I enjoy meal planning and cooking, but lately, it has become a chore and I have felt the need to simplify. I have friends who have used one or two week meal plan rotations and have had good luck with that, but I like a little more variety. So, this is what I have come up with. Each day has a theme and I simply choose one of the meals on the list for that day and make sure we have everything we need for it. All of these meals are, or easily can be, gluten, dairy and egg free and they are all tried, tested, and approved (by Preston and me - kid approval not necessary). Most of the meals we eat regularly fit into one of these categories, but if I feel like switching it up, I'm in charge and I'll do it. If you can think of any other meals to add to the list, let me know and I'll add it.
Monday - Beans and Rice
Classic Black Beans and Rice
Fiesta Rice
Bean Curry
Mush
Asian Lentils and Rice from Allred cookbook
Tuesday - Soup or Salad (or Taco Tuesday, per Lauren's request)
The Best Ground Beef Tacos
Big Salad
Taco Salad
Spinach Lentil Soup - from Mom's cookbook
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Colorful Chicken and Squash Soup
Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Broccoli and Cheese or Cauliflower and Cheddar Soup - not for us :(
Chicken Tortellini Soup - also not for us :(
Wednesday - Pasta or Potatoes
Baked Potatoes
Cottage Pie
Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie
Spaghetti - with or without meat
Quick Chili Mac - from Mom's cookbook
Meatloaf and potatoes
Pork chops and sweet potatoes
Potato Broccoli Sausage Dinner - from Mom's cookbook
Veggie Pasta Stir Fry (add chicken or shrimp if desired)
Asian Beef and Noodles - from Allred cookbook
Eggs and Noodles
Loaded Enchilada Pasta
Thursday - Chicken and Rice
Basic Stir Fry
Honey Baked Chicken and Baked Brown Rice
Coconut Chicken Curry
Hawaiian Haystacks
Chicken Fried Rice or this version
12-minute Chicken and Broccoli
Chicken Rice Enchilada Skillet
Crockpot Thai Yellow Curry
Friday - Beans or Quinoa
Refried bean and cheese burritos
Sloppy Lentil Joes
Chili
Vegetarian Asian Lettuce Wraps
Lentils Ole - from Scoresby cookbook
Spicy Pintos
Zesty Veggie Enchiladas
Little Quinoa Patties
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos
Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas
Beans twice a week? Jacob would be very unhappy with that, but the rest of us would like it. And cauliflower and cheddar soup sounds tasty. Maybe we'll have that sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteI used to always do beans twice a week, but lately I have slacked off. I was going to suggest pizza, but I guess that's not for you either :(
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I am currently attempting once a month meal planning and shopping, and so far it has been working out pretty well. I will need to do a small mid-month produce run soon. As far as the meal planning side, I have really liked it because I pretty much have all the ideas and ingredients for 30 meals and can switch meals whenever. And it so far is saving a lot in our grocery budget, especially because we went to Aldi for the big shopping trip.
Also, your themed meal planning is what the Food Nanny used. It seems like a good way to narrow down each day and still leave room for variety.
ReplyDeleteI thought of a meal you could try. It would fit nicely into your beans and rice day, although it uses couscous.
ReplyDeletehttp://sarahssphere.blogspot.com/2012/03/recipe-review.html
You could sub rice for a gf version.
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