Published on
by Brittany Dixon
I love when you guys offer me feedback on posts. I rely on it (maybe more than I should?) to guide me to topics worth writing about. I got such a great response from October’s meal planthat I’ve decided to try and do a similar post for each month. Meal planning is something I am passionate about (my 15 year old self just gave my 32 year old self the stink eye for that lame statement) and I love sharing it with y’all!
So here’s the breakdown for what we chowed down on last week starting with the plan.
The items withstars were items with coupons/discounts on my Target Cartwheel app. I’m embarrassed it took me so long to jump on that bandwagon!
Since I was buying a lot last week, I split up my grocery shopping. First up was Target, which continues toimpress me with their growing availability of organic items.
I got the majority of my groceries here, including this fun find:
I made the girls fried rice one night using half leftover rice and half cauliflower crumbles, which I shared on instagram, and they loved it.
We finished the list off at Whole Foods, where I prefer to buy most my chicken and seafood.
I was asked to provide a reference for how much we spend per week on food and I’d say we are averaging between $170-$190 a week. This total with Target and Whole Foods ended up being about $185.
Breakfasts for the week included egg and avocado on toast (my fav!), frozen waffles and fruit, and oatmeal.
Snacks were fruit again, yogurt and these date bars.
And for the dinners…
Saturday was Halloween so I thawed some chili from the freezer and we shoved it down on our way out to trick-or-treat.
Sunday: Brown Sugar and Bourbon Glazed Salmon over Rice with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower
Monday {Meatless!}: Slow Cooker Quinoa Vegetable Soup and Homemade Bread
This was my first time trying Brittany’s recipe and I found it to be a hearty, cozy meal. I added a dash of hot sauce on mine and bulked it up for David with homemade bread. It was super easy and made enough for leftovers to have for lunch!
Tuesday: Copy Cat PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Another first time recipe for me (two in one week?!) and I loved the bursting Asian flavors in this dish. David really liked it too (he nixed the lettuce wrap and ate it on a big bowl of rice) and asked to have it again.
Wednesday: Greek Shrimp Pasta
Thursday: Crockpot Salsa Chicken for Fajita Bowls
So simple. I love my crockpot.
Friday was date night and that finishes the week!
Out of curiosity,
what is your biggest meal planning challenge?
OR
your favorite meal planing tip?
For other meal plans in detail, check out my meal planning page!
About Brittany Dixon
Brittany Dixon is a former health coach turned homeschooling mom of two girls. Her goal is to share her passion for healthy eating and natural living alongside the daily challenges and triumphs of motherhood. She shares her life through the lens of food, family, and travel.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Morgan @ Morgan Manages Mommyhood says
Uhm, those lettuce wraps sound amazing. Thanks for sharing this! I love your detailed grocery list – mine is usually scribbles..
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Karen says
My biggest challenge is variety but making sure everyone will like it at the same time.
I am not one to prepare something for adults and then something for children. We all eat the same thing or one will go hungry. I simply dont have the time to make two different meals. Plus I believe it makes for picky eaters either with adults or with children.
See AlsoChicken Pot Pie with Biscuits7-Day Metabolic Confusion Meal Plan For Endomorph - Flab Fix7 Meal Prep Hacks for Efficiency20 Quick Sides for Meatball Subs - Bites with BriBoth adults and children should at least try new things to have an opinion before saying they will not eat it.
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Brittany Dixon says
I can’t wait until we can have family dinners because I have the same philosophy on eating the same thing. The girls eat what we eat now, but just a day later 🙂 We are getting closer to family dinner, but can’t quite swing it yet.
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Kate says
Looks like a week of seriously yummy meals!
I think meal planning is great to ensure that you eat a variety of food. Still, sometimes I get stuck with our favorites and need to remind myself to try new meals…Reply
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables says
I love the Cartwheel app! And how awesome are those cauliflower crumbles? I’m glad Green Giant hopped on the food trend so I don’t always have to get out my food processor 🙂
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Melissa says
My biggest meal planning challenge is cooking while pregnant (u.e. I have no desire)!
But beyond that, I get home from with work my 4 year old around 5 and need dinner ready stat. Ideally I like to serve less processed stuff, but it’s got to be quick. My husband work late most nights so I’m on my own and something he can re-heat easily is preferable.
Some weekends I can set aside time on Sunday to prep and that is a huge help. And some weekends life gets in the way!
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Brittany Dixon says
I remember losing my desire to cook while pregnant too! Crockpot meals to the rescue 😉
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Alyssa @ renaissancerunnergirl says
Tip: do it all at once UNLESS you know you can do certain things during other meals. For example, I mostly prep on Sundays. but I know a frittata I can mix up and throw in the oven on a weeknight while I shower after work, then I can have a slice fresh from the oven for dinner and continue it for breakfast the rest of the week. The typical do it all in a day is useful for 75% of the time, but if you don’t have a lot of time on your usual day, know it is possible to mix it up 🙂
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Kim says
My biggest challenge is food waste. Some things I don’t mind in leftover form and others I’m not a fan of. I try to keep this in mind when cooking and half the recipe if I know I won’t want it for more than one meal. The thing that makes the biggest difference to me each week (besides meal planning) is food prep. I try to prepare what I can on Sunday so it’s ready for week. It doesn’t always happen but dinner comes together so much faster when I can do this.
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Lee says
Glad you loved the Chicken Lettuce Wraps! They are an FFF favorite 🙂
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Brittany Dixon says
I will definitely be making them again- delicious! 🙂
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Heather says
Thanks for this post! I think I really need to start making my lists this way – it would be so much more effective! I think the biggest trouble I have is finding quick and easy recipes to make during the week that my picky family will enjoy. By the time I get home from work I find myself scrambling to get dinner on the table and feel a tad uninspired. I’m definitely going to pick up some of those cauliflower crumbles to mix in with my kiddo’s rice, though (probably my husband’s too). We have some very picky veggie eaters in my house.
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Christina S says
Biggest challenge is definitely budget. I have a $550/month budget for our family of six in SoCal. Some things are cheaper here than the midwest but I find it’s just as difficult to stick to our budget here as it was in the midwest.
Very few things come home that are organic ($$$) so I try to stick with REAL food at least.Reply
Brittany Dixon says
I think with sticking with mostly real food while feeding a family of six is incredibe! Way to go mama!
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Jeannie says
This is great. Would love to see these monthly. Where is your go to for finding recipes?
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Brittany Dixon says
I love pinterest, blogs and a couple solid cookbooks I have (eating well and cooking from the farmers market).
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Jeannie says
What are your go to blog faves for meal planning? Do you have a list anywhere or can you do a post? Obviously aside from your own. 😉
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Grandma Honey says
Did you mean to leave out the link to the recipe for the Crockpot Salsa Chicken? It looks SO good and I’d love to try ti. You are such an inspiration to me.
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Brittany Dixon says
It’s the easiest “recipe” ever! Just use boneless chicken breasts, cover with salsa and cook. Then shred in the pot! It’s awesome! I just googled it though and here is the measurements if you want them- http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/2-ingredient-slow-cooker-salsa-chicken-recipe/ Enjoy!! 🙂
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DJ says
When I was first starting out (and still during really busy times) I found it easiest to meal plan & shop for four dinners at a time. If your new to meal planning or your routine is being shaken up (back-to-school, traveling spouse, afternoon/evening plans that could run late), four meals allows you the flexibility pick up a pizza last minute and push your planned meals back a night or two with out ingredients spoiling in the fridge.
I try to keep my freezer, fridge & pantry stocked with ingredients that aren’t quick to spoil & can easily be used to a variety of meals. If I’ve cooked all 4 planned meals, I can use ‘pantry meals’ for dinner until I get my next shopping trip. With frozen spinach, frozen chopped onions & half a carton of eggs I can pull together a frittata with leftover produce. I make quesadillas with cheese, leftover meats/veggies or just a can of black beans. Having sweet potato freezer fries on hand allows me to turn sandwiches into a meal… but all these pantry stables will keep until another week and can be planned into future meals.
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Brittany Dixon says
Awesome AWESOME tips DJ, especially the plan for 4 meals a week one. I do a similar method of planning one meal that could easily keep until the following week if I needed it to. Thank you so much for your input!
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Christina says
One of my biggest challenges is being overly ambitious at weeknight meal planning – sometimes I plan overly complicated or time-consuming meals for a weeknight, and then get home from work and find I have zero desire to make what I planned. I’m trying to do more advance cooking on weekends, but like someone said above, sometimes life gets in the way 🙂
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Brittany Dixon says
Oh yes, I’m guilty of this too. I try to anticipate my schedule, but sometimes I move meals around for the same reason. It’s amazing how sometimes the intentions I have on meal planning day don’t seem to be there anymore come the actual day of cooking 😉
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Adriann says
Love the meal planning posts!
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Lindsey @ Simply Lindsey says
Those meals look so delicious! I absolutely love date bars. My Mom and Grandma always make them for Christmas every year. 🙂 One of my biggest challenges for meal planning is not having any quick and easy options available if I end up not having enough time to make dinner. Trader Joes has a lot of great frozen options that I try to get to have on hand for occasions like this.
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Maria says
My biggest challenge is planning and buying all the ingredients to make certain meals and then not really feeling it the night I planned to make it. So sometimes (and I do my best to make sure this doesn’t happen), the ingredients will get old before I’m hungry for that particular meal. And boy do I HATE to waste food.
I love love love my Intuitive Eating books and resources and they say always to eat what you are really hungry for (or else you won’t be fully satisfied), but this does not bode well for meal planning. I guess I can try to make sure I have ingredients for food I crave the most and plan for a ton of variety. Luckily, I live within a three minute walk to Trader Joe’s, so I can always grab ingredients there when a craving for tacos strikes…again 🙂
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Brittany Dixon says
I’m jealous of your TJs so close by! I used to do the same thing (just pick up what I was feeling) but sadly that isn’t an option right now at this phase of life. I really appreciate the concept of only eating what you are really hungry for and guess I am lucky that I’m so ravenous by dinner that I’m hungry for anything ha 😉
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whitney says
I like the way you have your grocery list broken down. I generally write down the ingredients for each recipe as I decide to make it and I end up zipping around the entire store like a pinball! The way you have it looks much nicer and calmer. A printable with that format would be sweet!
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Tami @ Have My Cake says
My biggest challenge is planning well to suit everyone. I’m vegetarian and my husband and daughter are omnivores. That in itself doesn’t pose a problem…the problem is that I always seem to plan really well for them and then forget about me. Haha.
Thanks for mentioning how much you spend on food! I always wonder what other families spend. Every time I read a meal planning post, I feel like they spend so much less than we do and I must be doing something wrong. We spend more along the lines of what you do for the 3 of us. Maybe a tiny bit less. But still…up there.
We also love our crockpot! I use it numerous times a week!!!!
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Lauren @ Oh Hey! I Like That! says
You are the champion of meal planning!
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Brynn says
I love meal plans, gah! My crock pot is my least used appliance, but when I do use it, I love it. Such a lifesavor.
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Elizabeth says
We live parallel lives.
I would have loved to eat all of that! I love the way that you outline your meals, make a list (stick to it!) and then execute.
My biggest challenge with meal prep is execution. I have all the right intentions but when it comes to sticking to the plan I want to rebel! This leads to a lot of food waste which I hate & my hubby hates even more! I’m thinking that Instacart may help me stick to a meal plan.
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Glenda says
I love your meal planning posts. I think I have already made four of the recipes from your post this week in the past. My biggest challenge is planning meals to suit everyone- me my husband and my 2 1/2 year old. I usually try to plan and shop on Friday, so that I have nap time on Saturday and Sunday to prep for the week. Obviously life happens and this doesn’t always go according to plan.
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Liz says
I love meal planning!! I really can’t get by without it. I worked as a private nanny for 9 years and cooked all of their dinners (and did the grocery shopping), so I’ve been meal planning for nearly fifteen years now.
My biggest challenge is finding meals that my one year old and 2.5 year old will both eat!! The baby is still pretty easy, but my toddler is in a terribly picky phase. I look at your menu and think there’s no way I’m not making grilled cheese or something to supplement that. Combine that with the baby having a severe peanut and tree nut allergy, and I find us slightly limited in our menu. I still try to have lots of variety though!
My big tip is cook once, eat twice. This week, we had wild rice chicken salad, followed by chicken rice soup. Cook all the chicken and rice together on the same day, prep all the veggies together. We were able to get 4 days worth of meals from one day of prep/cooking. Of course, I am thankful for a husband who doesn’t mind leftovers 🙂Reply
