October 2018 Meal Plan

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October 2018 Meal Plan | Frugal Living | Feeding A Family of 5

After my whirlwind summer, I figured it was time to buckle down and start planning our meals out by the month again. This month, we’ve got our usual after school activities, as well as orthodontist and dentist appointments. Since we’re out four days a week with after school stuff, I’m trying to stick to larger weekend meals that I can throw something together with later on in the week. A roast chicken turns into chicken soup and chicken BBQ sandwiches later on during the week. Fast, and simple!

I missed being able to sit down once a month, look at our month ahead, and plan our meals around our schedule. I’m forgot about not having any repetitive meal 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!

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}.

Sausage, Potato & Kale Soup
French Toast, Eggs & Bacon
Cheeseburger Macaroni
Meatball Subs & Fries
Pierogies x2
Roast Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Veg x2
Chicken Rice Soup
Spaghetti & Meatballs, Garlic Bread
Chicken BBQ Sandwiches
Fish Sticks & Fries
Patty Melts, Rice & Veg
Slow Cooker Roast Beef & Roasted Potatoes
Potato Soup
Chicken Enchiladas & Spanish Rice
Beef Stroganoff, Egg Noodles & Green Beans
Swedish Meatballs, Rice & Veg
Applesauce Pancakes, Eggs & Bacon x2
Vegetable Beef Soup
Beef Tacos
Chicken Chili
Nachos
Sloppy Joes & Fries
Salisbury Steaks, Mashed Potatoes, & Veg
Slow Cooker Chicken & Rice
Chicken Fajitas
Free For All / Leftovers x2
Wedding – won’t be home for dinner

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.