A Monthly Menu Plan for January

Photo courtesy of Real Simple

Typically, I have been planning out our meals for a week at a time, but this year I am going to try something new and create a basic two-week meal plan that I can repeat at least once.  This way I will have around a month of meals planned at a time, making it a lot simpler on me, and we'll only end up eating the same thing about twice a month.

My plan is is to sit down a few days before the end of each month and map out a different menu for the upcoming month.

For this month, I chose "comfort food" meals for winter that can easily be made into double batches and frozen for later.  Hopefully this will cut down on the amount of cooking I have to do later on in the month.

Our January Meal Plan

Week 1&3

Monday, January 2 - Chicken Tortilla Casserole with a vegetable and salad

• Make two batches and freeze the second for later in the month.
• Additional days: Monday, January 16, 30

Tuesday, January 3 - Shrimp and Black Bean Wraps
                                     with corn, chips and salsa

• Additional days: Tuesday, January 17, 31

Wednesday, January 4 - Leftovers

•  I work on Thursdays, so today is a good day to prepare Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew and refrigerate it for tomorrow.  That way when I get home from work, all I have to do is heat it up.  Make enough to freeze some for later as well.
• Additional days for leftovers: Wednesday, January 11, 18, & 25

Thursday, January 5 - Sweet Potato and Lentil Stew with corn muffins

• Additional days: Sunday, January 8

Friday, January 6 - Homemade Pizza and salad

• Double the dough batches and freeze the extra for later.
• Additional days: Friday, January 20

Saturday, January 7 - Leftovers or Eat Out

• Additional days: Saturday, January 14, 21, & 28

Week 2&4

Monday, January 9 - Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas with rice and beans (adapted from a Real Simple recipe)

• Make a second batch and freeze for later
• Additional days: Tuesday, January 24

 Tuesday, January 10 - Stir Fry

• Make White Chicken Chili on Wednesday, January 11 for the next day and refrigerate.  When I get home from work all I have to do is heat it up. Prepare enough to freeze some for later in the month.

  Thursday, January 12 - White Chicken Chili

• Additional days: Sunday, January 15 & Thursday, January 26

  Friday, January 13 - Apple Cider Chicken (Please try this! It is SO good!)

• Additional days: Friday, January 27

Thursday, January 19 - Homemade Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese (I have a really good recipe for tomato soup that I will be sharing this month.)

• Take extra pizza dough out of the fridge to thaw overnight.
• Additional days: Sunday, January 22

Monday, January 23 - Leftovers for Zach. I will be having dinner at a ladies church event.

• Take extra spinach and cheese enchiladas out of the freezer to thaw for tomorrow evening.

Sunday, January 29 - Something simple. Probably spaghetti or leftovers.

• Take extra chicken tortilla casserole out of the freezer to thaw for tomorrow evening.

Voila! A whole month worth of meals.  I think I'm going to like this system.  Planning out your meals a month at a time and figuring out what ingredients you will need to buy takes a little time to sit down and do, but once you have it done you don't have to think about what you're going to make for dinner for a whole month!  Another perk is you basically have your grocery list finished for the month as well!

I hope you find a recipe on here that you may want to try out yourself!

Happy Monday!