Handy Dandy Meal Planner

I thought I’d share my handy dandy weekly meal planner. This little slip of paper saves me so much time. I just choose a week and make my shopping list accordingly.

There are six weeks worth of meals here. I made a list of our family’s favorite meals. You could do thirty. I did forty, so that I could have a little leeway. Then I just filled in my little chart. Thursdays are Family Fun nights so I listed my children's favorite meals. Saturdays are not listed because that’s the day I shop and we always have leftover soup on that day.

I go through my refrigerator and dump any leftover vegetables in a pot with an onion and whatever spices suit my fancy at the time and let this simmer for a few hours. If I have leftover dressing or sauces I add them too, just before serving. (It’s not a good idea to mix sauces) Sometimes I blend the soup with my hand blender and add a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt to each bowl. This is a very kid friendly way of eating veggies. Sometimes I just leave it chunky. If I don’t have a lot of veggies, I throw in a few lentils or rice or barley. My family likes this because the soup always tastes different. My daughter whips up a loaf of thick whole grain bread in the breadmaker, and supper is served. Easy, schmeazy.

If you'd like a blank template. Go to my files.