When was the last time you considered the way you meal plan? I have used so many different methods over the years. I have not meal planned at all (which just turns it into a daily chore or worse, causes you to blow money on fast food!). I have meal planned an entire month at a time. I’ve done weekly.
But at this point, I’m finding that the 2 week meal plan gives me the most bang for my time.
If you haven’t given it much thought, you might want to consider which method would work best with your life right now. The less often you have to plan and shop, the better.
Here’s my meal plan, which isn’t assigned to any particular day. Each day I’ll choose what sounds doable and is a good match for that particular day.
The kids are on spring break this week, which makes some of the planning much easier. They can eat a pot of mac & cheese for lunch (and my 12 year old can make that on his own!).
I try to have a few meatless (or less meat) nights per week to save money. If you need thoughts for convincing the family to get on board, or additional recipe ideas to help you go meatless, find that here.
Our 2 Week Meal Plan
Breakfast:
- cereal
- toast
- leftovers from our Easter Brunch
- pancakes
- french toast
Lunch
- sandwiches (PB&J, Nutella, PB&honey, lunchmeat, apple butter)
- quesadillas
- grilled cheese
- mac & cheese
- leftovers
- muffins
- salads
- hard boiled eggs
Supper (with sides of potatoes, rice, noodles, and fresh cut veggies)
- steak (Here’s the story about why you keep seeing steak on a frugal menu.)
- crock pot ham & beans (great for using up Easter leftovers!)
- tacos
- grilled chicken
- big salads
- chicken slop in the crock pot (chicken breasts, stuffing, sour cream, and a cream of soup)
- roasted whole chicken
- spaghetti
- pork chops and stuffing
- leftovers
- roast beef sandwiches
- slow cooker honey pork chops with apples
- homemade pizza
- leftover casserole (using anything I can find in the fridge)
[Tweet “Need some frugal #recipes for your #mealplan?”]
Our snacks and extras include
- fresh fruit
- cookies
- popcorn
- soft pretzels
- custard pie
Those are the meals we love and the new ones we can’t wait to try this week!
Be sure to follow my Pinterest board where I share tons of easy, frugal, delicious pins!
Visit Medium Sized Family’s profile on Pinterest.
Sharing over at:
Do you meal plan one week at a time, or in a different way?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
While I couldn’t will myself to call it “chicken slop” (some words and me don’t get along!), that sounds amazingly delicious. I’ve had more than a few things I’ve wanted to make recently that are chicken (enchiladas and pasta roni to name a few) I haven’t done so…simply because I’m waiting for chicken to go on sale and it hasn’t yet (which is depressing!).
Then again, I’m a horrible meat-amount-watcher. I try and keep the freezer fairly stocked, and check for sales, but they aren’t *super* often…except for two weeks ago I went to find ground beef and only found one serving…and about 5 of ground sausage. Kinda dropped the ball on that one, ha! Worked out though, next week ground beef was on sale, and this week was ground turkey – but *still* waiting for chicken xD
Our family has some interesting names for recipes. The kids love “Chicken slop”. haha! We also have leftover junk casseroles.
I probably shouldn’t open a restaurant any time soon.
When visiting my grandparents years ago she made salmon croquettes. My then 5-yr-old son called them ‘crewcuts’; for 25 years I still have to really think thoroughly to call it the right thing.
Making a meal plan is without a doubt one thing that will make or break my day. Yesterday was a total fail: I came home from teaching with a tremendous headache and horrible allergy symptoms, and had not planned ahead for dinner. Knowing I hadn’t planned ahead didn’t help my mood either. With one son left at home, and still not being successful at cooking for 3 rather than 6, we typically have leftovers to rescue me, but that didn’t work out either. Last night ended up being a fast-food night (which also ended up being a much higher-calorie night too). Today is much better – dinner is planned for the rest of the week:)
I’m thinking about starting to meal plan just for my kiddos. I get in such ruts with them and they could use more fruits and veggies in their little bellies! If I try it, I’ll do 2 week plans like you do I think! Have a great week!
Meal planning is really helpful to tired Moms! I would much rather look at a list of what I have on hand and choose something than have to do real thinking to come up with ideas. Hopefully it helps you out of your rut. 🙂
I try hard to put some things together, or cook one big meal that we can have for leftovers and mix and match them here and there. You are the best at coming up with great menus that are varied enough to keep everyone interested and hungry for dinner. Thanks for the ideas!
I like the idea of cooking up one big meal and finding ways to reuse it. That makes life easier, and I’m all about that! 🙂
You;re right…when was the last time I thought about how I meal plan. 🙂 I like the idea of a two week plan…or even a month…how much could I save then? Thanks for the inspiration!
I love a 2 week menu- and I usually plan it like you did, as a list of go-to meals, that are easy to make without recipes! This month, I posted a month-long plan!