Our Monthly Meal Plan has kind of become a staple of our budgeting process. Rather than planning for meals from week to week, we put in a little extra time and effort and knock it out right away. It takes a little discipline, but sticking to the plan can keep costs down and lead to a healthier and closer knit family. Research supports the notion that having dinner as a family has a number of benefits for the kids (http://children.webmd.com/guide/family-dinners-are-important).
We made through our first month of the year. We finished the 2012 Whole Living Action Plan and continued the month eating a vegan diet. So far, Brian is down over 20 pounds and Beth has lost 12. These are pretty good accomplishments for our first month! We are hoping to continue these gains (or losses…it all depends on how you look at it) and to learn from our experiences as we move forward.
February is kind of a transition month for us and our diet program. Half-way through the month, we switch from a vegan diet, eating no animal products whatsoever, to a vegetarian diet, introducing dairy products, eggs, etc, but still refraining from eating animal flesh. Thankfully for Beth, this changeover occurs on her birthday. How easy is cheese pizza for a birthday present, eh?
We hope in our meal plan this month that you find a variety of healthy, meatless meals that your family will enjoy and ask for again.
February 2012 Monthly Meal Plan
Week 1 (January 29 – February 4)
Sunday–See January Meal Plan
Monday–See January Meal Plan
Tuesday–See January Meal Plan
Wednesday–Black Bean and Rice Enchiladas
Thursday–Twice Baked Potatoes
Friday–Spaghetti
Saturday–Vegetable Minestrone
Week 2 (February 5 – February 11)
Sunday–Super Bowl Menu
Monday–Veggie Stir Fry
Tuesday–Pita, Hummus, Veggies, and Cous Cous Salad
Wednesday–Stuffed Peppers
Thursday–Taco Salad
Friday–Veggie Subs (nothing says Happy Anniversary like a sub! =P)
Saturday–White Bean and Mushroom Stew
Week 3 (February 12 – February 18)
Sunday–Pizza!! (Happy Birthday Beth!)
Monday–Corn Chowder
Tuesday–Pizza!! (Yes, again! For Valentine’s Day this time!)
Wednesday–Veggie Quesadillas
Thursday–Chef Salad
Friday–Southwestern Scramble
Saturday–Veggie Fried Rice
Week 4 (February 19 – February 25)
Sunday–Mushroom Risotto
Monday–Veggie Lasagna
Tuesday–Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Wednesday–Spanish Tortilla
Thursday–Quinoa Pancakes and Eggs
Friday–Veggie Pot Pie
Saturday–Falafel
Week 5 (February 26 – March 3)
Sunday–Chili with Cornbread
Monday–Baked Potatoes
Tuesday–Macaroni and Cheese
Wednesday–Subs
Thursday–See March Meal Plan
Friday–See March Meal Plan
Saturday–See March Meal Plan
As always, if you are looking for recipes or answers on monthly meal planning, please leave a comment or email us with your questions. We can’t promise that we will have all of the answers, but we will do our best to find them! Just send us an email at [email protected].
Have you tried monthly meal planning? How did it go? Any tips or suggestions?
wow. a whole month! I can’t even manage a week. I’m at about 4 to 5 days at a time right now
Monthly meal planning just wouldn’t work for me. Not today. I need to work on getting daily meal planning started back up LOL! Once I’ve done that, then weekly. And maybe 2 weeks next. Monthly? I’m not sure that I’m organized enough to ever make that work.
We don’t plan our meals because we are so organized. We are organized because we plan our meals. A little effort once a month makes our weekly and daily life much, much easier. When we are writing up our shopping list for the week, we aren’t buying random things or trying to plan for the week. We just check our meal plan and write down what we need to make those dishes. Also, keep in mind that this is a plan. If you miss a day here and there (as we often do), you aren’t going to get in trouble with anyone! Give it a try and you will be well rewarded! Good luck!