You can rotate those 3 meal plans over and over again and not get tired of having the same old meals.ĭue to difference in temperatures and seasonal activities, be sure to include a summer and a winter monthly meal plan.
Once you create 3 different monthly meal plans, you have an entire quarter of the year’s meals planned.
The time you put in now will result in a menu plan that you can use again and again for years to come. It will take you some time to create your first monthly meal planner, especially if you’ve never meal planned an entire month before. To make sure you balance each family member’s don’t-like meals with favorite meals.For overall balanced and healthy nutrition.Create a balance between the categories of recipes.If I schedule a meal that a family member doesn’t like, I try to then schedule one of that is a favorite in that week. I do my best not to plan two meals in a row that someone doesn’t like.If we’re having a more expensive meal for entertaining or a holiday, then I can also plan more budget meals that month.Depending on our budget for the month, I add more budget-friendly recipes if needed.More involved recipes are assigned to weekend nights.I plan either slow cooker recipes or leftovers for busy nights when I don’t have much time to cook.Meal planning this way allows me to consider the many factors that influence the meal choices I put on the planner: Be sure to check out the recipes to round out your own monthly meal plan. I have found some great recipe ideas on this 4 Week Family Dinner Plan from Wondermom Wannabe. In addition to saving you time and reducing chaos, when you meal plan you can save money. Once you’ve created all six, you can rotate them over and over again so you’ll never have to meal plan again. This monthly meal planner set contains 6 different monthly templates.I like to add two or three slots each month to try new recipes.Take your family’s weekly schedule into consideration when planning meals for each day.Consider your family members’ meal preferences.Create a balance of different meal categories each week and throughout the entire month.
Free monthly menu planner template free#
Use this free monthly meal planner to assign meals to each day of the month.Divide your recipes into categories, such as:.If you don’t have many go-to recipes, start looking for ones to add to your recipe list.Collect a list of your favorite recipes.Luckily for you and me, there are now computers, printers and this free downloadable monthly meal planner to make our menu planning much easier. She used those monthly meal plans for years and years. Eventually she created several monthly meal planner templates that she committed to in pen. My mom used a pencil, a spiral notebook and a ruler to make her own calendar.
This was back before computers and apps and a printable meal planner. I thought everyone meal planned like that. She did one or two big grocery shopping trips a month and then just did quick weekly trips for produce and milk. I grew up with a mom that menu planned a month at a time.