids love breaded, baked, boneless pork chops (aka 3B).  I usually can enlist a kid to help in the breading too which adds a little fun to the process.

We dip the porkchops in egg and then drop them in a plastic ziploc with breadcrumbs and a dry dressing packet (either Ranch or Italian depending on what we have on hand).  Then we put them on parchment paper and bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes (all approx and super unchef-like of me).

We switch up the sides - sometimes rice, sometimes noodles.  And we include a veggie (our kids love corn, broccoli, and salad).  They like to dip their porkchops in ketchup because they are cave people.

4. Korean beef
Super big win the day I discovered this pin!  So very easy and so delicious.  We love Asian-inspired food in most forms, so this one is always a big hit.  We eat it over white rice and I like to add broccoli on the side (or mixed right in!)  Here is the recipe using ground beef on pinterest and it comes from Food.com

Grown up version: Brandon and I put Red Pepper flakes and Green Onions on top.

5. Tacos
Our kids love Taco Tuesday (every single week, hah).  We keep it fun and fresh by switching up between ground beef and chicken tacos (our kids prefer soft shells).  We've also done taco pasta (just putting the taco meat over cooked pasta (elbows and bowties work best).  The kids like their tacos with Ranch dressing and cheddar cheese.  If they're feeling wild, they'll add in some lettuce and corn.

Grown up version:  lots of additions:  sour cream/greek yogurt, salsa, jalapenos, lettuce, rice, beans.  Switching it up to a taco salad instead of soft shells, etc.

6. Chicken & Gravy over mashed potatoes
This is my 'pick'em up' meal if someone had a big or hard day.  I have made this meal for the first day of school for the past two years...and it gets made if someone needs a little comforting, loving boost...or just needs reminded that their momma loves them and this is home and we are family.  I think I'm giving too much credit to this meal, but it makes my children happy and makes me feel like I'm giving them a childhood memory of a hug in the form of food.

Toss frozen chicken in the slow cooker with two packets of chicken gravy, some water, and a can of cream of chicken soup.  Cook all day, shred the chicken and return it to the slow cooker.  Pour chicken/gravy over top of mashed potatoes and serve with sweet corn.  Here's our favorite version on pinterest from the Magical Slow Cooker blog. 

Grown up version/left overs:  B and I love these as open-faced chicken & gravy sandwiches too!

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Does your family have some kid-pleasing meals that always seem to do the trick when you just can't hear any dinnertime whining?  Please share - mommas & daddies need to unite in the name of enjoyable mealtimes!  xxoxo

March Mealplan

The start of another month means another meal planning session to cover us for the next four weeks.  My monthly meal planning is an essential piece in Tabitha's Sanity plan (hah) as it wipes out that daily panic come dinnertime about what I'm making and what this family of ours is eating.  In big part, thanks to Pinterest, I have enough recipes to keep me usually not bored with meals and also enough I-know-the-kids-won't-whine-about-this family favorites to get us by each month.

As a mealplanner, I would always suggest to mommas out there that hate that nightly panic about dinner to try planning out meals in advance (or mommas looking to save some money in the food department).  Monthly plan works for me because I hate (triple hate, loathe) going grocery shopping and spending time pondering about food prep.  but if you've never done it before, planning by the month probably seems daunting.  You can start with just trying one meal/day a week.  Or jump for the whole week.

We got our big Aldi trip out of the way for the month (and I only had the two girls with me for the trip!  thank you Uch for letting Rusty hang with you at work during the schoolday!)  We usually spend between $250-$300 on our big monthly shopping trip and then pick up milk, eggs, bread, and produce as we need during the month while our quarter-cow beef haul is already stored away in our deep freezer (which keeps us stocked for a big portion of the year with beef).

And since I only plan for five meals a week (weekdays) it leaves the other two days open for visits to family, leftovers, or occasionally eating out (or ordering in...preferred with this brood that loves jammies and loud noises).

So here's where we stand for this month's meals, taking into account the addition of Lent - which we observe for meatless Fridays - and sneaking in a little Leprechaun cheer too.  And our fingers are crossed that spring will show up towards the end of the month (a grilling meal planned!)

W 3/1: (Ash Wednesday):  fish sticks & pierogies (kids) and Blackened Tilapia & baked veggies (grown-up dinner)
R 3/2:  beef & cabbage stirfry
F 3/3:  fish fry dinner (volunteering at our church's fish fry!)

M 3/6: chicken roll-ups
T 3/7:  Ranch baked pork chops & haluski
W 3/8:  Chicken and wild rice soup with 4 ingredient bread
R 3/9:  crockpot Hawaiian meatballs
F 3/10:  baked potatoes with broccoli & cheese

M 3/13: Crockpot Roast
T 3/14:  chicken & tater tot casserole
W 3/15:  Rich man's Ramen & kielbasa
R 3/16:  olive garden inspired Chicken & gnocchi 
F 3/17: Bkfast: Irish Soda Bread Muffins (happy St Pats!) Dinner: Shrimp & scallops fried rice

M 3/20:  Italian caramelized chicken
T 3/21: Taco pasta
W 3/22:  crockpot chicken corn chowder
R 3/23:  breaded baked pork chops
F 3/24: fish fry dinner (volunteering at our church's fish fry!)

M 3/27:  grilled steaks and veggies
T 3/28:  chinese green beans with ground turkey over rice
W 3/29:  slow-cooker baked potato soup with cheesy beer bread
R 3/30:  slow cooker cream cheese chicken taquitos
F 3/31:  zucchini pizza boats



And for my Lenten Promise, I've given up excuses about eating right and exercising!  So I'm doing the 21 Day Fix eating program (because it works for me and keeps me from being frustrated about eating limits like diets do - this one is all about portion control and food diversity) and exercising every single day during Lent.  I have Beachbody OnDemand and I am loving the 3week Yoga Retreat so much.  Gemma is my little Yogi partner (although she attempts to hold my hand in almost every pose and also has commentary to add every thirty seconds "this one feels so good" and "this one is terrible, how much longer!?") while Violet is the worst Yoga distraction ever.  (see instagram for the proof).

Other family promises for Lent:
Bud:  get up before 6:30am every weekday
Grey:  feed the dogs twice a day without complaining
Gem:  no Kissing movie (A Cinderella Story which she watched every single day for two weeks straight) for the whole 40 days!

What are you eating this month?  Any St. Patrick's favorites?  Or meatless options to spice up our Fridays?

October Meal Planning

Something about the cooler weather gets me in a much better mindset at meal planning.  I don't want to jinx myself but we've been in a little bit of a roll over here for meals and kids actually eating.  We haven't had any leftovers in days!

And I'm still incorporating the lessons for myself that I learned in 21day fix about portions and eating to fuel my body in the best way possible.  I'm hoping to get back into a regular workout routine too, but I'm not quite there yet with our daily schedule.  

Here's what we have on the docket for the month.  I have some fall-themed ideas for some breakfasts and desserts through out too.  We also have Brandon's birthday, our anniversary, and Halloween!  So much fun that can be celebrated through food and meal times.  Happy dining to you all!

October meal plan:

October 3-7:
M: Chicken, Stuffing & veggies casserole
T: (National Taco Day!) ground beef Tacos
W: Birthday Beer Pairing dinner with Gigi & Pappy!!
R: Korean beef over rice
F: Chicken pot pie crescent roll 

October 10-14
M: beef & broccoli with fried noodles
T: crockpot Ranch chicken tacos
W: pork chops & stuffing in the crockpot
R: spaghetti & meatballs
F: meatball sandwiches (left overs)

October 17-21
M: Chicken & gravy over mashed potatoes 
T: (our 8yr anniversary!) bacon wrapped salmon with maple glaze, asparagus & risotto
W: chinese green beans & ground turkey over rice
R: Pasta with peas & kielbasa
F: Daddy's birthday!

October 24-28
M: fried shrimp & rice bowls with pineapple
T: chicken enchiladas
W: roasted butternut squash & bacon pasta (never tried before!)
R: pulled pork nachos (with jalapenos!)
F: ground turkey tacos

September meal planning

With back to school and the weather (incrementally) cooling off each day, I was happy to get this next month's meal planning done.  Am I the only one that sometimes doesn't even feel like eating when it's so hot outside, let alone cooking!  It's time to get back in the kitchen and getting our weekly dinners more regular now that Grey and I are both back to school - and all of the fall activities we have lined up (football! Violet's birthday! homework!)

My main goal this month was for it to be mostly easy to make the meals (still getting a hang of this part-time working, full time mom'ing of four thing) and as usual, meals that the kids aren't going to complain about too much.

For the past three years, I've planned out our meals for the week nights and leave the other two meals to left overs, random stuff we dig out of the freezer, or grandmas' houses visits :)  Brandon usually takes nightly leftovers as his lunch to work (if there are any).

I was talking with my sis the other week (hi, Uch!) and told her that meal planning is a huge part of what makes days feel manageable; it takes an enormous weight off of my shoulders to know that first - dinner is already planned and second - that I have the ingredients for it in house, as I build my monthly grocery list off of my meal plan.  Sure, I still have to make the food (and clean up, bleh), but the fact that I don't have to use my brain for that makes my life so much easier.  I'm the meal planning nerd that proclaims that she wouldn't know how to function without it...and I'm being serious.

September Meal Plan:

September 1-2
R: kielbasa & cabbage in the slow cooker (and hot dogs in there for the kids)
F: chicken Parm crescent roll-ups

September 5-9
M: (Labor Day):  Grilled Pizza burgers & haluski
T: Chicken, green beans, & potatoes Italian bake
W: Chili over elbow macaroni
R: Chinese green beans & ground turkey over rice
F: Grilled honey garlic pork chops

September 12-16
M: Lemon "fried" chicken
T: Slow-cooker enchilada casserole
W: dinner at the Elks!
R: veggies & cheese enchiladas
F: Violet's (early) birthday party!

September 19-23
M : chicken & potato with garlic, parmesan, cream cheese sauce bake
T : taco pasta
W: baked potato soup with 4 ingredient homemade bread
R: round steak over egg noodles
F: spaghetti & salad

September 26-30
M: Chicken & gravy over mashed potatoes (Grey's favorite)
T:  Crispy shrimp (from this recipe) with fried rice
W:  rigatoni with kielbasa and brocolli 
R:  Tater tot enchilada bake
F: French Onion chicken noodle casserole

What have you got cookin' this month?
xxox

June Mealplan - aka post baby easy meals

I finished meal planning for June yesterday with the knowledge that all the while we will have our new little baby here for the meals, probably sleeping, but still - we will be all together. I love that part of the ending of pregnancy when you start seeing dates and thinking to yourself, 'oh, our baby will be here'  Like even the perishables in our fridge have an expiration date that exceeds our new baby. 

With the excitement and blessings that a new baby brings, I am also feeling deeply grateful while meal planning after the big kids and I attended our first Empty Bowls event last week.  One of the local high school's key clubs spent the last few months creating hundreds of pottery bowls all for the special night.  Greyson, Gemma, and I each got to choose a bowl we liked best and then had a meal of soup, bread, and drinks where the proceeds went to local organizations that help combat homelessness and hunger.  The kids love their new bowls and literally keep showing them off to anyone that visits our house (hah), and as we talked about on the way home - the bowls are our reminder that lots of people and kids have bowls that our empty while ours are full of dinner every night.   

In terms of meal planning for next month, I tried my best to choose meals that are both easy to throw together (read: a lot of 'dump it all in the crockpot or casserole dish' type meals) and also that the other three kids wouldn't complain about too much.  I had previously set a goal for myself that I'd try to make five post-baby freezer meals, alas - life and exhaustion, and three kids, and low motivation sort of derailed that goal.  I did manage to freeze half the potato soup the other week to count for one.  And my momma and I made enough enchiladas to count for another - so two out of five baby freezer meals ain't too bad, right?

We made a big shopping trip this week too and bought a lot of quick type meals, just in case all momma-zombie breaks loose in those rotten first eight weeks and our meal planning efforts crumble. So we are stocked up on frozen pizzas and chicken nuggets, and lots of frozen breakfast foods as back ups.  And I'm super blessed that Brandon starts his vacation tomorrow through the second week of June as sort of a quasi-paternity leave - so he will be here with extra helping (and cooking) hands through the first two weeks to keep us all nourished (bellies and hearts!)

June/Post Baby Mealplan:

June 1-3
W (Last day of school!):  hot dogs and smores over the fire
R: Chinese green beans & ground turkey over rice
F: cowboy casserole

June 6-10
M: grilled steaks & grilled garlic parm zucchini
T:  meatball subs
W: spaghetti (with leftover meatballs) & salad
R: chicken, stuffing, and veggies casserole
F: hamburgers on the grill

June 13-17
M: chicken & gravy over mashed potatoes
T: tacos
W: grilled lemon salmon & veggies
R: crockpot sweet & sour meatballs
F: candied kielbasa

June 20-24
M: slow cooker chicken parm sandwiches
T: korean beef over rice
W: potato soup (baby freezer meal) & salad
R: ham & cheese tortellini
F: crispy shrimp alfredo

June 27-30:
M: pizza mountain pies over the fire
T: enchiladas (baby freezer meal)
W: teriyaki chicken casserole
R: sweet sausage & broccoli rigatoni


What are some of your favorite post-baby meals (or snacks! I need some breastfeeding snack ideas!)

April Meal Planning

Another month is nearly upon us and I am in the mood to pretend that spring and warm weather is really here to stay (...and that there's no snow in April's forecast, bleh.)  So, I boosted April's meal plans with some serious grill time.  Nothing says nice weather like grilled food, amirite?  And the grill also means Daddy dinner because that's' his little kingdom back there with his tongs in hand.  (True story: once I tried to grill burgers and burnt them so much that they could have been mistaken for actual charcoal nuggets.  To this day, I have yet to live down my 'burger brickettes' with Brandon). 

As the size of my baby bump gets bigger, the kids seem to be testing their limits on how long it takes for their whines about dinner until I finally cave and tell them they don't have to eat whatever I made.  (hint: it's not very long because at dinnertime, 8months pregnant mom has very little energy for mealtime complaining).  Luckily, we have had plenty of leftovers so their option is either eat what I made tonight, or eat what I made last night (HAH!)  

And with the insane amounts of Easter candy we have stockpiled since last week, a little dangling of the 'Easter candy is for dessert' prize seems to be enough to encourage them to try a little harder at eating what's on their plates for dinner...I'm not above bribery occasionally;) 

What do you have in your sights for the month of April? 

04/01

F: Shredded deer roast sandwiches

04/04-08

M: loaded pasta bake

T: grilled pork loin & grilled cabbage

W: Cowboy Casserole

R: grilled apple chicken & Parmesan potato patties

F (Greyson's 6th birthday & party!):  soccer cupcakes for sure.  And dinner is yet to be determined by the birthday boy!  He's told us he's trying to decide between a build-your-own-sandwich bar, hot dogs, or pizza - hahha!)

04/11-15

M: Meatloaf

T:  Green beans, chicken, and potatoes one-dish bake

W: Hawaiian Turkey Burgers

R: grilled steaks, baked potatoes, & grilled veggies

F (Fishmas Eve!): frozen pizza & salad

04/18-22

M: Grilled honey garlic pork chops

T: baked tacos

W: Out to dinner for a family birthday :)

R: chicken & zucchini casserole

F (earth day!):  chicken salad wraps & Gigi's macaroni salad for an outdoor picnic

Earth day afternoon snack:  pretzels trees

04/25-29

M: St. Gregory's Chicken (our church's recipe!)

T:  Asian pork chops & fried rice

W:  Grilled Lemon Salmon

R: Summer Pasta & buffalo chicken salad wraps

F:  Cuban slider sandwiches

March Meal Plans

It's another month and I've been working on both putting together our monthly meal plan and sticking to our first month of Dave Ramsey style monthly budget.  To be able to do best as I could, I made sure to do a serious inventory check of all we already have in stock, especially stuff that's been hiding in the back of the fridge freezer and deep freezer.  We also have our quarter of a cow meat arriving today (yay!)

This year has been going fairly smoothly with meal planning and I always contribute some of that to my frequent use of our crockpots.  yes, I have to slow cookers because that's how big of a fan I am, hah.  Sometimes we use it twice a week!  It is a big relief to me come dinnertime to know that most of the meal is already done and it's just a matter of throwing together a side and tossing it onto plates.

Logistically speaking, I'm the queen of the kitchen (grocery shopping, cooking, and usually cleaning up) because I'm the one that's here (#sahmprobs) and also, I know what everyone likes and won't eat (or at least will complain about it) so I bear the dinner load (and breakfast and lunch loads - HAH).  

But, thanks to an awesome suggestion from my friend Haley (hi!), Brandon and I have been working on a 'Daddy dinner' days.  In the past, I have tried to just leave it wide open like - 'yo, B, you're on dinner duty next wednesday' but then next Wednesday rolls around and because of both of us we realize too late that neither of us really has a plan about it.  But, after talking to Haley about what she does, we've started flagging some days of the week as that the plan is as it is, it's just that Daddy is making the meal.  Seems like a duh, but somehow wasn't for me and so thank you Haley for sharing the tip!  We've done it twice last month and it's been a real treat for me to be able to use that dinner-making time for something else (shower? one-on-one time with a kid?) 

Here's what the Studers have on March's mealplan schedule.  What do you have a'cookin' over at your place this month?

3/1-3/4
T: YUM chicken sandwiches/wraps
W: Loaded Potato Soup and Homemade Bread
R:  Taco Pasta
F: Baked cheese Ravioli 

3/7-3/11
M: chicken & zucchini casserole
T: restaurant-style steaks
W: 'please make me' meatballs
R: fried rice (daddy dinner)
F: crispy shrimp pasta alfredo

3/13-3/18
M: chicken & gnocchi soup
T: Enchiladas (with my mom - 100 small things task #26!)
W: slow cooker three packet roast
R (St Patrick's Day!): chicken, stuffing, and broccoli casserole (daddy dinner), Lucky Charms treats
F: meatless spaghetti, salad, & garlic toast

3/21-3/25
M: slow cooker cream cheese taquitos
T: smoked kielbasa alfredo bake (not as spicy as last time!)
W: slow cooker BBQ pork chops
R: chicken & wild rice soup
F (Violet's half birthday!): pierogie lasagna, chocolate chip cookie cake

3/28-3/31
M: Coconut chicken tenders
T: crockpot beef and broccoli over rice
W: chili over mac&cheese (daddy dinner)
R: burgers on the grill!

February Meal Plans

Happy Groundhogs day!  I'm sharing this month's meal plans today.  We were pretty bad at meal planning and dinner last month (and by 'we,' I mostly mean me and this pregnant belly!)  I think it was the combination of finishing out the holidays, plus basketball season, plus pregnancy...and yeah, I just really let the ball drop on that one.

But I'm back in full action this month and excited to include our first try at Blue Apron this month (which is covering four nights this month for our meals).  I added it to my 100 small things list because I like the idea of stretching my cooking comfort zones out into foods I don't normally make because it includes weird-to-me ingredients or methods.  Our first delivery actually arrives today and I'll have a full update on our thoughts later this month after we give it a go!

This month also includes lots of our favorite little winter holidays, the start of Lent (meat-less Fridays!), and our Gemma Rose's fourth birthday!  So all of those things needed to be considered in my meal planning to make sure we can work with the plans set for the weeks.

--I meal plan for our weekly dinners at the beginning of each month.  I don't usually plan breakfast or lunch (unless it's a special holiday), nor do I plan for desserts (again, unless it's something special).  I try to do 'real breakfast' (ie. not cereal/toast) at least twice a week and the girls and I try our hand at making dessert once a week (on 'What's cookin' Wednesdays!)  Lunch can usually be covered by left-overs and the weekends sometimes include home-cooking, left-overs, grandmas' cooking, or a special out-to-eat stop!

2/1-2/5
M:  Orange Crockpot Chicken
T: Blue Apron:  hoisin-glazed roast Pork with peanut noodles
W: Slow cooker Potato Soup
R: Ham & Cheese Sliders
F:  Blue Apron: bbq Chicken wings and sweet potato salad
2/8-2/12
M (Lunar New Year): Baked sweet & sour chicken
T (Mardi Gras):  *Kings Cake (breakfast), kid-friendly Jambalya
W (Ash Wednesday): Meatless spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread
R: Long boy burgers
F: Pierogies and fish sticks
S: Valentines day  bacon wrapped salmon (grown-up), hot dog hearts with cheese arrows (kids), and chocolate chip cookie cake
2/15-2/19
M: bacon and pea mac&cheese
T: Slow cooker Chicken & gravy with mashed potatoes
W: Ranch porkchops
R: Korean beef
F: Gemma's Birthday Party! (pizza, salad, cupcakes!)
2/22-2/26
M: Chicken tacos
T: Blue Apron:  Seared chicken and potato salad with sweet sour cabbage
W: Skillet beans and rice with kielbasa
R: Blue Apron: Roast Pork and smashed potatoes
F: Fish Fry at our church!
2/29
M: Sundowner burgers (cheeseburger with a fried egg, mustard, onions, and chili on it...don't judge us, it's a Johnstown thing, heh).

This month, I also found myself really trying to choose meals that I was almost certain that I wouldn't have to negotiate with the kids at dinner.,,even if meant repeating meals that we've had recently.  Granted, the kids aren't too picky- they do at least try, but with studerbaby4 stealing all of my energy (especially obvious and frustrating around dinner time), dealing with food complaints and arguments is something I just don't have the fight in me for at that hour.  So, if you have any yummy kid-approved meals that you can share, I'd really love to hear 'em for next month!!

Meal Planning and our November plans

Whew, it has been a week and half of each of us scattered through various stages of sick; blowing noses, and administering medicine, and giving hot baths, and making soup for everyone in the house (me included) has left me drained...so my apologies for falling off the face of the blogosphere (pity party over).

Meal Planning has been on my mind lately for a few reasons, one of them being we just finished up our month of no-dining-out (100 small things task #74), so I'm taking it as a sign that I need to blog about it again.  I did a post a while back about how I got started if you want to check that out again.

I think there are stages to meal planning:
1. feeling overwhelmed at the thought of planning meals ahead
2. planning meals simply so you aren't scrambling at dinnertime every night
3. planning meals because you see money savings
4. planning meals to save even more money by not just buying meal ingredients but using the things you already have available
5. planning meals because it's the only thing that makes sense

Whatever stage you are at, know that it takes slow steps and consistency to continue on the meal planning journey.  And the most important thing to keep in mind is that YOU have to do YOU.  There is no method that suits everyone.  Meal planning isn't supposed to be another thing to add to your already filled parent plate - meal planning is something that is supposed to be helpful!

Here's how it works for me right now, as a stay at home mum to three little kids.  And after three years of meal planning, I have a stronghold in stage5 of meal planning:

Recipes: About ninety percent of my monthly meal planning recipes comes from pinterest.  The thing about pinterest is you can find anything your heart desires on there.  and lots of times, anything your heart desires is the opposite of helpful.  My kids aren't picky but they prefer certain types of food and many times its food that doesn't include a lot of spice and fanfare.  Simple, yummy, type stuff.  This helps me streamline the kinds of things I'm pinning to my meal boards because I know some things are just not going to fly with family meals.

While planning out the meals, I make sure to comb through the pantry, canned food cupboards, and the deep freezer to do an 'inventory' of things that need used.  In this way, I'm able to save even more money by using food that we have on hand but lots of time, gets pushed to the back of the shelves until they expire.

Shopping:  We do one big shopping trip at the beginning of the month for supplies for the month of meals that are planned.  I keep the running grocery list on a full sheet of paper as soon as I start noticing we need certain items during the month.  Throughout the month though, we obviously need to replenish daily used items (bread, milk, eggs, lettuce) and so we'll have to double up on those things throughout the month.  Otherwise, everything else is purchased at the big shopping trip (we get 90% of our food at ALDI).

Planning:  I only plan for five meals during the weekdays and then with leftovers or dinners at the grandparents houses, we usually can make it through the whole week with no trouble.  I mark down the meals in my planner because it's convenient and kind of my favorite thing.

We are meat-eaters, so I work to spread out various types of meals throughout the week.  Based on meat sales/prices help to determine what we will be eating over the course of the month too.  I try to stretch different types of protein too (beef, pork, poultry, seafood like shrimp and salmon)

I only plan out our main dish and go pretty loose on the side dishes.  We stock up on frozen veggies, those Knorr side dish, and anything else that might seem delicious as we do our big shopping trip to supplement as side dishes on the meal plan day.  We also have salad as an option at every meal because the momma must have salad all the time (we keep dried cranberries and croutons on hand for salad toppings!)  Lunch is for leftovers or throw-togethers (sandwiches/salads/soups,etc) and Breakfast is sometimes quick (waffles, cereal) or a chance to try pinterest yumminess.

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So for the month of November, here is what our month of meal planning looks like:

11/2-6
Monday:  Cheesy Veggie Chowder
Tuesday:  Slow cooker Cream Cheese Taquitos
Wednesday: American Goulash
Thursday: Loaded Chicken & Potato Casserole
Friday: Breakfast for dinner! French Toast & Sausage

11/9-13
Monday: Homemade Pizzas
Tuesday: Please-make-more Crockpot Meatballs
Wednesday: Broccoli & Wild Rice Soup
Thursday: Chicken & Stuffing (with broccoli)
Friday: Shredded Deer Meat

11/16-20
Monday: Ranch Porkchops
Tuesday: Tater Tot Enchilada Bake
Wednesday: Slow cooker Chicken & Gravy
Thursday: Crispy Shrimp Pasta Alfredo
Friday: 'fancy' hot dogs

11/23-27
Monday: Open-face layered tostados
Tuesday: Crockpot french onion dip subs
Wednesday: Veggie loaded Fried Rice
Thursday: TURKEY
Friday: Leftover Turkey Burritos

11/30
Monday: Turkey Pot Pie

What stage of meal planning are you at?  Do you have any family favorite recipes to share?
xxox