2012 Spring/Summer Monthly Menu Plan

Our favorite fish tacos!

Spring is here and time to refresh the menu! Here is my updated menu plan for the Spring and Summer months for May through September. I have a few new recipes to try that I am excited about, including making my own homemade gyros and pizza on the grill! Can’t wait! For more information on my strategy for monthly menu planning, visit here.

Mondays – Main Dish Salads

1. Cobb Salad
2. Macaroni Ham Salad
3. Chicken Caesar Salad
4. Bacon & Blue Cheese Steak Salad 

Tuesdays – Sandwiches 

1. Grilled Veggie Sandwiches (an awesome vegetarian frugal meal!)
2. BBQ Beef or Pork Sandwiches (throw a roast in the crock pot with soy sauce and your favorite BBQ sauce and let it cook on low all day! Shred the meat and serve with additional bbq sauce on hamburger buns! Yum!)
3. Eggplant Sandwiches – (this is a new recipe to try! I love goat cheese, so may mix and match with this recipe)
4. Beef or Lamb Gyros - this is on my new list to try and experiment with this summer! I am a huge fan of gyros and want to learn how to prepare them myself!

Wednesday – Italian

I like to use brown rice pasta for all our pasta needs – it’s yummy, more easily digestible than wheat, and far more nutritious than white, and still light and flavorful!

1. Pasta Presto (twice a month)
2. Summer Squash Chicken Alfredo (with homemade alfredo sauce and substitute with raw cream)
3. Penne w/Chicken and Asparagus (or in season produce – summer squash, bell peppers, etc.)

Thursday – Mexican

1. Grilled Stuffed Burritos (We love to put all the ingredients in a tortilla and wrap it up and grill on all sides on the stove)
2. Fish Tacos (twice a month)
3. Chicken Fajitas (sliced chicken, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, black beans, and corn, sauted together with taco seasoning mix! Serve with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.)

Friday – Pizza

Friday is family night, so it is usually our traditional homemade pizza! I make a batch of 4 crusts at one time and stick them in the freezer for easy pull-out on Friday nights.

1. Homemade Pizza Supreme on Homemade Pizza Crust - one of the things I want to try this summer is pizza on the grill! (twice a month)
2. BBQ Chicken Pizza
3. Pepper, Onion & Feta Pizza (add humus underneath ingredients)

Saturday – BBQ

Saturday is Daddy’s opportunity to have fun on the grill and give Mommy a break! ;)

1. Pork Chops
2. Hamburgers 2x
3. BBQ Chicken, Steak or some other special meat

Sundays

We like to try to intentionally keep Sunday as a day of rest at our home, so one way we have found to make it fun, simple, and intentional is to often eat out as a family on Sunday evenings. Otherwise, we eat leftovers, baked potato bar, nachos, etc.

For further inspiration, check out Real Food Meals for Summer and Busy Seasons.

What are your favorite summer recipes?

About Lindsay

Lindsay Edmonds is first a lover of Jesus, wife, mother of four, homemaker, and writer. She loves inspiring women around the world toward simple, natural, and intentional living for the glory of God.

38 Responses to 2012 Spring/Summer Monthly Menu Plan

  1. Martha September 15, 2012 at 7:59 am #

    Thank you so much for helping me schedule in our weekly meals, it helps ease my grocery shopping and allows a more stress-free dinner making time with the 2 little ones! I can’t wait to see what menus you have for the fall/winter months!

  2. Hayley August 29, 2012 at 10:36 am #

    Hi there!! We’ve been following the meal plan over the summer and have loved it. At the beginning I saved all the recipes in a doc and just realized that I lost the ham & macaroni salad recipe. I came here to find it but this doesn’t seem to be the same one. Can you send it to me? Thanks so much!

  3. Rachel May 28, 2012 at 5:56 pm #

    I love that the weekly calendar starts with Monday. I do that and my husband likes to give me a hard time. It seems like Monday is the first day of the week.

  4. Sarah N May 23, 2012 at 9:20 am #

    Yummy!!! Will be trying some of those recipes!! Curious about whether you cook enough for leftovers or do you just cook a different meal each day?

  5. Amilee Sanders May 14, 2012 at 12:39 pm #

    Thanks for all of the menu ideas!

  6. Hannah May 14, 2012 at 10:06 am #

    Many thanks for graciously taking the time to share your seasonal menu plans. I so do enjoy reading them and adapting my own menu plan from them. I especially like how the meals for spring/summer are simple, light, yet delicious, colorful and nutritional. Thanks so much for sharing!

  7. Lisa @ live...love...farm May 10, 2012 at 1:05 pm #

    Oh I love your list. It is always fun to look at what others are doing and gain new insight to things I can add. I love fish tacos and have only made them once – good reminder to add these to my list. The picture itself is making me hungry :)
    Thank you to K for posting the link to the crock pot gyros. I will be trying this too.
    As for Sunday meals I saw the comments below and for us it is crock pot day. I like to get something ready Saturday night or before we head out on Sunday. Then when we get home something is hot and ready.

  8. julie May 9, 2012 at 4:49 pm #

    I’ve made homemade gyros twice recently and they were a huge hit! I’ve seen a recipe for homemade naan but haven’t tried it yet. Enjoy your menu and thanks for the inspiration!

  9. Michelle W May 9, 2012 at 1:20 pm #

    This meal plan looks super yummy! We have been using emeals.com for our weekly menu plan and have been loving it, so far everything has been delicious!! Have you ever looked at doing emeals? I like that it cuts out the planning and list making and just gives me yummy healthy meals on a budget (based on local store sales).

  10. Lauren May 9, 2012 at 7:52 am #

    Hi Lindsay,
    I just recently found your site and love all of the great info. The soaking method you use is very interesting. Do you grind your own flours and, if I didn’t, would it make a difference in the final product? For example, would I need more or less liquid? Thanks for any help!

  11. Elizabeth Rotering May 9, 2012 at 6:14 am #

    Also, Curious about your budget. I don’t think I could make all those meals with our monthly budget of 700 dollut maybe I am wrong!ars a month for seven of us and three day care kiddos, b

    • Ali K. May 9, 2012 at 12:58 pm #

      $700 can get you FAR if you buy things in bulk such as via Costco, Azure Standard, and WinCo bulk section. If you are buying your groceries at Albertsons or Kroger, $700 doesn’t get you very far. Also, you have to cut all non-essentials out – soda, candy, snack packs, cereal, crackers, etc. Stick to the basics – beans, wheat, vegetable, fruits, meat, dairy, and cooking supplies. And, buy in BULK!

  12. Emily May 8, 2012 at 6:20 pm #

    Lindsey,

    The Pampered Chef offers some GREAT grilling products! They actually introduced a pizza pan this year that looks fabulous. I had one customer buy one because she was using her regular pizza stone, but thought that might be a better idea. They even have a really cool pan for grilling a whole chicken! It’s nuts!

    They definitely are investment pieces, but I think they’d be well worth it!

  13. Nicole May 8, 2012 at 5:58 pm #

    Hi Lindsay, Thank you for sharing this. I am excited try your fish tacos! We have already made your Pasta Presto dish a monthly meal in our house. We all LOVE it! I was wondering, if it isn’t getting too personal, could you let us know about how much your monthly meal budget is? Minus the eating out budget. That would be really helpful for me! Thanks again!

    • Lindsay May 9, 2012 at 7:00 am #

      You can find more details on our budget here.

  14. Sharon May 8, 2012 at 5:04 pm #

    Lindsay,

    One thing I have noticed again and again is how incredibly organized you are! Do you use some type of software for home management? How do you organize all of your recipes, menu plans, schedules, etc…? I have heard that some people use a program called Evernote–apparently it’s free. Anyway, I love all of the information available, I just don’t know how to organize it effectively. Thank you, Sharon

    • Amy May 11, 2012 at 6:32 pm #

      I use Evernote and absolutely love it. The basic version (which is what I use) is free. You can download an app for your computer, phone and also access your account via a webpage. I use it for my daily routines, weekly menus, weekly grocery lists, daily journaling, school notes, booklists and anything else I want to organize. Another great app is Wunderlist. It’s my favorite todo list app and is also cloud based so I can access it on my phone and computer and my todo lists are always in sync.

    • Lindsay May 13, 2012 at 6:00 am #

      Sharon, I don’t really use any particular home management system beyond a few apps on my iPhone. I organize my recipes in a large recipe binder. I print out our favorites and store them in there under various categories, and I also use Allrecipes.com’s recipe box to keep track of our favorite recipes there (since you will notice I like to use their recipes as a start for many of my own experimenting). I personally don’t care for Evernote, but that’s just me. It’s worth checking out. You might also consider building a homemaking binder. This is where I started for sure in getting organized and then branched out from there. I still use it in many ways for my mission statement, weekly planning, schedule, and for keeping my master menu plan list.

  15. K May 8, 2012 at 8:58 am #

    Lindsey,
    Here is a Crock Pot gyro meat recipe that we LOVE! We just do the meat with flatbread, tsaziki sauce (you can buy premade or make your own), tomatoes, onions (for those who like onions), cucumber, and we like to add kalamata olives and feta cheese. One of my favorites and quick-to-prepare meals – enjoy!

    http://rainydaygal.com/2009/11/17/crock-pot-gyros/

  16. Joy May 8, 2012 at 7:38 am #

    We’ve been doing something very similar with our meal plans. I love the idea of changing it seasonaly. Our Mexican night is getting kind of ditto-ish. Time to change it up! Thanks for the inspiration!

  17. Anna May 8, 2012 at 6:47 am #

    I also love gyros! Would love to learn to make them at home. I tried to click on the link for the recipe, but it brought me to the grilled pizza recipe instead! ;)

    • Lindsay May 8, 2012 at 7:10 am #

      It’s fixed!

  18. Jodi May 8, 2012 at 5:50 am #

    Just took my first batch of soaked grain bread out of the oven, they look amazing and smells even better. Can wait to have a slice with lunch:)

  19. Kristal May 8, 2012 at 5:27 am #

    Thanks for an updated menu! I love your menu plans. My husband is personally grateful I found your blog because he loves the Zuppa recipe!

  20. Jessica May 8, 2012 at 5:13 am #

    Thanks for sharing! I always love getting inspiration for my menus!

  21. Deb May 8, 2012 at 4:36 am #

    Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to try the grilled burritos. That sounds like something we would love.

  22. Joanna May 8, 2012 at 4:20 am #

    I love your mix of themes for the summer! We are about to have a new baby, so I don’t think I”ll be meal planning much in the next several weeks. But after that, I’m definitely going to revisit this page and borrow your themes! Just reading this is getting me in the mood for summer. :)

  23. Jacque May 8, 2012 at 4:13 am #

    Yummy Lindsay! Thanks for posting this! Could you link or post your alfredo sauce recipe made with raw cream? Thank you!

    • Lindsay May 8, 2012 at 5:43 am #

      I usually use this recipe as a guide and substitute my own raw cream for the heavy whipping cream.

  24. Sarah D May 8, 2012 at 4:04 am #

    That is a great idea to have a theme for each day of the week! I m getting pretty uninspired in my meal planning while my pregnancy is progressing- I may have to adopt this. Thank you!

  25. Heather May 8, 2012 at 3:43 am #

    What a great list! I love to see when people have “theme” nights, I think it makes meal planning more fun. Of course, I just kind of pull from what I have on hand…very little planning going on here :-) I have never had fish tacos before, but those look awesome, I will definitely have to try them!

  26. Stacey May 8, 2012 at 3:02 am #

    Your list looks wonderful ~ I’d like to come to your house to eat! The only thing that gave me pause is Sunday. We too like to keep Sunday as a day of rest, but also feel that others should be able to as well. When we go out to eat on Sunday; we are contributing to having others work on that day. I’m not saying that we don’t go out because we do occasionally (after all ~ those employees will be there whether we go or not). I usually try to prepare something on Saturday for Sunday ~ chicken or tuna salad sandwiches, for example. Your baked potato bar is a great idea that I’m going to have to try!

    • Rachel O'Neill May 8, 2012 at 8:43 am #

      Stacey- My husband and I have the same conviction about the Lord’s Day :) . Encouraging to see that there are others who are striving to honor and observe the Christian Sabbath. The Lord has really blessed us over the past three years as we’ve changed our understanding and keeping of the day!

    • Meredith May 8, 2012 at 6:24 pm #

      Maybe the person(s) working take their Sabbath on another day of the week. It is possible that Sunday is a work day for them, and their day of rest is on another. You can honor the Lord with a day of rest one day of the week, whatever day that may be.

      Great post Lindsay! I have done this type of menu plan before, and am not sure why I stopped! It made it so much easier to plan. Thanks for the reminder.

      • Bethany May 8, 2012 at 9:07 pm #

        I agree. I used to not want to eat out on Sundays because I didn’t want to contribute to others having to work on a day of rest. But now I view it differently. If they have chosen Sunday as their day of rest, then they won’t be working on Sundays. Obviously there are some exceptions–those who were scheduled anyway and couldn’t find a replacement. But most people don’t even celebrate the Sabbath and if they do–it doesn’t have to be on Sunday.

    • Jen May 8, 2012 at 10:09 pm #

      I have a few family members who work in the restaurant industry, and if they want to keep their jobs, they have no choice but to work on Sundays. It’s a matter of working when you’re scheduled or not working there at all. In this economy, especially, my guess is that many of the workers simply want to be employed. Many of them have family members and children depending on them.

      I too love this menu planning system, and I’m going to give a few of the recipes you shared a try. Thanks for the ideas!

    • Ali K. May 9, 2012 at 12:54 pm #

      Many Christians work on Sundays: police officers, fire fighters, 911 operators, hospital nurses and doctors, flight attendants, hotel workers. Our society could not function without these people’s sacrifices. I don’t believe they are any less of Christians because they are working instead of attending church.

  27. Prasti May 8, 2012 at 2:23 am #

    I like doing main dish salads too. I will have to try the macaroni ham salad. We just tried your crock pot curry chicken last night and it was delish! The kids ate it up. Our 3 year old had 2 helpings (and usually he makes a fuss when he sees onions and cooked carrots in his dish).