10/24 Meal Plan and Process

Hi!! Can you believe the meal planners are finally here!?! I was beginning to think this day was never going to come!! I am so excited. They are so good!! 

I'm back to work post-vacation this week. I have my meal plan ready to go so we're set up for success. 

Sunday - Potato Soup, Turkey Sandwich 

I was really wanting a turkey sandwich, and it was a perfect soup day! It has been raining all.day.long. The kids loved this meal. I added cinnamon applesauce and blueberries to their plate as well. 

Monday - Chicken thighs, brussels sprouts, potato wedges 

I was flipping through the Defined Dish cookbook and saw roasted potato wedges and realized I never make potatoes at home. They looked good so I added it to our menu. :) Charlotte loves roasted chicken thighs with WGC go-to seasoning and for something green, I am adding brussels sprouts. I love making cast-iron brussels with goat cheese and balsamic. I'll share my process for making these soon! 

Tuesday - Slow Cooker Carnitas, guacamole 

Charlotte has t-ball on Tuesday so a crock pot meal will be perfect! Typically Alex smokes pork on his Weber Smokefire grill, but we're trying something different this week! This meal will also make leftovers, which will be great for our busy halloween weekend. They will be topped with slaw and we'll eat the guacamole with veggies and chips. 

Wednesday - Salmon Larb and Coconut Rice

I try to serve a fish dish once per week. This is one of our favorites from What's Gaby Cooking. We discovered Larb a year or two ago and haven't looked back. It's delicious. It's topped with cucumbers and slaw. I am also going to add broccoli. 

Thursday - Chicken Fettuccine and peas

One of my "meal plan rules" is to have at least one quick meal per week. To me, this means a meal that doesn't involve chopping to limit mess and hands on time. The fettuccine in this meal is from the frozen section at Trader Joe's. I discovered their frozen bagged pasta recently, and it is so good! I'm adding rotisserie chicken for a protein and peas for the veggie. The kids also love this meal and it will be quick and easy. Win-Win. 

Friday - Chili and cornbread

A perfect fall meal! Can you tell I'm from the midwest? A one-pot meal with plenty of leftovers. We will have our meals covered for the busy Halloween weekend. 

Saturday - leftovers! 

A few other things about my meal planning method. 

I love to look through cookbooks for inspiration, but when I am in a rut, I look back through Savor. I always mark a meal with a star if the kids really liked it. They eat what we eat, and I do like to make meals that work for all of us. 

Typically my grocery list consists of only meat and produce. I'll look through my pantry staples to ensure I'm not running low on anything but those items only need replaced every few weeks, if that.

I don't mind running to the grocery store, but if I'm short on time, I'll do drive up orders. 

I like to meal plan weekly and buy only what we need for the week. This limits our food waste. 

The kids eat snacks and lunch at their school so I don't have to provide those, which is so nice! This week for snacks I bought cucumbers (for the larb but the extra will be for snacks) and carrots. I also got cheese and crackers and fruit (grapes, apples, prunes, blueberries). These will be our snacks throughout the week and for the weekend. We also typically add fruit to breakfast. 

I don't plan breakfasts. Everything we eat for breakfast is on my "staples" list so we always have the ingredients on hand. I let the kids decide what they want to eat. I do sometimes get inspired to make something special for breakfast. This week I am going to make roasted grape ricotta toast (which I found while looking through The Defined Dish cookbook and I am so excited about it!) I'm not sure if the kids will like it, but I'll offer it to them. Their favorite breakfasts are eggs, smoothies, avocado toast, peanut butter toast or yogurt/granola. 

I also don't plan lunches. Alex works from home most of the time so I always have frozen burritos on hand for him if needed but he typically eats leftovers. I also always have the ingredients needed for sandwiches or our breakfast options (toasts, egg sandwich, yogurt) also work for lunches. 

Another meal plan motto I love to live by is "a well-stocked pantry keeps your grocery list small." I'll share what I keep on hand soon. It is so nice to be able to make the above meals and only have to pick up meat and produce.

Sidenote - most of our produce over the summer came from our garden! We just "put our garden to bed" this weekend, and I am so bummed I have to start buying some of these things again! 

How do you meal plan? Do you have a similar process?! I would love to know! 

Happy Planning, 

Kristen