Sharing meal plans

[Sara Noel]

I'm trying to be inspired. I created a rough menu plan for the month, but want to add to it. I see a couple of my old menu plans from years ago in this forum (June's Menu Plan and Feb. Meal plan for the month). I see the wfd threads, but am looking for other weekly/monthly menu plans which I think can be helpful during back to school time and the transition from summer lighter meals to fall/winter meals.

I'm currently working on a lunch plan for kiddos, too.

So if you're a meal planner, please share your weekly or monthly meal plans. Some of the archived posts are great, but I thought maybe we can keep one another motivated if we kept it more ongoing. Or if we grouped the wfd threads into weekly threads versus daily.

[McD]

I don't do monthly meal plans. I make mine weekly.

Here is my rough meal plan for this week:

Monday-potato soup and leftover french bread
Tuesday-stir-fry steak and veggies over rice
Wednesday-blts & cucumbers
Thursday-flavorful chicken, broccoli, & rice
Friday-french onion cheeseburgers and french fries
Saturday-chicken broccoli alfredo
Sunday-hearty macaroni casserole

When I plan my menu, I try to base it off what we have on hand, what's on sale, and I always try to make a few new recipes a week.

[frugalwarrior2]

Sara-I just listed all the things I could make my family liked w/ in budget. I generally stick to common ing. foods. If we want something special I get it at that time.
All my menus are based on food on hand too.
And yes flexability is a must. I ask everyone if they been craving anything lately. DH always says Beef Tips and Noodles.
Its just stewing beef,egg noodles,beef canned gravy,beef broth,salt,pepper.

[beks37]

We have a Weekly menu plan thread here that has been ongoing all year: 2010 Menu Planning Challenge!

There may be some pretty good ideas there.

[Sara Noel]

LOL d'oh. And strangely I was just in all those forums to undo stickies.
Thanks. Will add my rough two month plan.

[zakity]

I only do week night dinners. Weekend dinners are leftovers or something that didn't get made that week that needs used up. Lunches are usually leftovers and breakfast is usually something snacky (they don't really like to eat much in the morning).

Here is the meal plan:

The rest of August:
FFY (fend for yourself)
herbed parmesan sauce over noodles
hamburger rice casserole
steaks
stir fry
hashbrown scramble
breakfast for dinner
biscuits and gravy
sloppy joes
alfredo sauce


September:
chicken
hamburgers
hamburger rice casserole
stir fry
steaks
hamburgers
ffy (fend for yourself)
week of "to be decided" (DH out of town)
steaks
hamburger rice casserole
sloppy joes
breakfast for dinner
herbed parmesan sauce over noodles
ribs
herbed parmesan sauce over noodles
chicken
spaghetti


October:
hamburgers
chicken
hamburger rice casserole
soup
pizza
sloppy joes
spaghetti
hashbrown scramble
roast
mac and cheese
hamburger rice casserole
roast
biscuits and gravy
soup
tilapia
SOS (hamburger gravy)
chicken
mac and cheese
sausage casserole (leftover sausage gravy over noodles)
roast
ffy


November:
roast
biscuits and gravy
soup
SOS (hamburger gravy)
tacos
chicken
mac and cheese
ribs
alfredo sauce
roast
tilapia
sloppy joes
soup
roast
breakfast for dinner
boxed mac and cheese
ffy
roast
hamburger rice casserole


December (what I have scheduled so far):
soup
breakfast for dinner
chicken
hamburgers
roast



I look at the schedule the week before and see if anything needs moved around because of time constraints. If we don't eat a meal and it doesn't get modified into something else (like the hamburger for hamb/rice casserole would get used for chili instead), it gets moved to an open day at the end of the plan (right now, in December).

[zakity]

I was making a meal plan and was out of ideas. So, I sat down and made a list of things that I normally cook and things that they like.


Summer meal ideas:
breakfast sandwiches
biscuits and gravy (using rolls from the bread store)
grilling (meat)
grilled cheese
fried egg sandwiches
sloppy joes
fried eggs
waffles
pancakes
yogurt
cereal
hashbrown scramble
pizza bagels or English muffins
garlic bread and sauce
spaghetti potatoes
chili potatoes
goulash


Winter meals:
soup
waffles/pancakes
hashbrown scramble
chili
pizza
spaghetti
herbed parmesan sauce and pasta
chic and dumplings
baked chic
biscuits and gravy
chili rice casserole
casseroles
homemade mac and cheese
taco/spaghetti/chili potatoes
calzones
pigs in blanket
tacos
tater tot pie (tater tots, chili, cheese)
hamburger rice casserole


soup ideas:
taco soup
chic and dumplings
chic noodle
chili
split pea
potato soup


crockpot meals:
chili

[zakity]

Breakfast for dinner tends to be eggs in some form.

Pancakes tends to be a "dinner failed" meal (burnt it, forgot to get the meat out, got home too late because an activity over-ran, etc).

Hamburger rice casserole is just hamburger/spices/rice/bullion or broth/veggie. You can dress it up however you want. You boil the hamburger (or start with already cooked hamburger), add in broth or buillion, add in spices, add in garlic and/or onion (if you want), and add in the rice. Cook until the rice is done. Add in whatever veggie goes with your spices. As for the spices, you can do curry, chili powder for Mexican, Italian seasonings, or whatever sounds good.