The Most Ridiculously Easy Monthly Meal Plan

/ Cindy C

Are you ready for my biggest help (besides Plan To Eat) in simplifying my meal planning?

Meal planning by the month. 

Frankly, I got tired of every week making a new list and a new plan and a new evaluation of what I’m doing with my life.

I know, monthly sounds overwhelming and it is kind of a mood kill, and you might not know what you want to eat 18 days from now. But it’s OK, let’s break it down into bite sized chunks and you’ll see how it will make life so simple.

So, sparked by a podcast from Kendra @TheLazyGenius, I choose about 20 dinners that I have made before and I know we like. These go into the Plan To Eat recipe queue. (You can also use a planner or calendar print out.) Some meals may be repeated – nobody needs to make a different recipe for every day of the month. That’s for overachievers.

Ready? Let’s plan the month:

Let’s do this analogue first. Get paper and pencil. Now get ready to make some lists. If you like orderly lists and using notebook paper I’ll tell you in advance you’ll want about 5 rows for each grouping and you’ll probably make two columns.

You will be grouping your meals into categories. They could be categorized by type of food, cooking method, or flavor.

Think of the categories you can use: Crock pot (or Instant Pot), Sandwiches, Asian, Mexican, Italian, Super easy, Drive-thru, Grilled, Soups, Salads, Roasted meat, Convenience foods, Meatless, etc.

Then you will align one of those categories with each night of the week (you will only need 7).

I owe this concept to Rachel Anne Ridge. She shared it years ago and it has helped me immensely.

If you decide to have soups on Mondays, you just plan one of those for each Monday of the month, and ta-da! You have a varied meal for each Monday of the month.

Did you notice that on this list some days don’t have “real” meals? So for this menu, you only need 20 meals total, and if something is a favorite that you will eat more than once a month (like Spaghetti or pizza on Fridays) you probably only need about 15-16 different meals. 

Look at the big picture

Once I have them lined up, I back up and look at the big picture to see if I need to do a little bit of rearranging. 

  • I might realize I planned 3 beef-based recipes in one week and two Mexican flavored meals in another week. So I swap recipes from different weeks. 
  • Think about the meals before and after each one. Do you like to make soup the day after rotisserie chicken? Will you want to make nachos on Wednesday after taco Tuesday? Don’t get locked into the theme, just adjust that week. The category is to make the planning easy. You are the boss of the plan.
  • There may be a recipe that doesn’t fit the categories but I want to make anyway. Pull something out and slide it in on a day that makes sense.
  • If it’s a new recipe, don’t plan it on a day you’ll be pressed for time.
  • I might realize I have two Instant Pot meals back to back and I might not wash the pot between one and the other (real life). Or one of the recipes makes enough for 2 days of leftovers, so I could get away with just adding a salad for the second night.

What about sides, lunches and breakfasts?

Sides:

I don’t usually plan sides far in advance, but some meals beg for certain sides, so I plan them: Rice goes with most of my crock pot recipes. Mashed potatoes with meatloaf. Cole slaw with BBQ pork. Rolls with soup.

Every week I take a few minutes to review my meals as I get ready to shop, and add salad options, fresh and frozen vegetables, rice, bread, or pasta, and so on. I’m a big fan of the one pot wonders.

Lunch:

For my kids, during school weeks, they have about 4 things they rotate, they buy lunch once a a week, and I make sure I have what I need for them to take lunches to school. 

We eat leftovers for lunch as much as possible, and occasionally eat something out. I’m not somebody who makes lunches unless I’m hosting a friend. (I love having company because not only do I get to interact with anther adult, I also eat better than usual.)

And in the spirit of full disclosure, I don’t really eat “real lunch” most of the time. It’s more like a handful of nuts, a yogurt, my preschooler’s sandwich crust, half his apple, and some dry salami from the fridge drawer–all so I can justify another cup of coffee.

Breakfast:

Breakfast items I keep on hand all the time – cereals, oatmeal, frozen waffles, yogurt and frozen berries, eggs (we have hens), frozen sausages. We have to leave the house in a hurry more days than not, so convenience is a high priority for breakfast.

Holidays and other special events

With December upon us, let’s think about how we handle menu planning for special weeks.

It’s so easy to get carried away with special meals, snacks, parties, and entertaining.

December is the most expensive food budget month for us. If I plan on it, that’s OK. Meal planning does help keep the shopping under control, or at least keep it organized when it does get a little out of control.

Consider when you will be out of town. Taper off your meals so you will not have a full fridge when you leave. Set up grocery pickup for the morning you come back into town.

Will you have house guests? Do they have any special dietary needs? I’ve found that chili, chicken & rice soup, roasted chicken, and a loaded baked potato bar are crowd-pleasers that can be gluten free, dairy free, and (except for the chicken) even vegetarian, plus they are easy on the budget.

Think about the actual day’s load. Will you be running errands and shopping that whole last weekend before Christmas? Then don’t plan to be making homemade apple pie that weekend, too.

Simplify. Why make life more complicated in a busy month? It won’t hurt if you choose grilled cheese sandwiches or frozen chicken nuggets a few times. Try buying the frozen chopped onions. There’s no rule that says you have to do everything yourself all the time.

Finally, choose things you enjoy. Don’t slave over a fussy recipe only to find out nobody really eats it, or they would be just as happy with something simpler. Ask the family what their favorites are and don’t make anything out of tradition that nobody likes.

The Most Ridiculously Easy Meal Plan Guide

What do you think?

Plan To Eat’s half off sale ends today December 2, 2019. It’s only $19.50 for an annual subscription. I promise it has saved me at least that much every month–just in take-out orders.

If you’ve signed up for a free trial or the subscription, add me as a friend and you can use my recipes: Cindyzoo1