post-partum meal planning ahead of time - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[ms.shell]

Wow, that's awesome!  So, if you post your meal plan and grocery list you could save all of us a lot of time!  LOL  I'm j/k- I wouldn't ask you to type all that out for us, but if you typed it up in the first place, it might not be too much trouble... ;P

I need to do this because I am super tired of trying to figure out dinner every.single.night- having it planned out WOULD be a big help.

[blumooned]

The main reason I started doing our meal plans (monthly) in the first place was b/c DP & I started to hate having to decide on a meal.  We would get into arguments about it!  Neither one of us would want to make the decision & then when somebody did, we wouldn't have the right stuff in the house to make it, so someone would have to run to the store - it was not fun.  So, I just started making the plans & then getting the right groceries to fit the meals.  We can switch the meals from the day they are "scheduled", but we know that all the stuff to make the meal is already in the house & ready to use!  It does mean we use a lot of frozen stuff & have to remember to thaw out meat & other stuff the night before, but it works for us!

Here is my plan for July:

	~ July 2012 ~
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
8 Grilled cheese Baked beans Veggie	9 Tacos Spanish rice Corn	10 Ravioli w/marinara Veggie	11 Brats Fries Veggie	12 Leftovers	13 Pizza wraps (beef) Veggie	14 Fish Fries Peas
15 (Grilled) chicken – bbq Fries Veggie	16 Spaghetti & meatballs Salad	17 Burritos Taco dip/salad	18 (Grilled) chicken fajitas Veggie cilantro rice	19 Leftovers	20 (Grilled) beef Cheesy bread Veggie	21 Quesadillas Cilantro rice Veggie
22 Brats Baked beans Veggie	23  Pizza wraps (chicken) Veggie	24 Spinach alfredo pasta	25 Sloppy joes Fries Veggie	26 Leftovers	27 (Grilled) chicken Garlic bread Salad	28 BLTs Sweet potato fries
29 Hamburgers Potato salad Veggie	30 Pesto pasta Veggie	31 Fish Fries Peas	1 (Grilled) beef Cheesy bread Veggie	2 Leftovers	3 (Grilled) chicken Sweet potato fries Veggie	4 Not home?

 

Baking:   oatmeal cookies                                             veggie/pasta/cous² salads

                Fruit crisp                                                            deli meat sandwiches

                Trail mixes                                                         

[blumooned]

A couple notes on my meal plan (last post):

I usually specify the "veggie", but we have a garden going & will just use whatever is ready & supplement with frozen veggies.

Fries are on there a lot (too much) this month b/c I can buy the frozen ones & they will be easy.  I'm trying to come up with some alternatives so we don't eat so many or get sick of them!

I pre-made a lot of the main dishes & DP will grill the others. YAY!

The notes at the bottom are for snacks & lunch stuff.  Lunch at our house is usually leftovers, sandwiches, fruit, yogurt - easy stuff. 

The first week is missing b/c I put it on the end of the June plan - that's just the way it worked out.

I hope that helps someone!  :)

[scowgirl]

This is very cool! thank you for posting!

[tolovemercy]

blumooned- AWESOME.  Nice work.  

I am still doing some cooking for the freezer (still have stuff stored away from the last 8 weeks or so, tho, that I'm planning to keep in the freezer until I'm postpartum).  I think I have about 2 weeks worth of dinners in there right now (not as organized as blumooned....sigh ;) ), plus ALOT of frozen pancakes, a couple of batches of to-be-baked oatmeal, muffins, and some quick breads.  I'm currently focusing on getting stuff in there that will help me when I'm nursing a newborn and my three bigger kids are all standing around me whining that they are soooo hungry :)-  Healthy-ish muffins & banana bread, baked or no-bake cookies... Any other ideas for freezer-friendly snacky stuff that preferably doesn't need to be cooked after thawing?

[devasma]

I haven't really done much freezer feeding yet, but I wanted to share a recipe I got from weelicious.com that is super easy, healthy, and freezes well. 

Banada Oat Date cookies

2 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup chopped dates

3 mashed ripe bananas

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup veg oil (I use apple sauce when I have it)

pinch of salt (which I usually don't bother with)

Mix it all together and let it sit for ten minutes. Drop by tablespoon onto cookie sheet, bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

The original recipe calls for chocolate chips but they are yummy without them.  You can add nuts, peanut butter, coconut, whatever you like to them. 

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Here's a link to my Pinterest recipes board (http://pinterest.com/mysticmoose/recipes/ ) which has several freezer recipes I'm using.  I recently started cooking for the freezer, and I have 2 lasagna primaveras, 1 classic lasagna, 1 shepherd's pie, a baked penne with chicken and sundried tomatoes, 2 batches of sloppy joes, and some browned ground beef in there.  I plan on making the chicken parmesan meatloaf, calzones, and chicken pot pie filling in the next week or so.  We buy grassfed beef in bulk, so we have lots of roasts, steaks, and ground that just need to be defrosted and cooked.  We will be marinating the steaks as they defrost, then tossing them on the grill with whatever veggies are available at the farmer's market.  I also cooked and froze beans in pint jars a few months back, and I froze serving-size portions of several types of soup when I made them when it was colder.  We have buns and brats in there, too, just to save us trips to the store.  And I always have onions, potatoes, and lots of frozen veggies.  I'm working on frozen fruit for smoothies, but I have blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and bananas at the moment. 

Reading this, I realized I have more ready-to-go than I thought!
 

Edited by diana_of_the_dunes - 6/17/12 at 9:47am

[ms.shell]

WOW, Thanks, Diana!  All kinds of yummy stuff on that board; I will look forward to using those recipes!  And yeah, your freezer sounds full!

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Thanks!  I also updated the board with my chicken pot pie and shepherd's pie recipes.  I modify them a bit, but wanted to share the basic idea in case anyone wanted to use them.

I'm totally jealous of blumooned's awesome menu plan.  I'm impressed that you can be so organized!  I plan for a week, but I don't seem to be able to look ahead further than that!