The BIG meal plan
Well, Hello! How are you, Long Lost Blog?
We have been having a great summer. We’ve been spending long days at the pool, hanging out with friends or going on adventures. But the summer schedule has taken a toll on my meal-planning efforts.
I’m determine to get back in a rhythm. I’m actually going to go to the grocery store, stock up my pantry and plan my meals for the next few months.
Here’s my idea: I’m going to enter my meal plan into my iCal so I get a daily reminder of what’s for dinner. I have about 55 dinners listed below, so I should be able to plan for the next few months. We’ll see how that goes!
Since people seem to ask me a lot about ideas for dinner, here’s my BIG LIST. Please leave any ideas for YOUR favorite meals in the comments so I can add them to my list.
The list includes simple stuff, like lunch meat or a rotisserie chicken from the deli, because I still like to schedule those meals, even though they don’t involve cooking. We also eat breakfast food for dinner at least once a week, so that category is actually DINNER!
A few other notes: When I make taco meat or Sloppy Joe, I cook 5 pounds at a time and freeze it in small quantities for a quick meal. I also cook about 10 pounds of chicken at a time and freeze it in small bags so I can make the chicken meals quickly. If I make manicotti or stuffed shells, I double the recipe and freeze an extra meal or two.
You will find links to many of the recipes below. The new meals I’m trying this month are: fruity breakfast burritos, taco roll-ups, ham and potato pockets and End of Summer Harvest soup.
THE BIG LIST
Breakfast
Pancakes
Chicken
Kluski noodles (cook in chicken broth with shredded chicken and carrots)
Chicken enchiladas (my favorite recipe is in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.)
Chicken and dumplings (I usually find a recipe on allrecipes.com and use refrigerated biscuits for the “dumplings”.)
Chicken club wraps (shredded chicken, bacon, green onions and ranch dressing, wrapped in tortillas)
Crock Pot
BBQ chicken thighs (chicken thighs, a bottle of BBQ sauce and about a cup of water)
Roast with veggies
Easy/No cooking
Lunch meat sandwiches
Chicken patties from freezer
Hot dogs
BLTs
Rotisserie chicken (from the grocery store). I either serve this as it is, or put it on salad. The leftover meat is great for other meals.
Ground beef
Meatloaf (I use the recipe on the McComick’s seasoning packet.)
Hamburgers on grill
Impossibly Easy Hamburger Pie (recipe on the box of Bisquick)
Italian
Manicotti
Spaghetti with homemade meatballs
Homemade pizza
Lasagna
Stuffed shells
Fettucini Alfredo
Mexican
Frito tacos (taco meat, with cheese, sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes served on Fritos)
Quesadillas
Tacos
Pork
Pork roast
Soup
Vegetable soup(Make the day after you have roast or pork roast with leftover meat.)
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I love your list! Thanks! I have my own running list of meal ideas saved as a word doc (thanks to your inspiration) and have been successfully planning meals a month at a time since Feb when I went back to work. I love it! Here are a few of our favorites:"Crock pot chicken" – throw 3-4 frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot with a can of cream of chicken soup and a can of cream of broccoli – high 4 hours/low 8 hours – 30 minutes before serving add 1/3 of a block of cream cheese. I serve this over minute rice. Less than 5 minutes of prep total and it tastes great. We've tried with several different soup combos. On our easy list we also have chicken nuggets, grilled cheese and bagel pizzasMy new personal favorite lunch from Aldi is: new fit and active wrap, roasted red pepper hummus (now at aldi), sliced cucumber, lettuce, shredded cheddar cheese and yellow mustardSo yummy – meat, stuffing and fruit in one!Apple Pork Chop Skillet1 tblsp oil4 boneless pork chops, ½ inch thick2 apples, coarsely chopped (Granny Smith, McIntosh, Fuji, Jonathan, Rome)1 ½ cups apple juice1 6 oz package STOVE TOP Stuffing1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chops: cook 4 min on each side on until lightly browned. Remove chops from skillet.2. Add apples, juice, and contents of Seasoning packet to skillet: stir. Bring to boil. Add Stuffing Crumbs; stir just to moisten.3. Top with chops; cover. Cook on low heat 10 min or until pork chops This next one makes 2 full pie dishes worth – it is gluten free (i took it to a friend who had a baby who needed GF)Crustless Quiche 1 lb. ground beef1 medium onion1 c. mayonnaise1 c. milk4 eggs2 Tb. cornstarchsalt & pepper3 c. shredded cheddar cheeseBrown the meat and cook the onion in a skillet. Drain any fat. Using a whisk, combine the mayonnaise, milk, eggs, cornstarch, and salt and pepper (to taste) in a large bowl. Stir in the cheese, beef and onions. Pour into two greased pie plates. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
The slow cooker is my best friend! To our pork chops in the slow cooker I add a small jar of apricot preserves along with apples and apple juice. I serve it with rice. I've tried a crock pot pizza recipe from http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ So many excellent slow cooker recipes there!I also make homemade chicken pot pie with store bought pie crust, some cooked chicken (I also cook more than I need at one time) a can of cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup and frozen veggies (either mixed veggies or just peas and carrots) I make a 9×13 and it is gone in one meal. Although this requires the oven and heats up the house its worth it!
Wow! This is an awesome list and you have inspired to make a list of meals and plan for them – at least a month out. Thanks
The slow cooker is my best friend! Anyways, it was pleasure reading your post! Thanks for the share!
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