My favorite meal plan template is on
Peacefulmom.com. She has a large family and lives on 28,000 a year, yet is able to feed her family healthy meals by budgeting and planning out their meals so they don't waste food or go to the store spontaneously. Check out her site for awesome tips and some great templates to help you get organized!
I wasn't able to post the template here, but hopefully I can figure it out for next time so I won't have to type everything twice. The longer I type.... the more messes there will be when I get up from the computer...
Our breakfasts and lunches stay the same every week. I do this because I have an at home daycare and do not like to even think about what to make when there are up to 6 hungry kids at the table!!! Having a predictable schedule makes it easier on the kids (they know what to expect) and easy on me because I know that I will have the ingredients on hand.
Here is our breakfast, snack and lunch schedule
Sunday
B: Cereal
S: Crackers and cheese
L: We usually just have an early dinner on Sundays
Monday
B: Oatmeal, fruit and OJ
S: Yogurt
L: Kids- PB & J, applesauce Me- Asian Salad
Tuesday
B: Cereal, fruit
S: Veggies and dip
L: Veggie Quesadillas, beans and fruit
Wednesday
B: Eggs, toast and fruit
S: apples and peanut butter
L: Penne Pasta, Marinara, baguette and peas
Thursday
B: Cream of Wheat
S: oranges
L: Grilled paninis (mushrooms and peppers for me, cheese for the kids) with minestrone soup
Friday
B: Pancakes and smoothies
S: yogurt
L: Cheese and cracker tray, fresh fruit
Saturday
B: Cereal, bananas
S: muffins
L: Kids- PB & J and yogurt Me- Goddess Salad
Dinners
Sunday, Jan. 20th
Veggie lettuce wraps, rice and pineapple smoothie
I made this last week and featured it on my other
blog.
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| This is the stir fry I made last week with a sweet and sour lettuce wrap type sauce. I served it over noodles. This week we are going to try it as a lettuce wrap with rice for the kids. |
Monday, Jan. 21st
Create your own pizza and salad bar, stevia root beer
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| This is usually how we set up our pizza bar- the kids love it! :) |
Tuesday, Jan. 22nd
Cod, quinoa salad, rye bread
Whole foods copy cat recipe here:
http://kidtestedfirefighterapproved.com/2012/05/01/california-quinoa-salad-whole-foods-copycat/
Wednesday, Jan. 23rd
Soft taco bar, cilantro lime rice, beans
Thursday, Jan. 24th
Leftovers
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| I made these veggie kabobs a few months ago and they were so delicious! |
Friday, Jan. 25th
Cauliflower Mac N Cheese bake, salad
Saturday, Jan. 26th
Nachos with beans, fajita veggies, chopped cabbage, lime, cheese and salsa
Sunday, Jan. 27th
Breakfast for dinner! Pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, smoothies
Monday, Jan. 28th
Veggie kabobs, curry couscous, chickpea salad, fruit
Tuesday, Jan. 29th
Vietnamese Curry Soup with Rice
Wednesday, Jan. 30th
Alfredo Pasta w. artichoke hearts and peas
Thursday, Jan. 31st
Leftovers
Friday, February 1st
Indian Curry, samosas, lassis
Saturday, February 2nd
Black bean or salmon burgers, sweet potato fries
Desserts
I don't make dessert very often anymore, but I like to make sure that I always have ingredients for homemade pie on hand. Over the next two weeks I want to make a Rhubbarb and Cherry Pie and try out Alyssa's apple cake.... hmmmm! :)
You may also notice that there is no mention of going out to eat over the next two weeks... we have been indulging in that WAY TOO MUCH over the past couple of months, and so our goal is to not go out until Valentine's Day! It will be so worth it to go alone and not have kids throwing food, escaping out of high chairs and spilling chocolate milk all over my shoes! :) I hope we have the will power to do this!