It is that time of year! Time to revamp and reorganize my menu plan with a new monthly menu plan for the spring and summer. I have definitely grown tired of our winter meals (all those yummy root vegetables have been growing old to my taste!) and eager to begin eating those lighter meals for the summer. I absolutely love just making two menu plans for the year, one for fall/winter, and one for spring/summer. Why do I like monthly menu planning?
I only have to make one trip to the grocery store per month! Thus saving me time, energy and gas! It does take a good day off and on to map out a menu plan, but after that I am set for the next few months. On my shopping day I stop by our local Trader Joe’s & Winco. I also make a purchase through Azure Standard (natural food co-op) every two months to cover some of our whole grains and other staple items. Our produce comes twice a month through a local organic produce co-op or farmer’s market. Milk and eggs are picked up weekly through a local farm (which is completed in rotation with a few other families in my area, so I only have to do it once per month!). I honestly don’t stick strictly to this menu plan, it is more of a guideline. As different seasonal produce comes in I will add a new recipe here and there. Also, all dinners are served with some vegetable according to what is in season.
Over this next month I will start sharing with you all our spring/summer recipes, but here is my master list with links to recipes I have already posted on my blog:
WEEKLY BREAKFASTS
This is roughly our breakfast schedule that stays pretty consistent throughout the year.
Monday- Green Smoothies, Eggs, bread, biscuit or muffin
Tuesday- Oatmeal, apples, raisins
Wednesday – Green Smoothie, biscuit, muffin or bread
Thursday – Oatmeal, apples, raisins
Friday – Green Smoothies, French Toast
Saturday – Pancakes or Crepes, fruit
Sunday – Creamy Quinoa Porridge
LUNCH IDEAS
Sandwiches, fruit, fresh salad
Burritos with refried beans
Quesadillas
Leftovers
Regular Hot Dogs or add chili, baked beans, vegi
Soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit, vegi tray
DINNERS
Mondays – Main Dish Salads
1. Southwest Chicken Salad
2. Stir Fry w/Rice & Veggies (twice a month)
3. Chicken Ceasar Salad or Wraps
Tuesdays – Sandwiches & Soups
1. Grilled Veggie Sandwiches (our favorite frugal summer meal!)
2. BBQ Beef Sandwiches
3. Dijon Chicken Sandwiches (using liquid aminos and eaten on hamburger buns with toppings) & Garden Chowder
4. Fish & Chips (with homemade French Fries)
Wednesday – Italian/Ethnic
1. Pasta Presto
2. Hummus Platter
3. Penne w/Chicken and Asparagus (or in season produce)
4. Chicken Curry over Rice
Thursday – Mexican
1. Grilled Stuffed Burritos
2. Grilled Asparagus (or in season produce) Quesidillas
3. Chicken Fajitas
4. Baked Potato Bar
Friday – Special Dinner Night
Friday is family night, so we also have our once a week dessert on this night
1. Homemade Pizza (twice a month)
2. Hamburgers, baked beans
3. BBQ Chicken
Saturday & Sunday
Leftovers, Spaghetti, Nachos, or Waffles (our favorite Sunday night treat)
More Resources
Here are a few articles I have written previously on the topic.
Simplifying Menu Planning – further tips on Monthly menu planning
Budget Menu Planning – Monthly Menu
Winter Monthly Menu Plan
How do you do your menu planning? Would love to hear your tips and tricks!
Do you have a fish & chips recipe???
how do yo make your grilled stuffed burritos?
I was trying to get a friend of mine who introduced us to them to share the recipe, but they never were able to contribute. Basically, I make black beans, rice, shredded chicken, cheese, guacamole, salsa, and sour cream and combine a little bit of each topping in a tortilla. Fold in the ends and then roll it up and grill on the stove top. It is delicious!
I love this idea of “theme nights”…I am a mom of 8, including a newborn, so we started a menu rotation. We came up w/3 weeks worth of dinner meals and rotate them thru on a 6 wk rotation. It has been good for us because I simply post a menu each month and no one wonders! My three big ones (15, 12 and 9) are trained to make most of them which helps a ton. Also, it has been great in that I am almost to the point of shopping for the whole 6 weeks at one time except for fresh fruits and veggies! I enjoy your website so much..thanks for taking time to share!
I really like this whole idea of monthly menu planning. I like how you have everything broken down by days of the week. I might give that a try. I can see how it could save money also in shopping. Of course, I would still have to go weekly for perishable items like eggs, produce, etc. We try to eat as close to a whole foods diet as feasible with our income which means more fresh items than canned or frozen. I can’t wait to see some of your recipes. And I think I’m going to give this montly menu planning a whirl and see how it works for us.
Hope you and your family are doing well!
Karen
I have seasonal menus as well, depending on what is ripe in my garden and what usually goes on sale during those times. I recently changed my spring menu around a bit to include more asparagus and artichokes, as our garden is producing many more this year than last year. We have 71 artichokes growing in the garden right now! We have been eating them almost every day this week.
If you go here: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/menusandrecipes.aspx
I have a different menu for summer, as lettuce, asparagus, turnips, etc are no longer growing in my garden in summer. Summer includes more zucchini, fresh basil, tomatoes , etc.
We can grow a garden all winter here, so my fall and winter menus reflect that as well as the inexpensive price of potatoes in winter.
As our fruit trees and our grape vines mature, I imagine our summer and fall menus will have much more fresh fruit. This should be our first good year for grapes, for instance. Next year I should have a good number of peaches and pomegrantes.
you can see all of my seasonal menus.
Thanks so much for posting this, Lindsay! It is very helpful. You have to try this breakfast http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/warm-and-nutty-cinnamon-quinoa-recipe.html it is yummy, and quinoa has more protein and is a great “traditional food” for nursing moms with good nutrients. And did I mention its yummy? And its as easy to make as oatmeal if your nuts are pretoasted. You can sub coconut milk for cow milk if needed.
Great idea to do seasonal planning! Right now I plan 5-6 dinners per week depending on our activity level or how much leftovers I expect we’ll have. I don’t assign meals to days, but rather just pick what meal I feel like making the morning of from the list of options. I grocery shop once a week, mostly for the fresh produce. I do one big trip at Costco per month for meat and some pantry goods.
Just found your website….LOVE(:
What a brilliant idea doing seasonal planning. I’ve been doing monthly planning for a while. We also live in WA state, Southeast however(:
Very excited to read more about your planning.
Thanks for sharing these simple tips. I have been working on my monthly menu as of late and your practical helps have made the process easier
Particularly thinking of a category for each night of the week. May the Lord bless you today! I trust that He will bless your obedience to keep the first things first (Matthew 6:33).
I know this is off topic but I could not find your email to send this to you. It’s a link on how to make raw milk butter so that it lasts and it says you can freeze it here’s the link: http://www.meadowwoodorganics.com/Butter.html
I hope you are enjoying your babymoon!
Shila
What all is on your hummus platter?
I serve hummus with pita bread along with feta, olives and cherry tomatoes. It is delicious! A real hands on meal. You scoop up the various items onto the pita and enjoy. I will be giving a picture demonstration in the future as I share these various recipes.
Thank you for getting back to me Lindsay.I have just descovered I LOVE hummus.Dh & I do.SO this would be great in the summer time when we don’t feel like cooking or anytime for a quick meal.Thanks.
I hadn’t thought of a seasonal menu plan, but I think I might try it! I like to track my menu plan on my Google Calendar and save my recipes in Delicious, so that my calendar sends me an e-mail reminder every day with my dinner meal plan and the url for the recipe. I got the idea from Simple Mom. It is so handy!
Also, my family has made hummus since I was a little girl and the recipe is easy and very traditional to the middle east. You can see it at:
http://shewhoislaughingorcrying.blogspot.com/2009/03/you-asked-for-it-my-hummus-recipe.html
I never thought of a “monthly” menu plan! You are so smart!!! That would save so much time. Thanks for all of the great ideas.
I also do a most of my shopping through Trader Joes, Winco, and Azure Standard. Where do you buy your meat?
I buy my meat (chickens and beef) through local farmers once a year in larger quantities.
Thank you for sharing how you plan out your montly menus…it looks like it would really simplify life! I’m definitely saving this post…it might be helpful to implement sometime soon. (I’m expecting our second baby any day and I expect life to get a lot busier.
I plan a menu every two weeks to coincide with pay day
Your menu looks a lot like one of my friend’s menu. I’m thinking I want to start moving toward something more set like that instead of coming up with a new menu twice a month.
Thank you for bringing up meal planning again! I am really trying to get in the habbit of doing a monthly one! I love the idea of a Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer ones! Thank you so much for your inspiration!
Can you please share your fish and chips recipe? Especially if the fish is also homemade?
Yum! All of these ideas look delicious. We only plan 1-2 weeks at a time for groceries, but what I do is have a list of seasonal meals that are healthy and easy to make, set a budget, and then see what is on sale at the grocery store that fits within the budget.
I try to keep a stocked pantry, take inventory before we go to the store, and then have that in mind as well when I shop. I keep a dry erase board in the kitchen to keep track of what I’ve run out of.
Sometimes I find that it is better to go to two stores, one for staples and the other for fresh fruits and vegetables. Even though it is a little bit of a side trip, I find I save money that way. We also do breakfast for dinner and nachos
I like the idea of rotating the menu plan for seasonal changes! I need to get a few new recipes in the mix, here, and spring (now) would be a good time to start. I just love reading other people’s menues, as I so often find myself at a loss as to what to make! Your plan sounds yummy!
By the way, I do a weekly menu plan/shopping. I think I’d like to try a 2 wk one, though, just so I don’t have to do the work of planning so often.
Will you be sharing your hummus recipe? I have been having a tough time making it taste as good as store bought!
Chick – Pea Hummus
• 1 can chick peas, (19 0z/540 ml) RINSED and DRAINED
• 1\3 cup Olive oil
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 red pepper*
• 2 cloves garlic*
*Roast garlic and pepper together in oven at 350-400 approx 20-25 min until soft.
In food processor, combine chick peas, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and red pepper. Mix until very smooth. We use food processor or hand blender. Makes about 2 cups. Freezes well.
This our recipe that we always make. It’s really nice with the peppers.
Thank you for the motivation to menu plan again! The spring/summer style recipes and the thought of less harried grocery shopping was just what I needed!
I do a weekly planning. Since I work outside the home, I can go to the store, drug store, dry cleaners etc on the way home. Also, down the street from my job, there’s a farmer’s market, where I pick up local grown fruits and veggies, and eggs. I *think* they sell raw milk there, but I’m not convinced it’s safe.
We don’t do theme meals, too much thought required. I’d rather think of a meal/meals in advanced and have it planned for the week.
For instance our meals for this week include:
M-Stuffed turkey burgers w/homemade steak fries, and peas
T- Lemon chicken, w/salad and brocoli
W- soup and sammies (church nite)
T- homemade spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, garden salad
F-homemade Chicken kiev, salad, asparagus
S-date night out
S-brunch at a local hotel, dinner, leftovers more than likely