What am I going to cook tonight for dinner? What am I going to cook again this week? These are the infamous questions I ask myself constantly. I decided I needed a better plan than asking a question that nobody seemed to have an answer for. So, I embarked on a monthly menu planning goal.
I now take one Sunday each month, look through a couple of cookbooks or online and decide what I’d make for each week. It helped to make each day of the week a specific theme. This way, I have dinner ideas for a month and it allows me to plan my grocery list each week.
Themed Weeknights
Once I decided to tackle the menu planning “mountain,” I liked the idea of creating themed meals for each night of the week. Some themed meal ideas include: Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Comfort Foods Wednesday, Leftover Thursdays and Take-Out Fridays.
Menu Planning
After the initial hump of getting started, I created a calendar on Google Sheets and started planning my month. And, if something comes up and I don’t actually cook the meal I have planned, I can just move it to another day or week. Life happens and sometimes takeout just sounds good! But with the meals planned on my calendar, rearranging my menu is easy. I can either plan to cook whatever meal I didn’t make for another night or save the idea for another time altogether. This also allows me to have a resource of meal ideas.
Monthly Themed Meals
With a monthly plan, I have a full list of entrees and side dishes at my disposal. From Meatless Monday to Slow-Cooker Saturday, it’s exciting that I don’t have to search daily or even weekly for a meal idea. For more ideas on menu planning, check out these themed monthly meal plans, a guide to freezer meals or holiday dinner ideas which are all meant to inspire.
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