Healthy Meal Plans: Quick – Easy – Frugal

Does the thought of creating healthy meal plans for more than today make you want curl up into the fetal position and hide?

These days, you feel like woman of the year if you somehow manage to pop a frozen dinner in the oven one night and then pick up a hot chicken box to serve the family another.  The struggle is real, I know. 

I used to be defeated and unorganized about feeding my crew dinner each week, much less – wholesome dinners.  I dreaded it!  And this feeling wouldn’t go away because, well, my people ’round here kept wanting to eat.

Every. stinkin.’ day.

If I had meat in the freezer, I would forget to thaw it out.  Most days if I did think ahead to thaw out something, I wouldn’t have the food that I needed for the recipe.  Most often though, I’d get to that five o’ clock hour and realize I had no plan for dinner. 

“I’m really blowing this Wifey thang,” I would think to myself, “Takeout again.  What a failure I am at this.  I hate this-Why can’t I figure this out?”

God is gracious though and heard my cries of agony.

Hallelujah, I finally figured out a simple way to create healthy meal plans each week that have cut my grocery bill in half, saved me gobs of time, but mostly have helped me completely lose the stress of what to feed the fam for dinner.  I love the whole process now and I can’t wait to share it with you.

This week has been insane {I’m sure you have crazy-town-busy weeks like we do too}, but in the midst of it I’ve thought of you and tried to catch what I could to show you my quick little system of a weekly meal planning. I will continue to do so in the coming weeks to help you learn how FAST and easy this can be.

What we ate this week w/my Healthy Meal Plans

While I’m not perfect at this,  I feel like becoming a part of {the Nike of Nutrition} wellness company last year, I finally learned how to eat balanced meals and then feed them with my family. No diets allowed. Most importantly, we are getting in those food groups and nutrition that I feel like God intends us to.  At dinner every day, for instance, I make sure we have a lean protein, complex carb, and healthy veggie.  I make enough so that all of us have that same meal for lunch the very next day.  

That’s it.  Just leftovers for the next day at lunchtime.  If I make too much, it goes in the freezer for another night’s meal.

This Week

It’s been quite unusual ’round here with us helping with a dear couple’s wedding rehearsal meal and then being invited to the wedding and reception.  That meant less cooking for me, though.  

Woot!

Don’t miss this:  You will see how I go about choosing what to buy at the grocery store.….

#1:  See what meat, veggies, and carbs I already have on hand to create lunch and dinners for one week.  

#2:  See what fruit, nut butters, etc I already have on hand for snacks for one week.  

#3:  Glance through grocery store sale paper {optional}.  

#4:  Go to my online grocery savings helper and print my shopping list.  

#5:  After looking over the stash of food that I already have and the shopping list of what I’m about to buy on sale and decide on about 5 meals I can make for dinner in the coming week {look over recipes if you are new at this}.  

#6:  Jot down any other food items needed at the grocery store to complete these meals.

 

 

What we ate this week:

Monday- Homemade meatballs with sautéed squash and zucchini

Tuesday- Date night {no cooking}

Wednesday-  Sliced ham, quinoa, and lima beans

Thursday- Ham Sandwiches and sweet potatoes

Friday-  A wedding rehearsal dinner

Saturday- A wedding reception dinner

Sunday-  Leftovers

I hope this helps you, my friend!  

 

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