Monthly Meal Planning for Busy Families! - Happily Ever Mom (2024)

Thank you [Vons, Pavilions,&Albertsons] for sponsoring this post. Check out the new Signature family of brands from [Vons, Pavilions, & Albertsons], with more than 4,000 Signature products available and a 100% money-back guarantee.

I am not a Mom who loves to cook, but I am a Mom who works hard to get meals on our table.

That’s why I came up with a monthly meal planning system thatactually works. Since I prefer to cook recipes that I already know or that are quick and easy, this has worked wonders for our family. This is been particularly helpfulsince I’m a last minute, “Let’s go out to eat” kinda person when I get too hungry and too frustrated in the kitchen. If you’re like me or if you need a faster way to meal plan each week for your busy family, read these tips that have saved ourfamily dinner time after time!

Imagine the kids are screaming that they’re hungry and your stomach is tied in knots too. You all just need dinner on the table.

But, with all the distractions, it seems impossible to make your family something to eat!

This happens in our house a lot. Which is why we use what I call the flip/flop method. Each day is a category (which isn’t a new concept, but it works for us). I write two ideas for each category. For example, Ground meat is on Thursdays so my two ideas for that category iseither hamburgers or taco salad (sometimes taco shells too). I take those two ideas and flip/flop them throughout the month.

For example:

• Thursday week 1 hamburgers,
• Thursday week 2 taco salad,
• Thursday week 3 hamburgers,
• Thursday week 4 taco salad.

Boom. That’s a whole month’s worth of Thursday meals!

But, Katie, don’t you get tired of the same meals?

We find that the two week schedule does not burn us out on any meals. But I do sometimes switch things up later in the month if we start to get burnt out. This is when we use our back up meals (see the bottom of the post).

Here’s an example of what I do: I plan two weeks at a time with my flip/flop meal plan and thenrepeat that meal plan again.

Monday – Seafood (salmon) —> Next Monday – Seafood (shrimp stir fry)

Tuesday – Chicken (breaded chx fingers) —> Next Tuesday – Chicken (Chicken soup)

Wednesday – Pasta (pesto) —> Next Wednesday – Pasta (spaghetti)

Thursday – Out to Eat ORleftovers —> Thursday – Out to Eat OR leftovers

Friday – Ground meat (Hamburgers) —> Next Friday – Ground meat(Taco Salad)

Saturday – Crockpot (Enchilada Soup) —> Next Saturday – Crockpot (Roast w/veggies)

Sunday – Homemade Pizza (pepperoni) —> Next Sunday – Homemade Pizza (veggie)

Then, repeat this menu again!

Monday – Seafood (salmon) —> Next Monday – Seafood (shrimp stir fry)

Tuesday – Chicken (breaded chx fingers) —> Next Tuesday – Chicken (Chicken soup)

Wednesday – Pasta (pesto) —> Next Wednesday – Pasta (spaghetti)

Thursday – Out to Eat ORleftovers —> Thursday – Out to Eat OR leftovers

Friday – Ground meat (Hamburgers) —> Next Friday – Ground meat(Taco Salad)

Saturday – Crockpot (Enchilada Soup) —> Next Saturday – Crockpot (Roast w/veggies)

Sunday – Homemade Pizza (pepperoni) —> Next Sunday – Homemade Pizza (veggie)

Guess what happens?

You’ve got an ENTIRE month planned!

While I always flip flop between burgers and taco salad/hard shell tacos, I will change the chicken and seafood meals later in the month so that we don’t get tired of the meals.

The genius behind this meal plan is that I can buy all my meat, dry, canned, and boxed food at once. During my second week, that means that I’m just running to our local store to pick up fruits and veggies for the week.

In fact, I’m normally running to Vons, Pavilions, orAlbertsons because theirSignature brand includes products across six product sectors – Signature SELECT™, Signature Kitchens™, Signature Farms™, Signature Cafe®, Signature Home™, and Signature Care™, including a wide assortment of pantry staples, delicious prepared foods, fresh produce and ingredients that I need for my meals. That means I can pick up almost EVERYTHING with one stop!

Now, that’s easy!

More Tips to Keep You on Track with You’re Meal Plan

• Flip/Flop Back Up Plan: Keep two meals on hand at all times like clam chowder, extra clams, and crackers. Or, frozen chicken fingers with frozen peas/corn and applesauce.When you run out of back up meals, grab these same two meals to flip/flop between when you need a last minute meal.

• Meal Prep: Cut veggies, mix seasonings, and throw crockpot recipes into a ziplock bag right when you get home from the grocery store. This extra step saves you so much time during the week!
• Buy and Freeze:When my friend wrote about 36 rotisserie chicken recipes, I loved her tip to freeze extra rotisserie chicken to throw into soups, enchiladas, and casseroles. When in doubt, freeze and use later!
• Find your “go-to” store: This is the store that you know you can go to in order to find last minute ingredients or a quick meal when all else fails. We loveThe NEW Signature line, available exclusively at Vons, Pavillions, & Albertsons, which includes more than 4,000 items – from coffee to juice, soup to cereal, fresh produce to fried chicken (this is my favorite by the way!), and delicious prepared foods to trusted home staples – all with a 100% money back guarantee.

Giveaway!!