Hello! So happy to see you here today 🙂
I don’t know about you but my menu was all over the place last week. For a variety of reasons I kept having to switch days around but you know what? That’s the beauty of menu planning! There is so much flexibility to it. Since I shop at the beginning of the week all the groceries I need for the week are there ready and waiting. So it really doesn’t matter if I have chicken scheduled for Tuesday but feel like pork chops instead, I can easily switch it up. Or if I forget to take out the meat to defrost one day, or I forget to put my slow cooker meal on in the morning, or my hubbie wants to surprise us and take us out for dinner, it’s all good. By the end of the week it works itself out. If I don’t end up making a recipe that week at all, no biggie I just move it to the next. So you see there is flexibility to menu planning and the freedom it brings in return is enormous. If you have been reluctant to give menu planning a try, I hope you find some encouragement in my words. I’ve been menu planning for five years now and I can honestly tell you it has changed my life and I will never go back.
If you are just dipping your feet into the menu planning water, try just planning for 2 or 3 days to start and work your way up from there. Visit the numerous links shared on today’s post and you will glean plenty of ideas. It is an amazing group that participates here each week. Thank you to everyone for encouraging and helping one another in this process and for making me accountable too. I love this community!
Alrighty then ladies, let’s get planning shall we? Woohoo!!!
Here’s what we’ll be eating this:
Monday: Slow Cooker Corn Chowder (missed from last week!)
Tuesday: Beef ‘N’ Broccoli Stir-Fry
Wednesday: Oven Baked Whole Chicken
Thursday: Thai Peanut Butter Chicken Wraps (using leftover chicken)
Friday: Tortellini Caesar Salad served with Italian turkey sausages
Saturday: Bacon-Topped Grilled Cheese sandwiches and soup
Simple Supper Sunday
WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?
Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here.
Laura @ no more spending says
Thanks for hosting Laura and I love the new look!!
Laura says
Thanks Laura!
Char @ Raising a Healthy Family says
Laura – I am right there with you – even though I have a plan, I am known for moving things around as needed through out the week. Things don’t always go as planned, but it always works out better if there was a plan to start with.
Have a great week!
Laura says
You too Char!
Liz@HoosierHomemade says
Thanks for hosting another great MPM Laura! LOVE the new look!!
~Liz
Laura says
Thanks Liz!
The Happy Housewife says
My favorite nights are the “surprise you’re going out to dinner nights,” lol! I too love the flexibility of menu planning. I stopped assigning my meals to certain nights because it was too stressful, now we have a weekly plan and we just pick which meal fits the night as it comes.
Love your new design Laura!
Toni
Laura says
Thanks Toni! I love “surprise” dinners too and I don’t ever say no to that! 🙂
SnoWhite says
Did you get to the waffles last week? I tried them on Saturday… and they didn’t work out for us. I wondered what your experience was.
Love the new site — you must be so excited to have it up and running!
Laura says
You know we didn’t end up making that recipe. Thanks for letting me know what you thought.
Kim at Quit Eating Out {Recipes to Make Dining Out a Choice, Not a Chore} says
Happy Monday Laura! Congrats again on the new blog design. Thanks so much for hosting us!!! PS ~ Your menu sounds great… especially the Thai PB Chicken Wraps! 🙂 Have a wonderful start to your week!!!
Laura says
Thanks Kim, have a great week too!
Christine says
Thanks for hosting. I’m linked up and have a new menu for the week. All new recipes for us so I hope it turns out good.
Laura says
Enjoy your week!
Miz Helen says
Hi Laura,
I love your new look! Thanks for hosting such a great party for us on Monday and have a wonderful week!
Laura says
You too!
Melody says
I completely agree on your reasons for loving menu planning! I often switch things around during the week too… and love having the flexibility to be able to do that (or to take advantage of a great sale/markdown while shopping and fit that in to the plan as well!)
Mom's Many Projects says
I always seem to move my meals around during the week! Sometimes we end up with more food than we planned and so add in a leftovers night that pushes one of the meals to the next week.
Love the new website design! It makes finding everything so easy!
Laura says
So glad you like it!
Tara V says
I LOVE the new design. It looks amazing! Thanks for hosting.
Laura says
Thanks Tara!
Betty says
I’m with you, Laura. Flexibility is so important to making the menu work each week and to keeping frustration away! I’ll make the menu, and then a last minute activity happens that cuts into the prep time for what was originally planned. No worries. Just swap the menu from one to with another and everything is fine. It really does all work out by the end of the week!
Thanks for hosting MPM! I love bounding around to the other blogs and getting great ideas!
Jami @ An Oregon Cottage says
I feel the same way, Laura! Some weeks half the menu is scratched, but it’s having the initial plan that’s important to me- I, too, would never go back. 🙂
I have a potato-corn chowder on the menu today, too! Though mine’s not slow-cooker- I’m going to check that one out. 🙂
Sherry says
I do the same. Love that I have a menu plan and helps me to know what I have available to cook! MPM keeps me accountable, and I thank you! 🙂
Love the look of your blog! 🙂
Laura says
Thanks Sherry!
Lablasco says
Hi Laura!
I’m afaid I had to post my link twice, somehow it didn’t work the first time. I’m so sorry.
Feel free to delete number 160.
Cheers from Spain.
P.S. Thank you for your planning inspiration, it’s incredibly helpful!
Laura says
No problem, all fixed!
Heather says
I’ve been doing the same thing with my menu plan – switching meals around depending on the activities of the day. I like the flexibility, and knowing that I always have ingredients to put the meal together.
Love the new look of your site – very organized! 🙂
Christine says
Love the new look! Very clean and cute. There are a couple of things on your menu this week that I’m going to have to try! Thanks for hosting.
Laura says
Thanks Christine!
Susie's Homemade says
Happy Monday:-)
Queen of the House says
Wow! LOVE your new look here! Very organized, just like you! 🙂
Laura says
Thank you girl!
Kelly Hess says
Love your new look to your site!
Laura says
Thanks Kelly!
Angi says
Our last two weeks have been like that, too.
Storm says
I sometimes move my meals around too. Menu planning has made my life so much easier, and I know we have saved lots of money by doing it too! I’m so glad I started doing it!
And I LOVE the new design! 🙂
Stacy says
Hi!! I’m new to MPM!! Sorry I forgot to put it on the linky:( I love having all these ideas for menu planning!! Thanks for the linky!!
Julia says
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who forgets to defrost meat or turn on the slow cooker in the morning. Thanks for the encouragement, Laura!
Micha @ Cookin' Mimi says
I forget to defrost meat more often than I care to admit. Those usually end up being spaghetti nights.
I assign meals for each night but it never worked out how I had envisioned and that caused guilt and stress. Now I just make sure that on whatever day is going to be the busiest is when I make the simplest meal and for the rest of the week cook what sounds good from the plan.
Love the new look, Laura.
Brit Chambers says
I have so many weeks that I just write what we’re having up on the dry erase and cross them off as we go! I try to double check with the calendar and make sure to have everything in-order, but sometimes it just doesn’t all work out!
MemeGRL says
I agree about the menu planning being so flexible and I love limiting my trips to the store, etc.
And your design looks great!
Two things though:
1) It made it a little difficult to find the actual blog post
2) It had a very hard time loading here this morning! I tried several times around 10am (east coast) and just got a blank page. All those blogfroggers clogged it up, I guess!
Just something for the IT group to know! 🙂
Have a great week!
Laura says
Thank you for your feedback! Yes Mondays can be really slow with everyone coming on at the same time. Soon I hope to switch over to a dedicated server so this problem won’t happen anymore. As for finding the actual blog post…do you mean the MPM post? Were you coming in through orgjunkie.com? or orgjunkie.com/blog? Clicking on the blog tab at the top will take you directly to the blog with recent posts. Does that make sense?
MonicaB says
I finally did it! I planned my meals for the week! Thanks for the weekly inspiration.
Lindsey says
I love your new look! It’s fresh and clean 🙂
angie says
that bacon topped grilled cheese sounds awesome thanks for hosting link up
Angela says
Thank you so much for hosting. I like the new look of your site.
Meal Plan Mom (Brenda) says
Totally get the moving around of meals. I’ve been so random about it these last couple of weeks that I haven’t even been able to get a post up on my own blog. But finally did a round up of what we’ve been eating (and cleaning out of the freezer!)
BTW, LOVE the new look!
Kristy says
Am attempting to menu plan, have been trying to do this every week as much as I can, sometimes we don’t follow it but the point is we are trying. I have found if i haven’t written it up before we do our grocery shopping, I feel quite disorganised. Reading yours every week has been helping a lot and also giving us some new recipes to try.
Also, LOVE the new site, it is adorable 🙂 Great work 🙂
Andrea @ Clipping Makes Cents says
Thanks for hosting this…you’re awesome. I love the new look too!!
Janet says
Love your new layout! Thanks for hosting.
Becky L says
I switch around meals as well, on my menu plan. At least I meu plan. Much better than I used to. I try to do crockpot cooking at least once a week. That way hubby doesn’t have to cook but 2 days. One day is leftovers since 2 people are gone and I’m here only, easier to get to Bible study that way on Thursday night. Have a great week!
Food on the Table says
Thai Peanut Butter Chicken Wraps using leftover chicken sound like heaven. The only thing better than peanut butter on anything? Using leftovers.
So refreshing to hear your take on the beauty of meal planning. Though the word “planning” is certainly enough to intimidate many, swapping a few meals here and there to fit your family’s schedule or mood is a key part of meal planning. Here’s to the moms who plan (and plan to switch it up every once in a while).
April says
I LOVE the new look Laura! 🙂 Thanks for hosting.