Introducing the newest feature on CNC: Weekly Meal Plans!
I’m weird. I hate grocery shopping, but I love meal planning, and I look forward to doing it every week. I get quite a few questions from readers about how I plan healthy meals and save money at the grocery store, so I figured since I’m already organizing a weekly dinner menu for Mal and me, I might as well share it on CNC. (FYI: I only plan dinners for the week. Mal and I eat leftovers for lunch most days, and breakfast is usually some variation of oatmeal, eggs, protein pancakes, or frozen waffles.)
Without further ado, here is this week’s meal plan and shopping list!
- Sunday: Grilled Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Monday: Soba Noodles with Chicken in Peanut Sauce
- Tuesday: Israeli Couscous with Chickpeas, Brussels Sprouts & Asparagus
- Wednesday: Whole wheat pasta with roasted broccoli + marinara sauce
- Thursday: Tuna melts with sweet potato wedges
- Friday: Out-of-town – no meal planned
- Saturday: Out-of-town – no meal planned
Shopping list*:
- Broccoli
- Soy milk
- Sweet potatoes
- Eggs
- Deli ham
- Yogurt
- Bananas
- Waffles
- Bread
- Bagels
- Asparagus
- Chicken breast (2)
- Boston lettuce
- White rice
- Scallions
- Cheese
- Yogurt
- Brussels sprouts
- Chickpeas
- Onion
If you have any questions, please let me know. I really love meal planning, so I’m more than happy to help! Hope you guys like this new blog feature!
*My shopping list doesn’t include all of the ingredients necessary to make the above meals. It’s just what we needed and includes items for other meals and snacks (not just dinners).
{ 53 comments… read them below or add one }
So excited about this! I love meal planning and frequent your blog quite often when I’m doing it every week
This will make it super easy!
Meal planning is my favorite! I tracked all my grocery purchases on my blog for a month last year. Maybe I’ll start doing it again!
I get scary excited about meal planning, and I actually do it a lot when I get bored at work (shh!)
The only downside is never knowing what I’ll be in the mood for, so I try to just plan 7 day’s worth of meals without assigning a day to it and roll with what I feel like that particular day. How do you deal with the “eh, I’m really not in the mood for XYZ today” part that comes with planning ahead?
@Faith: We switch around the meals if we’re not in the mood for something (or just eat what we planned)!
I love the idea of meal planning, but find whenever I do it, I am never in the mood for whatever meal I planned – thus throwing the entire system off.
I really should do it more often so I can actually make some of the recipes in my cookbooks…you know, branch out from the typical meal a bit.
I like meal planning too but sometimes it just works out that I’m not feeling whatever i had planned for a certain day and end up making something totally different
I love meal planning but since it’s only me, I sometimes find it hard because left-overs become dinner (which I’m okay with) but I never know if they’re going to last 2, 3 or even 4 days…I’m getting better at that though.
Love this! Thanks for sharing.
I get so excited for Thursday nights because that’s my meal planning/grocery list night! Meal planning with kids is crucial and it makes it easier to stick to the plan when the option is dragging all 3 kids to the store to get something else. I only plan 4 meals a week to give myself one night to do whatever I want or eat leftovers…. Makes it feel less restrictive.
Absolutely LOVE this new feature of CNC! Thanks so much and glad to see that you are finally feeling better!
This is awesome! I’m so excited that you’re sharing this. I always see you and a few other HLBs with super healthy foods and I wonder how you do it. I can’t wait to refer to this weekly when heading out to the store!! Thanks Tina!
I do the exact same thing – including using the same grocery list!
So helpful and I save so much money.
i love meal planning too! it’s one less thing to stress about during the week, and who doesn’t love thinking about what they’re going to eat?!
love this new feature!
Meal planning for some reason is so difficult for me. Since I’m buying and cooking for one, it’s hard to stick to a budget for that week if I’m trying to eat a different meal everynight. For some reason just eating similar meals all the time works for me and helps me save money and not waste food. If you have any tips about not over spending when trying to eat such a variety, I’d love to know!
@katie @ KatieDid: I feel the same way buying and cooking for one is a different mindset. I have tried meal planning twice and while it was nice not to think about what I was going to make that day, it is expensive to have a meal five times a week. Most of the time, I’ll make two meals a week and have enough leftovers for the rest.
I love meal planning! Sometimes I wish I had a personal chef that could just cook everything for me on busy weeks lol
I love to see your meal plans, Tina! It’s such a great idea that I try to incorporate into my own weekly routine. I am just wondering whether you and Mal are still eating Paleo? I am trying out a mostly-Paleo diet and wondering what your thoughts on the plan are? I know you can’t give up your oats (neither can I) but I saw a lot of pasta/carbs in your meal plan.
@Emily: We were actually never eating Paleo. Neither of us ever want to give up oatmeal, cheese, or beer!
You make it look so easy! Do you just thumb through recipes in deciding or do you just think of something you’ve been wanting to eat and jot it down? I’m not so creative when it comes to cooking weeknight meals.I like to cook for 2 nights each time to save me from cooking after work every day.
@Lenna@lennalivinglight.blogspot.com: Yep, I just flip through cookbooks or magazines to find ideas. I also save recipe links from blogs and other websites to make in the future.
I used to think I enjoyed grocery shopping until I realized how much time and money it requires! Meal planning is definitely the way to go. I use Google documents to keep my plan and lists in order — super-simple!
Great idea. I love seeing what others plan for meals! I have a very picky hubby so menu planning is more difficult for me but I still enjoy it.
Thanks for posting this and links to your other similar posts. My goal this week is to budget my money for groceries and meal plan. Thank you!
I like this, might inspire me to plan ahead sometimes
I hate meal planning. I prefer to just choose one or two recipes I want to make, for the week, buy the ingredients, and anything else that’s on sale that I’d like that week, or any staples that I’m out of, and come up with something healthy to eat each day!
I am not good at the meal planning, but I love grocery shopping. We could totally be a team…you plan and I shop! Lol! Have a great Sunday!
Very cool that you’re sharing your meal plans with us!! Can you link to the recipes? Thanks!
@Jenae @YogaEatRun: Yep, just click on the links in this post!
This is great! Thank you so much for sharing! I’m always looking for healthy dinner ideas – especially ones that will make enough food for leftovers. It’s so nice to see all of your dinner ideas for the week in one place. Thanks, Tina!
I’m the opposite – love grocery shopping, hate meal planning. Unfortunately, this always results in spending a bunch of money at the store and then complaining that there’s nothing to eat.
Love this new series!! All those dinners sound delicious!
I never make a rigid meal plan but I jot down meal ideas at the start of the week which works for me!
Love the new addition to the blog. Can’t wait to read about all your meals. I love meal planning and grocery shopping. In fact I’d rather shop for groceries than for clothes haha.
Really awesome addition – I’m getting a little burned out by coming up with new dinners for me and the husband. Definitely looking forward to all the new meal plans!
I’m a meal planner, too. We usually stick to the plan but there are some days when XX just doesn’t sound good or we are short on time. If we didn’t plan ahead I think we would end up eating sandwiches for every dinner!
Hi Tina – this is so great! I just got back from the grocery store and used this blog post as my guide/shopping list. Luckily I also had a lot of the ingredients for some of the meals already in my fridge, so it was a pretty quick and inexpensive trip. Now I am all set for the week and VERY excited to try these recipes!
GREAT idea! Please keep these posts coming
Love soba noodles! Can’t wait to hear how those go over
My problem with meal planning is that I live alone, and I usually don’t like eating the same thing over and over, so it’s hard to plan meals with just one serving! Definitely something I need to work on.
Love this! Off to plan some meals.
Psyched for this new addition! Keep up the great work! Glad that you are feeling better!
Love this new feature! I have to meal plan every week, or else I know that I’d waaay over-spend at the grocery store!
I love that you’re doing this now because I’m most definitely going to start stealing ideas from you!
That couscous dish sounds wonderful and so perfect for the spring weather we’re getting here!
This is something that I am starting Monday, so this came at the best time! I have my entire week planned! This is HUGE for me too! I really hope that I stick with it. I went shopping after church this morning to get my food and felt so accomplished….I’m weird.
Great meals!
Love this feature! I recently started putting my weekly menu into a spreadsheet and printing it before I go to the grocery store. It’s a lot of work but well worth it, since I’m way less distracted and don’t forget anything!
I LOVE meal planning! I have always done mine one week at a time, but started 2 weeks at a time today. During the school year {both hubby & I work at high schools} we rotate throughout a certain set of meals per season. Once we have a break we tend to try fancier, new meals. Some of those even end up in our regular rotation!
This is an awesome new feature!!! I can’t wait. I could use a few new meal ideas and I probably should do this organization myself! *Excited*
I’m excited for the new feature! Thanks for posting, it’s always cool to hear how other people grocery shop especially someone who only spends $300/mo =D.
@Amanda: Truth be told, since we started eating more (organic) meat, our budget is closer to $400/month, but we’re finding ways to get it back down!
I LOVE meal planning – glad you’re sharing yours with us
I love this feature! I love hearing what other people are eating! And I am stealing the soba noodle recipe
hi Tina – On your saturday post with the yummy ham sandwhich, is that homemade bread or store bought? It looks really good!
@jodi: Store-bought from Whole Foods!
We’re opposites! I hate meal planning. I hate making decisions when there are too many too good options. I hate having to plan. It’s so boring. On the other hand, I love, LOVE grocery shopping – when I have time, when I have money. Although when I don’t have either it sucks. Maybe I need to cut the drama and just write my meals out. When I do, I usually follow it and I end up happier than when I try to wing it.
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