We got home from Branson last night and are getting back into the swing of things around here today. I’m still not completely unpacked or caught up on laundry, but hopefully that happens tonight! 🙂
Here’s what’s on our menu plan this week:
Breakfasts
Breakfasts are a big deal at our house. Not necessarily because of what we eat, but because this is the one meal we've committed to eat together around the table pretty much every single day.
Dinners are often somewhat grab and go or brown bagged — especially on the nights our kids have activities. But breakfast, it's a given. We eat, we talk, we read together, we pray together, and we linger around the table. It's been a beautiful addition to our schedule + a great way to start the day!
Choose from:
I made my favorite Post-Workout Smoothie live on Facebook this morning! Watch the video here for the recipe — and to see a real, early morning, non-showered version of yours truly! 🙂
Lunches & Snacks
Our extra refrigerator is 100% devoted to lunch items.We're making up a big batch of freezer-friendly PB&J on the weekends and, in addition, I'll have 4 different bins of items that the kids can choose one from — cheese sticks, snack packs, veggies, fruit, applesauce, chips, cookies, etc.
Each bin has something different so that when they choose one item from each, they'll have a well-rounded lunch.
Kathrynne helped me set this up and she took the initiative to write a board with details on how to puttogether the lunches. So far, I have literally done NOTHING for lunch prep other than help set the system up and make sure we had the items on hand for Kathrynne to get everything into baggies in the extra refrigerator.
And then the kids have been entirely in charge of each making their own lunch every night. I haven't had to remind anyone and no one has yet to forget their lunch. I know we're only two weeks in, but I'm pretty excited at how well this has worked so far — especially because the kids seem to be loving it!
Jesse and I are in charge of our own lunches and I'm going to have items on hand to choose from: fried eggs, toast, chips & salsa, yogurt, refried beans & cheese, salads, fruits, veggies, and/or leftovers.
Snack: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
(I’m trying a new Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe this week. Get the link to it here.)
Dinners
We're planning to prep all our dinners ahead — with Jesse taking care of the grilling/smoking of the meat and me taking care of the other meals — so that there is good food ready to eat on busy nights.
- Smoked Chicken, Broccoli, Rice
- Build-Your-Own Haystacks, Fruit
- Ground Pork/Onions/Potatoes Hash, Salad, Fruit
- Dinner on the Grill (Hamburgers & Chicken Sausage), Veggies, Fruit, Chips
- Crockpot Taco Soup, Muffins, Fruit
- Ground Turkey/Bean/Cheese Burritos, Fruit, Tossed Salad
- Dinner Out
Freezer Cooking
I'm doing a Freezer Cooking session on Thursday where I'm combining dinner prep with freezer cooking. This means that I'll really only have to bake/cook one day this week. I’ll be making Crockpot Taco Soup, Burritos, and Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. Look for more details on how that goes later this week!
Look for my post tomorrow with full details on what all the groceries we bought for this week plus how much we paid for everything!
What's on YOUR menu plan this week? Share the link to it in the comments or tell us what you're most excited about cooking!
Related Menu-Planning Posts:
3 Recipes I Made Recently Using What We Had on Hand
Why I'm Back to Menu-Planning, Grocery Shopping, and Freezer Cooking
Why We Stopped Making Family Dinners a Priority
YEARS of Past Menu Plans We've Shared Here
6 Ways We're Keeping Our Grocery Budget Low
Why We More Than Doubled Our Grocery Bill
