Easy Themed Weekly Meal Planning

Hey Friends!  I hope everyone is doing well!  With summer coming to a close and our two youngest getting ready to start football, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to keep this boat afloat. I share pretty often how I feel about cooking, for those new here, I’m not a fan, lol.  But with a family of 6, cooking has to be done.  Luckily, I have a few kids who are now of the age to help out in the kitchen, and my hubby pitches in quite often as well, but still, there’s always that burning question, “What’s for dinner?”

3 Major Benefits of a themed weekly meal plan:

 

• Less Stress:  Takes the stress out of answering the dreaded what’s for dinner question.  Provides consistency and routine
• Saves money:  With a meal plan you’re more likely to stay on budget, and avoid going rogue in the grocery store.
• Promotes Healthier Eating:  When planning meals, your less likely to eat out and your choices will be more thought out allowing you to be sure to incorporate balanced meals.

A few years ago, I implemented this easy themed weekly meal planning idea, and it was a game changer!  I decided to start again this week since life will become pretty busy in the coming weeks.

On Mondays we do Less-Meat Mondays–our meals tend to incorporate more veggies than meat, this is a good opportunity to incorporate seafood into your meal planning.

Meal Ideas:

• Pasta with shrimp
• New England Baked Haddock
• Eggplant Parm
• Lentil soup with bacon bits, mushroom and cheese.
• Zucchini boats
• Spaghetti Squash
• Easy Homemade Pizza
• Buddha Bowls

Although this may seem obvious, on Taco Tuesdays, we generally have tacos or anything Mexican inspired. We LOVE Mexican food, so this tends to be one of our favorite days.

Meal Ideas:

• Tacos
• Rolled Tacos
• Burrito Bowls
• Quesadillas
• Loaded Nachos
• Enchiladas
• Fajitas
• Tostadas

Wake-Up Wednesday is my name for breakfast for dinner!  Who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner?

A few of our favorite meals include:

• Pancakes
• Waffles
• Omelets
• Eggs, sausage and Hash browns (these Great value frozen hash browns are so good, and so quick and easy to make)
• Croissant Sandwiches
• Continental Breakfast spread
• Shrimp and Grits

Throwback Thursday is basically easy meals—think throwback microwave dinners, but not really, lol.  These nights we’ll do something easy like :

• Chicken Patty Sandwiches
• Chicken tenders
• Hot dogs or burgers
• Frozen pizzas
• Meatballs with Rice
• Meatloaf

I’ve recently decided it’s also a good opportunity to just make it a classic sandwich night, like:

• BLT’s
• Club Sandwiches
• Tuna Melts
• Steak and Cheese
• Pita Pocket Sandwiches
• Wraps

Served with chips or fries, and fruit or salad.  I think fruit is very underrated as a dinner side.

Stir-FryDay is about Asian inspired cuisine:

• Fried Rice
• Beef with Broccoli
• Korean ground turkey
• Beef or Chicken Stir-fry 
• Shrimp with Lobster Sauce
• Teriyaki Chicken
• Teriyaki Grilled Salmon

I like to serve these types of meals with rice, and a green vegetable, or sometimes I serve with a sesame cucumber salad, or pickled vegetables.

***On Saturdays, we have a free for all, our older children are usually hanging out with their significant others, so we either grill or eat out.***

Sundays are about comfort food.  Yummy stews or soups, served with bread and salad.

Meal Ideas:

• Kale Soup with Linguica
• Easy Wonton Soup
• Broccoli and Cheese
• Chili
• Chicken and Rice Soup
• Oxtail Soup
• Black Bean Soup
• Pork and Root Vegetable Soup

 

Obviously these meals are not set in stone.  The key is to be somewhat flexible, somedays you may want to swap a meal theme depending on your preferences. This themed meal plan is just to serve as a guide to make life easier.  I’m really looking forward to finding some new meal ideas to incorporate into my themed meal plan.  I hope you find this helpful!