Hellobee

In a previous post, I shared that our family has a pretty tight budget when it comes to groceries and explained some of the guiding principles that we go by when making decisions about our food purchases. Today I thought I would share how we go about making a meal plan.

When planning our month, I only plan out our dinners. Breakfasts tend to always be the same 2-3 things, and we eat leftovers for lunches. I plan for 4 weeks at a time (occasionally 5 weeks depending on the way the days fall), so I need to plan 28 meals.

I use a pretty simple formula for each meal.

• Half the meal should be veggies
• About a pound of meat per meal (about 4 servings)
• Small portions of a grain or starch of some kind

For each week I try to plan out 3 simple meals that will take 5 minutes or less of prep time, 3 more involved meals that will take about 15 minutes, and 1 meal that might take a bit longer because I have never made it before (I usually make this one on the weekend). This way I can slowly introduce new meals into our rotation without too much hassle. 6 nights of the week I make old faithful meals that are easy to prepare and that I am familiar with.

Instead of traditional cookbooks, I store my recipes on Pinterest boards. I have one board for recipes I want to try, and one for recipes I have tried and love. Then I have a third board which holds my meals for the month. Before the month begins I go through my board for the month and weed out any meals that I don’t want to make the coming month, add old favorites, and then add a couple new ones to try. I like having all of my recipes in one easy to find location, and I love that it is super easy to add and delete recipes as I plan each month. This part takes anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on how decisive I am feeling.

Once I have my board created for the month, I start plugging in meals to actual weeks. I don’t like planning daily because it feels too restrictive to me. But since I do shop weekly, I try to plan meals weekly as well. This process takes about 5 minutes. Here is my meal plan for the month of April.

There are a couple things I try to do that keep the food preparation even more manageable.

1. When I buy ground turkey in bulk at the beginning of the month, I go ahead and cook the entire package. Recipes almost always require you to brown the turkey before moving on to the next step. This saves me a TON of time throughout the month.

2. Pre-package bulk meat and beans into meal sized portions for the freezer. For chicken we freeze in 12 ounce packages, and for ground turkey we freeze in 1 lb packages (1 lb uncooked is about 11 oz cooked). I also buy dry black beans and cook them all at once. I then freeze them in 2 cup portions.

3. For casseroles, I always make a double portion and freeze half for the following week.

4. I always keep frozen veggies stocked in the freezer. These are typically even more nutritious than fresh veggies, and I love that they require no lengthy preparation. I don’t even buy the steamable bags…I just pour the contents of the bag into a microwave safe bowl, and then cook them according to package instructions (or, if you are like me and like them to have a bit of crunch instead of being mushy, cook them a little less). My favorite is Harris Teeter brand Baby Bud Broccoli Florets. There are virtually no stems in the bag…it is all the good stuff!

R E C I P E S

Below are very loose versions of the recipes I use. I included links where applicable… but most of these meals are things we just throw together and that I didn’t have recipes for until I just wrote them all up for this post! Amounts are not included in most, because it will be determined based on number of servings. For us, 4 servings is enough for two adults and a toddler at dinner, plus one adult and a toddler for lunch the next day.

Sausage, Peppers, and Onions

Ingredients:

• Chicken Sausage Links (nitrate free if possible)
• Whole wheat rolls or bread
• Onion
• Red Bell Pepper
• Green Bell Pepper
• Salt, Pepper, Garlic Salt to taste

Process

1. Cut sausage links into 1 inch slices. Add to frying pan with a little bit of cooking spray. Cook on medium until sausage starts to brown, about 3-4 minutes.
2. While sausage is cooking, slice peppers and onions into strips. Add to pan, season, and cook and additional 3 minutes, or until the vegetables soften.
3. While vegetables are cooking, toast rolls.
4. Meal can be eaten as a sandwich, or with the roll/bread on the side.

Baked Pasta and Broccoli

Ingredients

• 16oz bag/box of whole wheat pasta (any kind will work…I prefer spirals)
• 1 jar pasta sauce
• 1 lb ground turkey (or chicken, or beef)
• Parmesan Cheese – to taste
• Mozzarella Cheese – about 1-2 cups, depending on preference
• Frozen broccoli

Process

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Brown ground turkey. Add jar of sauce and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Season if desired.
3. Separate pasta into two oven safe casserole dishes.
4. Divide sauce/meat mixture between two casserole dishes.
5. Cover the top of each dish with mozzarella cheese. I usually use about 3/4 cup cheese per casserole dish, but you could use more or less to suit your family.
6. Bake 1 dish in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes.
7. 5 minutes before taking pasta out of the oven, heat broccoli in the microwave according to package directions (I typically heat it for 1-2 minutes less than the directions, and don’t add any water…the package directions tend to cook it a little more than I like.

Salmon, Quinoa, and Broccoli

Ingredients

• 2-3 servings Marinated Morrey’s Salmon (we buy these at Sams Club)
• Tri-color quinoa (or any other type…this is just my favorite)
• Seasonings for quinoa – I like to add a little plain greek yogurt, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper
• Frozen Broccoli

Process

1. Cook salmon in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes, until flaky
2. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Season as desired. I like to keep this simple, but you could substitute a favorite quinoa recipe here instead if simple doesn’t do it for you
3. Heat broccoli in the microwave according to package directions (I typically heat it for 1-2 minutes less than the directions, and don’t add any water…the package directions tend to cook it a little more than I like.
4. Serve!

Pesto Cream Cheese Chicken and Broccoli – I started with this recipe, but I was in a hurry and I decided at the last minute to change it up. Instead of stuffing the chicken with the cream cheese pesto mixture and breading it, I just coated the top of the chicken with the mixture and then baked. It was delicious anyway, and took a fraction of the time. Score! Serve with frozen broccoli (are you seeing a pattern here?).

Tortilla Pizzas

Ingredients:

• Whole Wheat Tortillas
• Pesto or Tomato Sauce, or both
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Ground turkey (cooked and drained)
• Oregano, garlic salt, pepper to taste
• Salad Ingredients – We typically include romaine, spinach, and whatever veggies we have in the fridge. I like to keep 2-3 favorite dressings on hand at a time so that we have a variety of options.

Process

1. Preheat oven as high as it will go. If you have a pizza stone, preheat it as well.
2. Top the tortillas with either pesto or tomato sauce. Add cheese, then top with ground turkey (you could add other toppings here as well), then season as desired.
3. Place on a cookie sheet or place directly on pizza stone in the oven. We usually cook 1 at a time on our stone. If your oven gets as hot as ours does, they will cook in about 3 minutes. Watch them closely…they go from not done to burnt very quickly.
4. Prepare salad while pizzas bake.

Spicy Honey Chicken and Broccoli

I cook this recipe just like it says, except that I substitute boneless skinless tenders instead. They cook in about 8 minutes instead of 15. Again, we serve with frozen broccoli.

Taco Salad

Ingredients

• Tortilla Chips
• Ground Turkey (cooked and drained)
• Taco Seasoning
• Lettuce
• Cheese, greek yogurt, sour cream salsa, corn, black beans, black olives, or other optional toppings

Process

1. Cook ground turkey and taco seasoning on medium/low according to directions.
2. While turkey is simmering, combine lettuce and chips with all desired toppings (we use really big bowls and add lots of lettuce and veggies).
3. Add ground turkey and serve.

Enchilada Pasta and Broccoli

I use this recipe as is (except I substitute whole wheat egg noodles and plain 2% greek yogurt for the sour cream)

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti Squash
• Jar of spaghetti sauce
• 1lb ground turkey (cooked and drained)
• Parmesan Cheese
• Whole Wheat or Italian bread, sliced
• Butter

Process

1. Cut spaghetti squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 1 hour. (if you have never cooked spaghetti squash and need a more detailed tutorial, click here).
2. Combine spaghetti sauce and ground turkey in a sauce pan and simmer until heated through.
3. To make garlic bread, top each slice of bread with butter, garlic salt, and parmesan cheese. You could also make a butter garlic mixture by adding minced or fresh garlic to the butter and melting, but I typically use garlic salt as a shortcut.
4. Bake garlic bread in the oven for 5ish minutes, or until cheese begins to brown.
5. Combine spaghetti squash with meat sauce, and serve.

Chicken Fajita Kabobs and Pesto Potatoes

Ingredients

• 1lb boneless skinless chicken
• fajita seasoning
• red bell pepper
• onion
• 2-3 red potatoes
• 1 tbsp. pesto

Process

1. Cut chicken, onion, and bell pepper into chunks. Using a bamboo skewer, make kabobs.
2. Season with fajita seasoning (you could season the chicken ahead of time as well if you think about it)
3. Before putting kabobs on the grill, prepare potatoes.
4. Wash potatoes, and then poke holes in the top and bottom of each. Microwave for 2-3 minutes (depending on size) to speed the cooking process.
5. Very carefully (they will be hot) cut potatoes into 1 inch chunks (I like to leave the skin on). In a small bowl toss the potato chunks with about 1 tbsp. of pesto.
6. Pour potatoes onto a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes
7. While potatoes are cooking, grill kabobs until cooked through.

Barbeque Chicken and Grilled Vegetables

This is an easy one. Throw some chicken and some vegetables (whatever you have at home or your favorites…I like red bell peppers, potatoes, and onions) on the grill.   Top chicken with barbeque sauce. Cook until juices run clear. Mr. Lion does our grilling…you are on your own with the specific directions for this one

Black Bean Burgers, Broccoli, and Pesto Potatoes

We love love love this recipe for black bean burgers from Mrs. Hopscotch! We serve with more frozen broccoli and pesto potatoes (see above recipe)

Lettuce Wraps 

Another favorite that we eat at least twice a month!

Garlic Dijon Salmon and Broccoli

This is a new recipe I have never tried! Fingers crossed that it is delicious as it looks!

Pesto Shrimp  (and chicken) and veggies

Another new recipe I have never tried. Mr. Lion doesn’t like shrimp, so we will have some chicken kabobs too. Depending on how our budget is looking for the month, we may just do all chicken and not do the shrimp at all. We will also grill some veggies (I am hoping to have some good local seasonal stuff by this point in the month!).

Stuffed Shells  and Broccoli

This is the only time I buy pasta that isn’t whole wheat (I have yet to find jumbo whole wheat shells). I also substitute chives for the shallot usually, since I grow them in my herb garden. One less ingredient to buy.

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This month I will be keeping track more specifically of our actual spending so that I can share with you where we shop, what we buy, and how much we actually spend. Stay tuned!