Monthly meal plan. Something I never thought I could do. Weekly is one thing, but a month? You must be crazy! Actually, it is so much easier when you plan a month worth of meals in advance. I started in January because I thought it might make my life easier to have that planned out while Matt is in school. He is not in school yet, but I wanted to try out the whole monthly meal planning thing early (basically to see if it worked / if I could do it).

Our Calendar. Pink = Me, Green = Matt, Blue = Both, Brown = Meals.

I start by sitting down at the beginning of the month (whatever Friday is closest, because that is my day off / cooking day) and put a calendar (okay it’s a blank piece of paper that I write the dates on) and recipes in front of me. I make sure the calendar has any important dates written in it (date night, dinner at someone’s house, Matt working late, etc). Leftovers are written in on one day of each week. Then some of our staples (pasta, chicken w/ veggies, etc) are added onto a couple days per week. This usually fills the calendar up halfway. Now it is time to go through my recipes and cookbooks and see what new or not-as-often-cooked recipe I want to cook. Pencil those in. The calendar is now filled in. I try to do one vegetarian night a week, as well as one crockpot night. I write those meals on our whiteboard calendar and then we are good to go. Everything that happens in a month is on that calendar, so it helps to have the meals there too. Recipes are put in stack by week and clipped to the kitchen chalkboard.

Thursday is shopping day for the next week. I spend about 10 minutes writing down the weeks meals and what we need grocery wise. If I find something on super clearance at the store (our Fresh & Easy often has meat marked down), then I might change one of the meals for the week. I just make sure to take note of my changes and put it on the whiteboard when I get home. The replaced recipe can either be served later that month or just scrapped. There you have it. I also found the above board on Pinterest (via Once Upon a Chocolate Chip Pancake) and think it is a cute option, but not perfect for me. I use cookbooks / different recipes too often to organize that way. Unless, I made a little card for each cookbook and then I can use dry erase…. Anyways, while I’m off scheming, let me know what meal planning method works for you, or if you even meal plan at all.