Meal Planning by Theme

Meal planning is easier when a theme is assigned to each day of the week. Keeping it general, knowing there is always room to deviate when needed, will keep this fun and helpful! There are many advantages to planning your meals each week:

• Save money by sticking with a list and having a map of what items are needed to execute the plan in the grocery store, along with not eating out because you are down to the wire on time each evening. 
• Get in shape and save a little waistline if you know what I mean. It's a lot easier to eat healthy when you have prepped your meals and snacks. 
• Save time by preparing everything once a week. Over a week's time this will add up to more time to do other (more exciting) things throughout the week... or just grab a few more relaxing moments in the evening. 

The biggest thing is to KEEP IT SIMPLE! You can always add as you go through the weeks to come, but for planning purposes, stick with just one new recipe each week so you will stick with the planning part... you don't have to be Betty Crocker to pull this off.

Here is an example of the Theme Schedule I use:

Day	Main Theme	Side	Vegetable	Extra
Monday	Mexican/Turkey	Tortilla/Salad	Green Beans/Corn
Tuesday	Asian/Chicken	CousCous/Quinoa	Edamame/Broccoli
Wednesday	Crockpot		Potatoes/Carrots
Thursday	Pizza/Pasta/Grain	Salad/	Green Beans/Edamame
Friday	Vegetarian/fish	Brown Rice/Quinoa	Asparagus/Broccoli
Saturday	Soup/Salad/Leftovers
Sunday	Traditional/Special	New Recipe- Try Out

Assigning each day a 'Mexican Monday' or 'Soup and Salad Saturday' will narrow in on the choices while maintaining a good nutritional balance each week. I see it as a helpful outline to an otherwise daunting task.

Make a list of the most used meals each week and start there. Use the easiest meals on the busiest nights. consider all activities and family obligations while doing this. I have a summer meal plan which is different than my school year meal plan due to different schedules. 

I also leave Sunday's wide open to try any new recipe I may have found through the week. This keeps recipe shopping to a manageable task and not as overwhelming. I encourage each of my 3 kids to find one new recipe to try each month... then I, myself, am only really having to find ONE recipe each MONTH! Pretty cool!!

They each get a chance to cook with me weekly but can not weasel out of the one recipe each month. So even if cooking is not their 'thing' they still have to do it once a month. Let's face it, I'm not always going to be there to cook for them so they need to figure it out :-)

Here is a copy of my month at a glance meals:

Week 1

Day	Main Theme	Side	Vegetable	Extra
Monday	Southwestern Chicken Chili	Blue Corn Tortilla Chips	Tomatoes, corn	Cheese, Sour Cream
Tuesday	Mediterranean Turkey Burgers	Whole Grain Bun	Lettuce, Pickles	Cheese,
Wednesday	Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken	Brown Rice	Honey Glazed Carrots	Taco and chili seasoning
Thursday	White Pizza with Tomato and Basil	Chopped Salad	Cherry Tomatoes and edemame	Parm cheese
Friday	Pesto Grilled Shrimp	CousCous	Spinach
Saturday	Black Bean-Quinoa Salad w Basil/Lemon Dressing	Quinoa	Lima beans, carrots, tomatoes
Sunday	Traditional/Special	New Recipe	Try Out

Week 2

Day	Main Theme	Side	Vegetable	Extra
Monday	Turkey Meatloaf	Potatoes	Green Beans
Tuesday	Alfredo Chicken	CousCous	Spinach	Pine Nuts
Wednesday	Chili Crockpot- Lean Ground Turkey	Tortilla Chips, Beans	Corn, Diced Tomatoes	Sour Cream
Thursday	Whole Wheat Penne with Marinara	Poppyseed Salad	Broccoli	Parm Cheese
Friday	Peach Mango Tilapia	Quinoa	Asparagus
Saturday	Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup	Noodles (in soup)	Carrots, Celery, Onion	Broth
Sunday	Traditional/Special	New Recipe	Try Out

Week 3

Day	Main Theme	Side	Vegetable	Extra
Monday	Pulled Turkey Lettuce Wraps	Shredded cheese, tomatoes, black beans	Corn, lettuce- shredded and large leaves for wraps	Sour Cream
Tuesday	Grilled Chicken Stir-Fry	Quinoa	Stir Fry Veggies	Waterchesnuts
Wednesday	Crock Pot BBQ Cranberry Chicken	Brown Rice	Honey Glazed Carrots	Taco and chili seasoning
Thursday	Whole Wheat Pasta Primavera	Cranberry/Almond Salad	Cherry Tomatoes, Asparagus	Parm cheese
Friday	Pan Seared Halibut	CousCous	Broccoli
Saturday	Grilled Veggie and Hummus wraps	(Wraps)	Grilled Veggies	Hummus
Sunday	Traditional/Special	New Recipe	Try Out

Week 4

Day	Main Theme	Side	Vegetable	Extra
Monday	Tacos with lean ground turkey	Lettuce, Cheese, Blue Corn Tortilla Chips,	Corn	Sour cream
Tuesday	Grilled Chicken Teriyaki	CousCous	Broccoli
Wednesday	Chuck Roast	Potatoes	Carrots, Celery, Onion	seasoning
Thursday	Whole Grain Pizza	Salad-	Edamame
Friday	Maple Glazed Salmon	Quinoa	Asparagus
Saturday	Tomato Soup with Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches	Multi-grain Crackers	Green Beans
Sunday	Traditional/Special	New Recipe	Try Out

This is a whole month of fairly balanced meals! I also have a master grocery list based on the items assigned to each week. I check off the items I already have on hand and take the rest of the list to the grocery store! 

Now try your own:

Day	Main Theme	Side	Vegetable	Extra
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Hopefully this is a helpful tool to reduce the stress in your busy week!