What comes to mind when I say Simple Meal Planning?

Maybe simple recipes? A meal plan with few ingredients? Recipes that are quick to make? I think there can be lots of ways that we can make-over our meal planning strategies to simplify! This week I want to introduce you to one such simple meal planning strategy.

Give each day a theme.

This creates a simple outline for your week that you can use every week thereafter. Here is an example outline of a themed meal plan:

 

Monday: Mexican Night

This could really be any “ethnic” type food you want, but I love the alliteration here! Our family LOVES LOVES LOVES mexican food. So to start OFF the week with mexican is a win win! One of our favorite mexican dinners is so simple- Tacos! For more inspiration check out Meal Planning Mommies Top 10 Mexican inspire foods you will love!

 

Tuesday: Turn on the Crock Pot

I don’t know about you, but there are many weeks where the crock pot just makes my day so much easier! Being able to throw in a complete or even partial meal and have it done by dinner allows me freedom to be out of the kitchen on those days where we have a lot going on already out of the home. Here on Meal Planning Mommies we have so many Crock Pot Recipes for you!  Think Crock Pot Beef and Noodles, Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork Chicken or a Roast!

 

Wednesday: We love Italian Night

Again, this could be any ethnic food night you like. We (meaning I- haha) really love Italian. So for me to have an Italian dish once a week is something I would look forward to. For others it may seem boring. So for you you could title this day: We love Ethnic Food- and change up what type of Ethnic food you are making on a week to week basis. Some ideas of things to make for Italian Night: Build a Pasta , Slow cooker Basil-Stuffed Chicken with Fresh Tomato Sauce, Mama Mag’s Meatballs or Cheesy chicken casserole. 

 

Thursday: Throw Back Thursday

When I say Throw Back I mean think through your family favorites. What are those “go to” recipes that you family has already given you 5 stars, is super easy for you to make and fits in with your meal prep time frame for today. Some throw back recipes for us are: Bubble pizza, Chili Mac, Brinner (breakfast for dinner), Salmon Patties or Cuban Tacos

 

Friday: Family Fun Meal

I have so many ideas for this themed night! Family Fun can mean something different to every family. It could be that every Friday night you make pizza from scratch together (for fall you can create pizza in the shape of a pumpkin) or that Friday is your night where one family member gets to choose the meal. Friday could be the night you eat out, order in or check out our CopyKat Recipes to make your favorite restaurant food at home! You can even center your dinner around a theme such as a movie (Lady & the Tramp- spaghetti etc.)  or an activity (bonfire- hot dogs & smores, sports-wings/appetizers etc.)

 

Saturday: Soup’s On

This is great for a Saturday because you can throw it in the pot and let it simmer for a few hours while you do “Saturday” stuff around your house! I also love the idea of soup on Saturday because I typically have a lot left over that can either 1. Be a great lunch on Sunday after church or 2. Give me a great start on Monday with some healthy soup for lunches during the week. So you may even want to double your soup recipe, make some homemade bread to go a long with it and add a salad! Some excellent soup choices to add to your list: Addie’s Cheesy, Chicken and Broccoli Soup, Best Ever Crock Pot Potato Soup or Pasta E Fagiolo Soup.

 

Sunday: Sabbath Rest

As much as possible I try not to be in the kitchen cooking on Sunday. If I am it is a super easy meal like scrambled eggs, cheese toasties, sandwiches or leftovers.  We often go out to eat with friends on Sunday after church and some Sunday nights we are eating potluck style with family. For those times when we are home we are heating up leftovers (remember that soup from Saturday?), grabbing something from the pantry or freezer or eating cereal (yup… I just said that!).

 

All of these  ideas are ones that I know will fit my family’s likes.

Now it’s your turn. To help you plan/brainstorm I suggest:

1. Sitting down with a piece of paper and writing down some theme meal ideas (Some other ideas: Beef Night, Chicken Night, Fish Night, Asian Food night, Fried Food Night, Salad Night, Soup & Salad Night, Kids Choice Night, Husband cooks dinner night, Company’s Coming Night, Meatless Night, Pasta Night etc.)
2. Then putting each theme meal idea with a day of the week (Example: Monday: Mexican etc.)
3. On a 6 separate pieces of paper put at the top of each paper one of the “themes” and then under the title brainstorm as many as possible recipes to create an easy “go to” list.  (Monday- Mexican- tacos, enchiladas, taco soup, rice bowls, nachos etc.)
4. Now go through and Meal Plan for your week! Using this method you could easily meal plan for up to a month!

If you would like  a blank weekly meal planner, blank grocery list and/or a blank monthly meal planner to help you in planning your themed meal plans, we’ve totally got ya covered!

 

 

MPM Grocery List

MPM Monthly Meal Planner

MPM weekly blank meal planner

Lastly I made you all a Themed Blank Monthly Meal Planner with the same themes I posted in my examples above (Monday- Mexican, Tuesday- Turn on the Crock pot etc.). Just in case there are some of you who want to follow what I may be posting here on MPM for the next month or so!

Monthly Themed Meal Planner

 

I would love to hear from you!

Please Comment If:

1. You already do a family themed meal plan on a week to week basis. Tell us what it is.

2. You have ideas for additional simple themed week night meal ideas. We would love to hear what our ideas are.

3. You have a recipe you would like to guest post that falls under one of my themed meal night categories. Let us know! We would love to share your recipe with others!