Family Meal Plan PLUS bonus Toddler Meal Plan

It's Monday and in the Johnston household that means a lot of food prep and cooking! Mondays are my day off for the week (instead of Saturdays) so this is when I get things done to make the rest of my week work.
It all begins on Sunday afternoon. Bubby goes down for a nap and the meal planning begins. Now let me just insert a fun fact for a second: I HATE MEAL PLANNING. I will cook anything you ask of me, as long as you decide what we're cooking. It's insanely stressful for me. It wasn't until we started looking at our budget that I realized we were spending way too much money on food. Not just going out but throwing things into the cart without rhyme or reason. I had produce going bad, fruit flies everywhere, and always the wrong meat in my freezer! I realized I really needed to start thinking about what we were going to cook before we even bought the groceries. So enter Sundays. I sat down and thought of 3 meals. That's it: 3 meals. We usually have leftovers for 2 of the nights, we eat out 1 night a week and Tuesdays are special: I work late and Hubby is super awesome about coming up with anything to eat. Usually it's more leftovers or sandwiches or simple pasta dishes. Not because he can't cook (good lord he's amazing) but because it's usually crazy when it's only one parent at home with Bubby.
This is how I break it down and write a meal plan in about >30 min.

Start by writing out 3 different breakfast options:
Breakfast: 
Shakeology (healthiest meal of the day!! and easiest)
Eggs with potatoes and leftover broccoli (see dinners)
Oatmeal w/ banana and PB

Then think of snacks. Since I eat "clean" one of the rules is to eat frequently throughout the day, every 2-3 hours. Snacks are really important. Balanced snacks will pair a complex carb (such as fruit, veggies or I even count cheese) with a protein.

Snacks:

Cheese sticks (2) with almonds (12)
Cottage cheese and fruit (peaches)
Veggies (peppers, cucumbers, carrots) with greek yogurt
Fruit (grapes) with cashews

Lunch is the easiest for me to plan. I'm super boring, my Hubby eats carrots and a banana for lunch (I'm not even joking he is that easy to plan for) and Bubby has her own meal plan for lunches.

Lunch:
Salads with Chicken, feta, pecans
Frozen stir fry and chicken
Salad with Tuna Salad (made with greek yogurt and mustard)

Dinner is the trickiest because you're feeding the whole family at once and it has to get made between getting home at 5 or 6pm and Bubby going to bed at 8pm. I'm also trying to limit the amount of meat we consume (to save money and because I really value a plant-based diet).

Dinner: 
Whole Roasted Chicken, roasted broccoli, and sweet potatoes
-now there is no way my family is going to eat a whole chicken, but I can get chicken broth plus shredded chicken for either soup or bbq chicken sandwiches at a later date! Way better than just buying 3 chicken breasts for almost the same price! I buy a whole, unfrozen, natural chicken and just boil it in water with salt and pepper. Use the leftover broccoli in your eggs the next day!
Tomato Soup and Grilled Turkey cheese Sandwiches
-I do NOT buy canned tomato soup since I can't find a brand that doesn't put sugar in it. I found a great recipe on this site that I am using. I do buy fresh shaved deli meat turkey that I know some people would have a problem with but I don't.
Red Beans and Rice- SO excited to try this tonight!!! I've linked the recipe I'll be kind of using. I'm not adding any sausage and Hubby vetoed the creole seasoning so I'm going to make that part up as I go. This should give me leftovers for one of the other nights this week.


Then I just made a list of what I needed to get that I didn't already have, which was mostly produce and the beans. I only spent $59 at the store! Really excited about that! It's fun when you're trying and it literally pays off!

Below is the promised bonus Toddler Meal Plan with 2 specific recipes: one of my own creation and one I found on Pinterest. Here's a preview pic of what I have planned for my Bubby for the week

Toddler Menu 


I hope this helped you in some way. I'd love to hear how YOU meal plan! I'll take all the ideas I can get!!!


xoxo,

Summer