Another month, another meal plan. Each month, I create a monthly meal plan for my family. It takes me 20ish minutes to figure out our meals for the next 30ish days and I use that as my guide all month long. My January Monthly Meal Plan isn’t as exciting as I’d like (see below), but it’s food and I’m grateful for it.
Related Post: Monthly Meal Planning (How to Guide)
Why We Meal Plan
I’ve been meal planning for years. It works so well for our family that I don’t think I’ll ever stop.
As a working parent, the dinner struggle is real. One thing I definitely DON’T want to do is come home from work when I’m tired and cranky and think about what to make. Planning ahead helps take some of the mental load away on a school night.
Another benefit of monthly meal planning is that it saves my family money. I look through my pantry and freezer each month before planning, then I go grocery shopping with a list in my hand and I know exactly what to buy.
Each January, I host a No Spend Challenge. While we still buy food during the challenge, meal planning helps keep my grocery bills as low as possible, which goes a long way towards my bottom line for the month.
Related Post: No Spend January
Monthly Meal Plan Basics
When meal planning, I find it easier if I have a theme. I pick one meal we’ll eat once a week for the month. Doing this takes a lot of stress out of planning. Here are some theme ideas:
- Mexican Mondays
- Taco Tuesdays
- Pizza Fridays
- Spaghetti Sunday
Or add any of your own ideas! For our meal plan, we’ll be having fajitas on Mondays and pizza (and a movie) on Fridays. We used to do Taco Tuesday, but we’re taking a break for a while.
I also try to cook simple meals on busy nights and more in-depth meals when we have less going on.
January Meal Plan
January is a busy month around here. Between sports and school, we have busy evenings three nights a week and games all day on Saturdays. This results in a lot of quick and simple meals that aren’t as healthy as I’d like. During months like this I remind myself how lucky we are. I also try to focus on the fact that we’re eating together and that’s what’s important.
That being said, here’s what I’m making this month:
- Pasta & chicken
- Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
- Taco Salad – My DIY Taco Seasoning
- Creamy Keilbasa Pasta – from Weeknight Dinner Cookbook
- Homemade pizza
- Shepherd’s Pie
- Spaghetti & Meatballs
- Fajita Bowls – My DIY Fajita Seasoning
- Hot Dogs & Mac’n’Cheese
- Chicken Nuggests & Salad
- Meatball Subs
- Homemade pizza
- Whole chicken, sweet potatoes, broccoli
- Baked Ziti
- Fajitas
- Banana Pancakes – Our Favorite Recipe
- Potato Sausage Hash – from Weeknight Dinner Cookbook
- Egg Roll Bowl – from Lillie Easts and Tells
- Homemade pizza
- Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, green beans
- Chicken Orzo Soup – from Weeknight Dinner Cookbook
- Fajitas
- Hot Dogs & Mac’n’Cheese
- Taco Salad
- Asian Pasta w/ Broccoli – from Weeknight Dinner Cookbook
- Homemade pizza
- Pulled Pork (double & freeze)
- Whole Chicken, broccoli, & pasta
- Fajitas
- BFD (Breakfast for dinner, probably eggs and sausage)
- Cuban Sliders – similar to this recipe
Free Meal Plan Download
Like this idea but it’s not perfect for your family? Grab this download that includes a template for our own meal plan (page 3). Pick and choose my meals, but then modify the plan to fit your life.
Need more help sticking to a meal plan? Check this post with tons of tips.
Meal Plan Recap
And that’s what we’ll be eating in January—assuming that I will remember to defrost all that meat! Luckily, I have a plan for that. When I sit down to plan out our weekly events, I also plan out my daily to do lists. As I write our weekly meals in my planner, I’ll also jot down which meat I have to defrost the evening before.
Did you create a January Monthly Meal Plan? I’d love to hear more about it! Leave a comment below and let me know!
Want the guide? You can read all the blogs OR purchase the ebook and meal planning printable here!
These monthly menu plans are heaven sent!!
Thank you for making them easy to print as well!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying them!! 🙂