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Save yourself some time, money and stress by using this FREE Meal Plan that is full of amazing recipes. Each plan includes 5 dinner ideas, 2 side dishes, 1 dessert and a shopping list making meal planning easier than ever!!
WEEKLY MEAL PLAN #33
Each week, I share with you a FREE meal plan that consists of 5 dinner ideas (Monday-Thursday plus one Weekend meal), 2 side dishes, and 1 dessert!
Included is a grocery list with EVERY ingredient you need for all the items on the meal plan.
This is meant to help simplify menu planning, shopping, and cooking so you can more easily enjoy meals with your family throughout the week!
TIP OF THE WEEK
We love pairing a good smoothie with our “Brinners”. This week is Breakfast Sandwiches, which are the perfect companions for a refreshing smoothie.
Some favorites include our Peach Mango Smoothie, Strawberry Banana Smoothie and our Green Smoothie! Check all of our smoothie recipes out HERE.
BENEFITS OF MEAL PLANNING
There’s nothing worse than the dread every time a family members asks, “What’s for dinner??” And your answer is “I have no clue.” Having a meal plan for the week eliminates that completely, which is the number one benefit in my book!
Besides having a game plan in place, there are several other benefits of meal planning, including:
- Cost: When you have a plan set in place, and a specific list of groceries, you eliminate cost wasted on impulse items or produce that never gets used.
- Decrease Waste: No wasted money, and no wasted food! Having a set grocery list will help to avoid both of those issues.
- Variety: Our meal plans specifically include a lot of variety, with Mexican, Italian, Breakfast for Dinner, and so much more! You can expose your family’s palates to all kinds of meals.
- No Indecision: Did you know there’s such thing as “indecision fatigue”? The idea is that when you can’t make a decision on something (like what to make for dinner) it actually makes you mentally fatigued. When dinners are already planned out, though, you avoid indecision completely!
- Health: When you plan for/anticipate making well-rounded meals, you’re much more likely to actually make them rather than defaulting to convenient boxed meals, or unhealthy fast food!
As you can see, there are so many benefits to meal planning!
And if you want to create your own menu, be sure to check out all our recipes and visit our recipe pages, including: Main Dish, Side Dishes, Desserts, Appetizers and Breakfast!
Monday
Mexican Soup
Filling and Flavorful Mexican soup is packed with chicken, beans, and veggies with just a little bit of heat!!
I’m the kind of person who has to have bread with their soup, but for this zesty soup, I prefer some Mexican Corn Bread or crushed Tortilla Chips (preferably homemade!).
Tuesday
Baked Ziti
Baked Ziti is an easy baked pasta recipe filled with a cream cheese and tomato sauce and topped with cheese! It’s great for feeding a crowd.
This baked pasta is hearty and meaty. Which is why I love to serve a Caesar Salad (plus Homemade Croutons!) on the side to balance out the meal.
wednesday
Breakfast Sandwich
Smooth morning with quick and simple breakfast sandwiches filled with egg, cheese, sausage, and bacon in a fluffy English muffin.
For these sandwiches, we love to make homemade Breakfast Sausage and cook the bacon in the oven! Also, be sure to check out the Tip of the Week for our favorite smoothies to serve with these!
Thursday
Coconut Curry Chicken
Delicious Coconut Curry Chicken is packed with flavor! Serve with rice or bread for a perfect chicken curry meal.
Homemade Naan Bread, one of this week’s sides of the week, pairs absolutely perfectly with this curry dish! And if you’re feeding this to a crowd, I recommend making your rice in the crock pot.
Weekend
Crockpot Pork Roast
Prepare to be amazed by this ultra tender, fall off the bone crock pot pork roast. It only takes a handful of ingredients to make, including the complimentary gravy.
The other side of the week, Hasselback Potatoes, is an extra yummy addition to this meal. If you don’t feel like you have time for Hasselback, classic Mashed Potatoes and Gravy also make the perfect side!
Sides of the week
Our Top Two Choices
Homemade Naan Bread is soft, chewy, and simply delicious. You won’t believe how easy it is to make and will want it as a side to every meal.
We’re serving it with our Coconut Curry Chicken this week! But you have leftovers, they’re also delicious with just a slab of butter, or you can use them as a base/crust for personal mini pizzas with any sauce or toppings you like.
Cheesy Hasselback Potatoes are stuffed with cheese, bacon and so much flavor. It’s one of the yummiest ways to serve potatoes.
When making these potatoes to serve with Crockpot Pork Roast, we highly recommend using our Bacon in the Oven recipe to cook those bacon bits!
Dessert of the WEek
Cherry Bars
With a hint of almond extract, a heavenly glaze, and cherry pie filling swirled throughout, these delicious Cherry Bars are the sweetest way to easily treat a crowd!
For more Cherry Desserts, try:
Download the Meal Plan!
Click the link below to download this week’s FREE Meal Plan!
And remember – if you want to create your own menu, be sure to check out all our recipes and visit our recipe pages, including: Main Dish, Side Dishes, Desserts, Appetizers and Breakfast!
Click HEre to Download the pdf!
hi! this looks really great, but I am having difficulty finding the link to the actual printable meal plans?? please help, I would really love to get more organized and save some money but can locate button to find the shopping lists etc that I what to print 🙂
Hi! So glad you are enjoying and can use the meal plan. So at the bottom of the post, it says, download the list here. Click on that and it’ll bring up a pdf you can download and print. You can also just click on the picture of the list at the bottom and it should open up the file for you to print as well.