May 2018 Meal Plan

May is right around the corner, and it’s time to make our monthly meal plan! Since I switched to monthly meal planning a few years back, it’s legitimately changed changed our meal planning game! I sit down once a month, look at our month ahead, and plan our meals around our schedule.

This means there are no more repetitive meal plans week to week because I’m wracking my brain to come up with meals to make. If you’re looking to start making your own monthly meal plans, it’s super simple! Just follow these 5 simple steps to creating your own monthly meal plan!

May brings warmer weather to our nook of PA, so I’m trying to make some lighter meals that includes fresh ingredients from our local farmers market. But our schedule for the month includes 11 soccer games, practices 4 evenings each week, 4 school concerts, 1 computer fair, an orthodontist appointment, 2 field trips, 7 fields to paint for soccer games, and 1 birthday. Whew!

This means a LOT of fast, crock pot friendly meals. Since I’m not the type that likes to throw everything into the crock and let it go, I will have a bit of meal prep to do before I can set it and forget it.

Beyond 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 kids are on the bus 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 just 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 by far the easiest when divvying out snacks. And they’re also is the least messy/sticky in the classrooms and backpacks.

During the summer and fall, I preserve what I am 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}.

Swedish Meatballs & Green Beans
Little Caesar’s Pizza
Cheeseburger Macaroni
Pierogies x2
Patty Melts & Tater Tots
Roast Chicken x2
Chicken Sammies
BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
Hamburger Helper
Chicken & Rice with Broccoli
Nachos
Tacos
Meatloaf & Fries
Bagel Pzzas
Ham, Peas & Orzo
Enchiladas
Sloppy Joes & Fries
Pizza
Spaghetti & Meatballs, Salad
Fajitas
Tortelinni & Broccoli
Cheesy Chicken Pasta
Cast Iron Skillet Chicken
Tuna Noodle Pasta Salad
BBQ x2 – Hot Dogs, Burgers
Meatball Subs
French Toast Bake
Salisbury Steak & Mashed Potatoes

Need some more inspiration for your meal plans? You can check out our past meal plans below!

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.