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What’s up guys and welcome back to my Channel today I am going to walk you through a monthly meal plan with me so stick around and check it out Okay so right now I have everything that I need this is what I sit down with every month this is exactly how I do this um I know that planning for a month seems super overwhelming but I started doing this in 2020 when the pandemic got really huge
Um and I didn’t want to keep going out into public multiple times so at that time I was grocery shopping every two weeks and I decided you know what I’m just gonna go with it I’m gonna plan for my month we had bought a deep freezer
Um to make room for food and so I said you know what let’s do it we’re gonna we’re gonna go for the month and ever since then I’ve been doing it this way and it has been a huge game changer for me now if that seems overwhelming to you
I totally get it and then it’s totally fine most of the people in my life that I know shop week to week so um I can understand I started there and I just kind of pushed and said okay I’m gonna go every two weeks maybe I’ll go every
Two and a half weeks three weeks and here I am and it has completely changed my life it has changed my budget because I am in the stores significantly less than I was which means no impulse spending so let me walk you through how I do this I
Do have and I’ve posted it before in my other monthly meal plan videos the meals that we’ve all really loved and I made a list of them and then I went through Pinterest and I made one board dedicated to those meals it was the recipes that I
Found myself going back to time and again and I just put them all in one place so that they were easily accessible for me um and then every month I’ll just sit here with this and we’ll scroll through and we’ll pick which ones that we want
To have and it just makes it so much more easy so that is what I have right here in front of me for when I’m planning so that’s what I bring with me every month the next thing I have talked about this in my other
Meal plan videos but I do a rotation of breakfasts and lunches um the breakfast that I find my kids enjoy that are easy for me to make quickly or I might batch cook things like pancakes and French toast sticks it just makes it easy and I just keep them
On the same rotation so my kids know exactly what they’re gonna have for breakfast on a Monday they know if if they want to prepare it themselves they’re able to do that and same with lunches so we talk about it the month a month ahead of time and we
Say okay you know what were some lunches that you were enjoying and what do you want to have and then I just put those on a rotation so that they know we also always have a leftover stay or a fridge clean out day for lunch just to make
Sure that we’re not wasting any food and that things stay fresh so I always make sure I throw that in there now where dinners are involved so now that I would have my breakfasts and my lunches completely planned for the month when it comes to dinners I
Um firstly determine I have this planned right here the days of the week I always make sure that I know what the day of the week is and the date because I have so many appointments and so many things coming up that there are just certain
Days of the week that are just naturally busier than others Mondays are always really busy because we’re starting off again with a new homeschool week my husband is starting working it just it’s naturally busy Thursdays are always super busy here because my youngest son has a lot of doctor appointments for his
His health issues so I always make sure that I label the days of the week that’s very very important and if it if it falls that way for your family as well that you have certain days that are just busier than others I would highly suggest that you make sure that you put
That down because if you plan something like you know a really fancy dinner and it falls on a Tuesday and you have all of these appointments a day it’s just not going to work and you’re going to find yourself going out eat and spending more money than you would have and then
The food that you bought for that meal kind of gets wasted in the fridge so make sure that you know the days of the week that you’re working with the next thing that I do is I mark down any appointments or busy days that I may
Have so I have a list right here of my dates like my busy days that are coming up this month and I’m just gonna Mark those so on the second I have a video appointment so a video visit for myself so I know that um I’m the 16th I also have another
Video visit so I’m just gonna Mark that uh the 20th I have a video visit the 29th I also have a video visit and then um what else do we have busy days um are always going to be Thursdays for me just it’s just naturally the way that it is in this house
Um Thursdays are extremely busy with doctor appointments for my son so I’m just gonna put um a little star or a DOT on those days so that I know let’s put something relatively easy on those days okay so I’m going to Mark those so now that I have all of my appointments and
Everything oh and then the 31st I also have a 1pm appointment so I am going to Mark that as well all right so those so far are the appointments that I have for this month coming up this is going to change because my son’s appointments get
Made right on the spot as we have appointments he has new ones made so like this the ninth he does have an appointment that he actually has two appointments that day usually on Thursdays we’re running with two appointments and we’re out of the house all day so
Let’s see the next thing that I do is Mark any holidays or birthdays um because typically for birthdays I let my children um pick what they want to have for dinner well what they want to have for breakfast lunch and dinner that is their like favorite thing about their
Birthdays is they get to pick whatever they want it’s basically a yes day for them they get to pick what they want for breakfast what they want for lunch and what they want for dinner so I need to know that ahead of time so that I can grocery shop for those things
Um fortunately this month we do not have any birthdays however we do have St Patrick’s Day so I am going to put a little star here because this is St Patrick’s Day which is oh no it’s not the 19th I apologize it is the 17th so
Let me Mark that down I don’t want to confuse myself here so um so the 17th um and I automatically know that that day I’m just gonna write it down right now um we are going to have corned beef I always make whole Canon and soda bread
So I know right off the bat that that’s what I’m going to be making and then the next thing that I do is look for meals from last month that I didn’t have or we didn’t make or something came up a lot of times my in-laws will bring dinner over
Um just you know on a whim or we may have had a leftover we had too many leftovers in the fridge so we had that instead so we didn’t use a meal that we intended to use or something came up whatever the reason may be we always end up having meals that we
Didn’t use and that’s totally okay and in fact that’s great because it’s one less meal that I have to plan I already bought the non-perishables that I need for that meal so it actually saves me money um as long as I didn’t go out and spend money to replace that meal
Did have some rollovers from last month and the first one is chili and cornbread so I’m just gonna right off the bat Chilean cornbread the next rollover meal that I had looking at my list from and this is my list from last month um this was all
Filled in but these erasable pens that I have I think Heat or the sunlight or something causes them to like disappear but you can still kind of see the writing it’s so so weird um but the next rollover meal that I had was turkey a la king with rice
I had a bunch of leftover turkey meat that was already cooked in my freezer so one of the go-to meals that we really like is chicken ala king so I’m just making turkey a la King instead with rice the next rollover meal that I had was a lemon garlic chicken with
Um green beans and potato and a baked potato let me turn this back on with green beans and a potato okay so that is it for my rollover meals and then finally what I will do is I will start to do themes on certain days so like for example meatless Mondays taco Tuesdays
Um Pizza Fridays whatever your family enjoys and you stick to that theme or if you say you know every Friday we’re gonna have leftovers so automatically that’s all your Fridays are taken care of so that is what I do is I start with themes so as far as themes in my family on
Tuesdays I really like to stick with Mexican dishes Spanish dishes things like that so automatically and I have a list next to me my family and I already sat down and we listed meals that we wanted to eat or try I try and limit new meals or new recipes to like one per
Month because new recipes can cost money they can cost money for extra ingredients that you don’t have they can cost money because you end up cooking it and hating it and then you have to either use up another meal to replace it or buy food by going out to feed
Yourself for that meal so I try to limit it to one per month now last month we did have another rollover meal that I’m looking here and it’s the chipotle chicken and rice bowls which was a hellofresh recipe that I wanted to try so I am going to just stick it right
Here on the seventh which um is a Tuesday so Chipotle chicken and rice bowl okay and then we have another Tuesday here um one of the meals that my family said they wanted to have again this month was beef enchiladas okay and then with beef enchiladas because we have
Um pretty much a protein and a carbohydrate here I like to incorporate some kind of vegetable so we’ll either have a salad with it or I will do um depending on my availability of avocados I will make guacamole so I’m gonna do chips salsa we always have chips and salsa and guac
And yes avocado is a fruit but don’t come for me uh we have another Tuesday the tried and true in my family if you have not tried this recipe please go to my Pinterest find it and eat it it is chicken fajita pasta my family loves
Loves loves this meal I never have any leftovers and we have it every single month um so that is always always a go-to chicken fajita pasta okay and then we have one more Tuesday trying to see if they had anything oh they did they wanted to have taco salad
So there we go there are all my Tuesdays done and done taco salad is just my own my mom’s recipe so I don’t have that on my Pinterest board you can definitely find some online but it’s literally just a salad with um taco meat in it I add beans to kind
Of beef it up a little bit um green onions cheese cucumbers tomatoes and then Doritos and we just mix it up and then you put French dressing on it and it is delicious French or Catalina whichever I mean they’re like essentially the same right right okay so now on Wednesdays I like
To make Asian dishes um we love love love us some Asian food so I try and incorporate those monthly so let’s look at our Wednesdays we have one two three four Wednesdays this month so right off the bat one of the things that my husband really wanted me to make was
Egg roll soup and this is really really good but it’s very very light and so I also um fry up wonton strips and so I’ll just get wonton wraps cut them into strips and deep fry them on the stove just to kind of put on top of
The soup so that is what we’re gonna have there do they have any other Asian dishes oh kung pao chicken with rice that is another one that you guys need to go and try it’s delicious it’s in here you can either make it um on the stovetop or it can be a crock
Pot Dish as well I have not tried it as a crock pot dish so I can’t speak to it’s deliciousness there however on the stove it is amazing so where is our next one stay right here okay so kung pao chicken kug apparently kug Pow chicken it’s fine I’m just gonna leave it
Cockpot chicken with Rose and there’s tons of vegetables in this so I don’t have to worry about adding another vegetable um and I’ll just leave it as it’s do they have another one Korean beef with rice that one is really really delicious as well it’s super easy to make um
However it does not have a vegetable in it Korean beef and rice so I add green beans and it is fantastic and just to Beef It Up stretch it out and also get some veggies in my kids because that’s always a win and then we have one more Wednesday right oh my daughter
Okay so this one Panda Express mushroom chicken with rice so this one’s a little bit takes a little bit longer to make that’s okay I have a video visit that day um we should be fine Panda Express mushroom chicken it is very delicit delicious it is very delicious
Mushroom I cannot speak and write at the same time so I fully apologize mushroom chicken with rice you are going to see a lot of rice and a lot of potatoes in my um my meal plans why I have celiacs and so to save myself time energy money sanity
I just cook that way for all of us I have thankfully found a pasta that is gluten-free that my entire family likes I have found alternatives for like any sort of soups gravies um flowers all of that that um Cooks exactly the same way it tastes extremely
Close that my kids don’t even notice so all of the dinners um are gluten-free completely gluten free and Celiac friendly um I do not eat the same breakfasts and lunches as my family I have I am on a fitness journey and a health Journey um so I eat differently
Um sometimes for the dinners as well I eat something different it just depends on what my macros are for that day because I do follow macros so it just depends on how it falls but my dinners are relatively healthy so a lot of times I can enjoy the same dinner with them if
Not I always have meal preps that I’ve done to incorporate with their meals um but if that’s something that you guys are interested in I can absolutely do a macro video for you to show you guys what I eat and how I eat to maintain Fitness and dietary goals
Whatever you want to call it I can absolutely do a video on that at a later date um but for now we have finished now our Tuesdays and our Wednesdays so we are left with Thursdays next and for Thursdays remember I told you that those are pretty busy days for us um
So let me see what they have picked that are really easy oh right off the bat okay homemade Hamburger Helper this is such an easy easy dish easy darnish I’m putting this video up I don’t even care I’m not even editing it I’m just putting it up I’m not even gonna try and
Do voiceovers to try and fix it it’s going up the way that it is homemade Hamburger Helper this is super healthy very delicious always a win with my family and because there aren’t any vegetables in it it’s kind of like the cheeseburger Hamburger Helper I always have a salad with it
Okay I do yeah I don’t like break my back trying to get like what can I serve with this if I can’t incorporate some sort of vegetable into the dish itself we’re just having a salad it is what it is it’s quick easy you’re gonna get some greens in
Mom’s rule that’s just the way that it is but kids know that by now they’re great salad eaters the next one for a Wednesday where are we at oh Thursdays I apologize the next one is this one what else do they have going on here oh one pot beef stroganoff with salad we’ll
Do it one pot beef stroganoff all right next one do we have another Thursday yes we do oh right away okay my kids have been begging me um for this easy tuna casserole they the last time I made this they devoured the entire what is it 9×12 pan 9×13 they devoured
The entire pan you guys a 10 year old and a five-year-old my husband and I had one serving each they ate the entire pan and they have been begging me to make it ever since and if you have not tried this recipe on your kids I
Highly highly recommend it it is in my family meals it’s in here somewhere it just literally says across it easy tuna casserole um highly recommend my kids definitely enjoy this meal so that is going on there it takes like 10 minutes to throw everything together in a bowl
You dump it into a pan you bake it and it’s done so that is a perfect Thursday meal and then we do have one more Thursday um let’s see I’m gonna do I know this seems like a really long meal but I throw this together in a pan
In the morning and I let it simmer all day long and it’s done I’m gonna make spaghetti and meatballs I make it all homemade but I do it all early in the morning and let it simmer all day and it is so so good I don’t have a recipe for that it’s just
I make it and throw it together in a pan and that it is what it is I I have all everything um the next one is Fridays on Fridays I like to have like meals that we either really enjoy or something really fast it just depends on what our day is like so
See this Friday we already did the lemon garlic chicken we have another Friday oh my gosh okay I can already tell I already know like which meals my husband and my daughter definitely put down so we’re gonna do sheet pan and this is in my meals too sheet pan kabasa pierogies and cabbage
And it’s exactly what it sounds like you just throw it all onto a sheet pan and you leave the pierogies Frozen you just slice up the kabasa slice up the Cabbage a little bit throw it onto a sheet pan throw it in the oven and it is
Done it’s dinner and it’s done it’s fantastic um let’s see another this Friday’s taken care of because it is St Patrick’s Day we have another Friday here and they want creamy chicken tortillas oh tortellini soup creamy chicken tortellini soup okay we’ll do it creamy chicken tortellini soup why not
And then we have one more Friday and we’re gonna do I see this crock pot ham and beans and I usually stick this with cornbread all right so we are left with Saturday Sundays and Mondays let’s go to Mondays Mondays are relatively busy in our family it’s just they’re slow to go
Um getting back into our homeschool swing of things after a weekend my husband’s going back to work and he is finally going back into the office so that is going to be sad um so I’m going to be riding The Struggle Bus for a while but that’s okay
So I can we haven’t I haven’t made this in a while I’m surprised that they listed it okay simple simple Salisbury steaks with mash mash and let’s do green beans okay so the simple Salisbury steaks that is another recipe in here um it’s essentially just burgers that you’re mixing with specific seasonings
And things like that and then you are pan frying those and you’re putting a brown gravy on them and then you make mashed potatoes on the side with a vegetable and it’s actually really very good um the next Monday I’m kind of in like a comfort food thing so the next Monday
This is a meal that I will not be eating but I know that my family likes it um buffalo chicken pasta and already I can tell you I’m not eating it because I know the macros will be off buffalo chicken pasta um and then this Monday I didn’t get to
Make it last month so they’re asking for it this month is Mississippi pot roast so that’s perfect because we have a visit this week or on this Monday does anybody else go m-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i Mississippi pot roast with mash and corn we’ll do that okay and then the next Monday
My daughter has been begging me for meatloaf because one of my macro meals I made for myself was like was um a turkey meatloaf sorry I just bumped my camera was a turkey meatloaf and she has been begging for meatloaf ever since meatloaf with Mash we’re gonna do corn because I have for
Some reason uh like four bags of frozen corn in my freezer and that’s out we’re done with Mondays so now we just have Saturdays and Sundays Saturdays and Sundays depending on what the day is I do like to um make more I wouldn’t say difficult but like more lengthy recipes something that
Might take me a little bit longer anything that has to marinate or anything like that I try to leave those recipes for that day now this Saturday um we are supposed to get snow so I’m gonna pick a soup and I see they picked okay busy day soup
This is a really good soup it’s in my recipe in my family meal um it’s right here actually busy day soup it’s very very good it’s a ground beef um tomato based soup it’s really good it’s kind of all just dump and go so we will have a busy day soup after I
Just told you guys oh I like to have really lengthy meals on the weekends I’m like oh a dump and go soup it’s fine um what else do they so I see creamed ham they want creamed ham with mashed potatoes and that’s fine however we are having a potato here so I think
I’m gonna go with barbecue chopped chicken salad and this is a Panera um happy cat recipe the barbecue chopped chicken salad it’s delicious if you haven’t had it um let’s see what else do I have French onion chicken rice bake we’ll do that here French onion onion chicken and rice bake that’s
Another one that I have like I said almost all of these are in my family meals um Pinterest board and that’s also this is also a really really good meal that we come back to quite often and then for oh I see okay they have Philly cheesesteak sloppy joes listed on here
So we’re gonna go ahead and do it Philly cheesesteak sloppy joes which sound weird but it is so good you guys with pitch I’ll do potato wedges with with judges and broccoli all right and now all we have left is our Sundaes so Sunday I think we’re gonna do
Pizza I buy frozen pizzas and we just have a pizza day especially if we have snow this day and we’re gonna be outside playing uh next day I’m gonna do pizza steamed ham with mash and the creamed ham has veg in it so we’re just gonna have mash um
Pesto pasta with chicken sausage sure and I’m just looking at the list of meals that might that we kind of like wrote down together that they wanted and I did this a while ago so pesto pasta and then one more and that would be sausage and rice skillet
And this has lots of veggies in it too and that is it my entire month is literally planned meal wise so now after I have this all done what I do is I make my grocery list so I go through every recipe and I list every ingredient I
Don’t tend to skip things the only thing that I will kind of skip over is spices and um things like oil butter unless those are things that I need and then I’ll write it down but I will go through I’m going to do that off camera because
It’s going to take me a while I’m going to list my grocery list and then I’m gonna tell you guys what I do with that okay and so finally off camera I made my grocery list because it was pretty long and then I went through and marked which
Store has the cheapest price on that item and you can see kind of my key up here so I go to ALDI Meyer Walmart and then I’m doing a Target order in bulk for my gluten-free pastas so um this for this particular time of the month this is where I’m able to find
These things the cheapest most things tend to stay pretty much the same the only thing that fluctuates really is the produce um the meat and then some of the refrigerated items but for the most part things pretty much stay the same I can always refer back to my receipts because
Um all the trying to find their prices online is pretty difficult because you can only do it through like their instacart thing and they mark up their prices on there so what’s in the store tends to be cheaper than what you’re going to see online so I just saved my receipts from them
Um and some things I kind of just know what their prices are and what to expect um same with Walmart their prices pretty much stay consistent um except for you know with inflation prices have gone up in general however I kind of know what to expect there and
What to pay so I know what I can get there and how much it is um so I know what’s cheaper there and what’s cheaper elsewhere Meyer is the one um wild card and all this because their prices tend to change and they also tend to have sales so just for example this
Time of the month when I’m shopping they have organic carrots on sale so normally I would buy those somewhere else but they are cheaper there right now than anywhere else as well as the chicken normally I would get there at Aldi but they have chicken on sale for 1.99 a
Pound which I could not pass up so I am going to get my chicken from there as well as their smoked sausages um those are on sale right now for like two dollars off so that’s where I’m getting those um and just a random random things like enchilada sauce Meyer is the cheapest
Place to get that hands down so I always get it from there as well as their brown gravy packets so there’s just a random couple of things that I’m getting there but that is it that’s what I do for that and then I will just take a couple of
Hours and I will go grocery shopping I have tried to do grocery pickup I always get burned so I will not be doing that anymore and that’s that that’s how I plan for the month if you guys have any questions please leave them down below if you guys
Are interested in the printables I am going to try and make those available as soon as I can because these are things that I have made for myself but I am going to see what I can do about getting these available for you guys as soon as
I can so thank you guys so much for watching and I will catch you guys in the next video bye