Our Daily Bread [Meal Planning]

I’ve never been good at meal planning. I rarely get organized ahead of time, and when I do, I don’t follow the plan because something else sounds good that night or I don’t want to go to the work of a particular meal or our schedule gets messed up.

Instead of planning a specific schedule for our meals, I simply made lists of ideas. Dinner ideas I split into 7 main categories (one for each day of the week, though I probably won’t stick to specific days for each category and will often skip a category and double up on another). I posted the breakfast, lunch, and snack list on the fridge where the kids can see it.

I have picky eaters. And I’m a lazy cook. And we’re terrible at sit-down dinners even though formal family dinner was a daily non-negotiable during my childhood and I understand the importance. Family dinners are on my priority list for this year.

Breakfast:

Eggs (and toast for Levi) (w/ veggies for me)

Oatmeal

Greek yogurt

Protein waffles (freeze ahead)

Bagels and cream cheese

Lunch:

[+ fruit (fresh, fruit strip, apple chips, frozen blueberries, applesauce, or pineapple) and veggie (carrots, tomatoes, celery, mini peppers, snap peas)]

Tuna sandwiches

Grilled-cheese sandwiches

PB&J sandwiches

Chicken sandwiches

Hamburgers

BLTs

Chicken nuggets

Baked potatoes

Tortillas with taco fillings, beans, or chicken sausage

Mac-n-cheese

Cup of noodles

Spaghetti

Pizza

(Grilled meat with salad for me)

Snacks:

Veggies

Pretzels

Cheese sticks

Teriyaki sticks

Granola bars

Nuts or dried fruit

Toast

Sweet potato chips

Dill pickles

Olives

Chips and salsa

Dinner:

Soup (clam chowder, chicken noodle, pasta fajioli, beef stew, zuppa toscana, taco soup or chili)

Mexican (tacos, fajitas, burritos, enchiladas)

Asian (pork fried rice, Asian chicken salad, orange chicken)

Italian (spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, lemon garlic shrimp scampi)

Chicken (pesto, nuggets, stir-fry, rotisserie, fried chicken)

Beef (hamburgers, steak, sloppy joes, Swiss steak, French dip roast, beef/potato/corn hash, hamburger gravy)

Pork (sausage and spinach gnocchi, pulled pork sandwiches, spiral ham, brats)

Sides:

Veggies:

Green beans

Roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes (or potatoes/carrots/onion)

Salad

Fried onions

Sautéed asparagus

Roasted Brussel’s sprouts, broccoli, or cauliflower

(Corn)

Bread/Starch:

Homemade bread

Cornbread

Biscuits

Noodles

Rice

Mashed potatoes

Treats:

Cinnamon Oranges

Popcorn (microwave or kettle)

Brownies

Rice Krispie Treats

Chocolate Chip Cookies

French Breakfast Puffs

Italian Sodas