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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 #36
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
Homemade Tortilla Chips are one of this week’s sides. They are SO easy to make and are perfect for using up tortillas that are beginning to get old. In fact, they turn out better when the tortillas are a bit dried out!
Try dipping the chips in our Homemade Salsa, Tamale Dip, Chili Cheese Dip or our 7 Layer Bean Dip. YUM!
Also, St. Patrick’s Day is this coming up! Enjoy some fun St. Patty’s Day themed recipes found 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
Slow Cooker Creamy Fiesta Chicken
Slow Cooker Creamy Fiesta Chicken is such a simple, flavorful crock pot recipe! It is a tasty crock pot meal made with pantry staples!
The Homemade Tortilla Chips on the plan this week are perfect for serving with this crock pot dish! Make sure to check out the dip of the week for some of our favorite dips and salsas to use extra tortilla chips with.
Tuesday
Margherita Pizza
Margherita pizza stars fresh basil, mozzarella cheese, and the best ripe tomatoes. It’s simple, delicious, and light.
If Margherita isn’t your style, you can still use the Homemade Pizza Dough and Homemade Pizza Sauce with toppings of your choice to make Pepperoni Pizza, Tomato Pizza, or any other pizza you like.
wednesday
Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes
Deliciously fluffy banana pancakes are topped with melted peanut butter, bananas and chocolate chips making them irresistible.
Maybe I’m biased, but I think every pancake/waffle/french toast recipe is better with Homemade Buttermilk Syrup!
Also, if you’re not a fan of the peanut butter + banana combo, you can also opt for plain Banana Pancakes.
Thursday
Cheesy Beef Goulash
When you need an easy dinner recipe that will please the whole family, try whipping up some old fashioned goulash! Everyone loves this hodgepodge of macaroni noodles, ground beef, tomatoes, cheese, and seasonings!
This dish is filling on it’s own, but you can also serve it with a yummy bread or salad on the side. I love Dinner Rolls and Caesar Salad.
Weekend
Chicken Stuffing Casserole
Savory and filling Chicken Stuffing Casserole is perfect for feeding a family and only takes 15 minutes of prep time!!
This is a great dish to serve the Bacon Wrapped Asparagus (a side of the week)! The green veggies will balance out this hearty and creamy main dish.
Sides of the week
Our Top Two Choices
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus is a smoky and savory side dish. It is crispy, delicious, and takes about 20 minutes to prepare!
It’s such a versatile vegetable side dish, it could be served several of the dishes this week. We suggest Goulash or Chicken Stuffing Casserole!
Homemade Tortilla Chips are crispy and sprinkled with salt. They are surprisingly quick and simple to whip up!
If you want an even healthier version, be sure to check out our Baked Tortilla Chips as well! See the tip of the week for our favorite dips and salsas to serve them with.
Dessert of the WEek
Mint M&M Oreo Cookies
Mint M&M Oreo Cookies that taste JUST like Thin Mints!! The combination of the chocolate with the mint flavor make for one DELICIOUS cookie!!
For more Mint Chocolate 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!
