Planning Meals for a Month

Planning Monthly Meals

   I have been trying to focus on my weight and eating healthy for about a year now. I have tried a diet that my trainer gave me but it was really expensive and hard to keep up with. Instead of trying a diet, I have been planning out my (healthier) meals and snacks for the week so I'm not stuck and end up eating something I shouldn't. Eating healthy for me has been really easy during the week but during the weekend it's another story BUT we'll tackle one problem at a time. 
   
   I planned breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the month of August. August is kind of a trial month but I really think doing this every month will be beneficial when I start my student teaching. It will be easy to plan healthy snacks and lunches to bring to the school with me. 

   I was thinking I would be doing more frozen dinners and crock pot meals than I ended up doing. I was just too excited to try all the new recipes. In exchange, I was able to prepare a few meals ahead of time and freeze them but most of the meals, I'll have to prepare the day of. I think it'd be amazing to plan a month of healthy meals that can be prepped at once then frozen until the day of.  There are some great websites that I've found on Pinterest that give monthly meal plans AND grocery lists. I may have to take advantage of that one month if I get too busy. 
   
   It took a lot of organizing but I accomplished it. I planned breakfast and lunches for myself and three dinners a week for Duane and I. We do dinner with my Dad on Thursdays and dinner with my family on Sundays. Plus I do dinner with my girlfriends on Tuesdays. That only left Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. I planned for twelve dinners (3 a week) and twenty lunches. I alternate between cereal, eggs and turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, breakfast burritos, and english muffin sandwiches for breakfast throughout the week.

   
   I started by looking at recipes I had pinned from Pinterest, meals I know Duane and I really like, and looking at my favorite website for healthier recipes; http://www.skinnytaste.com/. I have tried a lot of recipes from Skinny Taste and they're amazing. Great ideas and easy to follow. After making a list of the meals and snacks I was planning on having, I penciled them into a calendar. A lot of the lunches, especially when I'm at school, will be left overs which is perfect. I planned more of the slow cooker meals and bigger portion meals at the end of the month of August for when I start school. 

Skinny Sour Cream Enchiladas from SkinnyMom

    After I had a layout, I broke them into a weekly meal plans. I found this cute, free organizer online from ihttp://issasarza.com/. Finally, I printed a monthly plan to keep. I quickly googled free monthly planners and was able to put my own picture in it. I thought this could be kind of fun to remember something special from the month before and keep your spirits up to stay on track! I keep all of the recipes and plans in a binder in the kitchen. I'll keep every week's plan on the fridge. I'm excited to see how everything goes.