Every month when I make our monthly meal plan, I look over our schedule for the month. It’s not because I like to bore you with the details of how busy our month is, everyone’s month is super busy in their own way. It’s simply because a whole month of meals that are long and complex to make does no one any good when you’re not home long enough to make them. All the meal prep in the world could not help. It’s because I look over the month and be realistic about how much time I would have to make various meals throughout the month.
Even though February currently has only one doctors appointment {one?! how is that even possible?!}, it still brings about a hectic month for us. Jazz Band drop offs are every other day before school starts, and the middle school musical has their rehearsals after school every weekday until the end of the month, when the performances take place. There are also a few County Band rehearsals late at night.
Dance classes also run three nights during the week as well as on Saturdays, and I volunteer at our elementary school one day a week.
At the end of the month, our school district is also showcasing the arts within the district {band, chorus, art classes, theater, etc} in a week long celebration, which each of my children are participating in – although not each on the same day because, with a 30 minute drive to town, that would be so convenient.
So for this month’s meal plan I tried to incorporate meals that we haven’t had in a while – because the same meals month after month get boring – but meals that are also fairly quick and easy to make. I also made it a point to put in some Instant Pot recipes from my Instant Pot Pinterest Board. I’m not sure how they’ll go just yet since I’ve only used my Instant Pot twice, but since it’s suppose to make my job of making dinner easier and this month is pretty busy, I’d like to give it a try.
Beyond basing our meals off our schedule for the month, here are some other things to consider while reviewing our monthly meal plan:
I plan only our dinners. Unless it’s noted, sides consist of a fruit or veggie, possibly a grain, and is based on what I have in my fridge and pantry. You can check out my 30+ frugal pantry staples to see what I always have on hand without going over budget.
We try to have one big meal each week, and it’s usually a roast. Throughout the rest of the week I use the leftovers as ingredients for the week’s remaining meals. For instance, a roast beef then becomes ingredients for beef stroganoff, beef quesadillas, vegetable beef soup and so on.
Breakfasts are usually oatmeal, cereal, toast or bagel with peanut butter and fruit, cottage cheese and fruit, or yogurt with granola. It may seem limited and boring, but keeping breakfast choices as simple as possible makes it much easier during our hectic morning routine. Hubs is out the door at 6:30 and the kids and I are out the door at 7.
Lunches are packed each day for Hubs and the kids, while I currently eat at home. Lunches are either sandwiches, salads, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, or leftovers as the main course. It’s served with a fruit/veg, yogurt or cheese, a drink and a “treat” {gummies, chips, etc}. Snacks, such as crackers, pretzels and Nilla cookies, are also divided out at home and sent to school in smaller snack containers. While packing lunches every day does raise our grocery bill a little bit, it saves us well over $250 every month, making it well worth it. To see what supplies I rely on for our packed lunches, you can check out my 7 must haves for packed lunches.
I don’t stock pile shop –we simply don’t have the pantry space– but I do shop for weekly sales, mostly for snack items like crackers, pretzels, and so on. While this may not be the best of healthiest option for snacks, and I far prefer fruit for their snacks, I have found that dry snacks are easiest when divvying out snacks. And they’re also is the least messy/sticky for in the classrooms and backpacks.
During the summer and fall, I preserve what we are able to grow and get cheap from local you-pick farms and farmer’s markets. It helps me keep what we eat fresh and local, but also limits our preservative and additive intake {I have allergies to multiple things, including preservatives, and my middle gets migraines with certain food additives like MSG}.
Potato Soup
Roast Chicken Dinner x2
Chicken & Biscuits
Chicken & Wild Rice Soup
Monterey Chicken
Beef & Broccoli with Rice
Sloppy Joes & Fries
Pancakes
Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup
Roast Beef
Fish Fillets & French Fries
Italian Chicken & Salad
Tacos
Beef Stroganoff & Green Beans
Chicken Sammies & Chips
Tuna Noodles
Honey Garlic Chicken & Broccoli
Vegetable Beef Soup
Chicken & Peach BBQ, Rice & Corn
Blueberry French Toast
Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans
Meatball Subs / Hot Sausage Subs
Chicken Chili
Chicken Cordon Bleu & Egg Noodles
Sausage Potato Soup
Quesadillas / Chicken Fajitas
Leftovers
Need some more inspiration for your meal plans? You can check out our past meal plans here! Also don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, where I have a whole board dedicated to meal planning, as well as boards for soups, chicken recipes, and so on.
What’s on your meal plan for the month? Let me know in the comments below! I’m always looking for new meal ideas.
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