I’ve never used your meal planner before. What should I expect?
- My meal plans are FREE! (Your visiting my site keeps the lights on so to speak, no extra charges!)
- My meals are nutritious & well balanced!
- My meals are thrifty! (we pinch pennies by making good use of what foods are in season)
- My food is yummy! (These are all recipes my family loves & uses)
- My food is “real” and organic! (If you are looking for menus with boxed items, this is probably not for you)
Take them or Leave Them?
You can follow our plan exactly or modify it to suit your families individual needs!
- We make our own bread & granola. We do it as #1 a cost saving method and #2 to eat more healthily. I’ll post more on our favorite bread machine recipes later . . . but here are 2 resources to get you started: My FAVORITE bread machine cookbook {I have the ebook on my ipad and use it daily! It has pizza dough, rolls, lots of different breads, and so much more! You can use whatever recipe you like, but it is safe to assume I am using one from this book} and Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread.
- For Granola you can make the super healthy granola or the simple and healthy granola. You choose.
- We choose to eat fruits and veggies from the Dirty Dozen list organically. We know it costs extra, but by cutting out those 12 fruits & veggies we are cutting down our families exposure to harmful pesticides by 80%! You can of course buy non-organic or buy everything organic. You pick what works for your family’s budget.
- We choose to buy mostly grass fed {always non-GMO} local meat. Again, this is more expensive. We would rather eat less meat and buy quality, good-for-you meat. But if you are pinching pennies or have to have steak more often this may not be affordable for you.
- We make our own yogurt. It is so simple to make your own yogurt! And it only costs $.07 - $0.28 per serving {depending on whether you use the run-of-the-mill grocery story milk or organic non-homogenized 100% grass-fed cow milk} I LOVE our yogurt maker! It takes me about 7 minutes to whip up a batch and then it “cooks” for most of the day. So easy!
- We have backyard chickens. To cut down on the ever-rising cost of eggs, we got our own chickens. Now we control what they eat. Our organic eggs average out to $1.25 a dozen. for And just in case you are wondering, no we don’t live in the country. We have a less than .25 acre plot in suburbia. But more on our backyard chickens later.
- We grow many of our veggies. Our garden started as a fun, educational activity. It is still a lot of fun, but it also helps us dramatically cut down on the cost of our summer veggies {by $600+} During the summer we have a thriving garden that stocks us with organic veggies. Again, we live on a small less than 1/4 acre in suburbia. It can be done! So my summer menus are filled with lots of veggies to make sure of our bounty. If you don’t have a garden, no worries. The supermarket has lots of fresh veggies and year-low prices during the summer. We can, freeze, or pickle our extra veggies to use during the winter.
- We eat less. Since eating more “real food” and whole grains we've realized we eat less. But feel free to adjust portions to fit your individual family’s needs. We also don’t drink a lot of milk. {google it if and decide for yourself. We opted to try a balance approach} If you do, make sure to add that to your weekly grocery list. As is you will get about 1 serving of dairy a day.
By using the meal plan below you agree to the following:
- This is for personal use only (you may print off 1 copy for your families personal use)
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- I offer free printables to bless my readers AND to provide for my family. Your frequent visits to my blog & support purchasing through affiliates links and ads keep the lights on so to speak. Thanks you!
September Meal Planner
In September home gardens are producing by the bucketful! Septembers' menu takes into account all the fresh veggies you have on hand from your garden (which is probably coming to a close depending on where you live) to maximize savings! It also takes into account that apples are in season – so whether you pick your own from an orchard (highly recommended) or buy them from the store – you’ll be using plenty! Our meal plan feeds our family of 5. So for all you busy moms out there – dinner is served {and you didn’t even have to plan it!}
Week 1:
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| Monday | Cantaloupe | Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich on Homemade Bun(Save 1 bun for crumbs) + 5 for Wed) + Fruit | Chicken Paprika Stew | fruit |
| Tuesday | Oatmeal w/ fruit | Leftover Chicken Paprika Stew with Italian bread (save 1/2 to make into garlic bread) + fruit | Eggplant Balls over pasta with tomato sauce Garlic Bread | string cheese |
| Wednesday | Yogurt & berries | Leftover eggplant balls in sandwich + fruit Homemade Rolls (for lunch & tomorrow) | BBQ Pot Pie (use only 2 cups, save most for tomorrow )Side salad | popcorn |
| Thursday | Blueberry Muffin (or apple) | BBQ Sandwiches with homemade bun (save 1/2 for dinner) fruit *Save 1 bun for bread crumbs | Veggie Burgers with sweet potato fries** | Granola |
| Friday | Farmer Eggs** with 2-3 potatoes per person & 2 eggs per person) + fruit | baked beans & fresh bread | Szechuan Chicken** with brown rice + fruit | bell pepper with hummus *only eat 1/2 hummus |
| Saturday | German Apple Pancakes | leftovers + fruit | Cheese & Mushroom Pizza (use1/2 wheat 1/2 white flour instead of cornmeal) *save 1 pizza crust for next week | celery with peanut butter |
| Sunday | Quiche | Sweet Chili (save leftover for Monday lunch) with corn muffins** | Mac & Cheese + fruit | fruit |
*Granola makes 20-24 servings – save the rest for other days on menu (keeps in air tight container for 2-3 weeks)
**Recipe in Shopping List Download
Treat: Apples & Jen’s Peanut Butter Apple Dip**
Week 2:
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snack | |
| Monday | Fruit & Granola (leftover) | Sweet Chili over Baked Potato + fruit | Chicken Marsala with whole grain noodles and green beans | bell pepper with humus (leftover) |
| Tuesday | Oatmeal with fruit | Baked potato with cheese, sour cream, and broccoli | Breakfast burrito with eggs & cheese & peppers (homemade tortillas - make shells, save extra for Thursday) | fruit |
| Wednesday | Yogurt & Fruit | Cobb Salad | Weinkraut** with Braut | Peanut Honey Power balls |
| Thursday | Banana Bread | Quesadilla (cheese or PB & choc chips) +fruit | Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie** | fruit |
| Friday | Fried Eggs + Fruit & English Muffin | Blueberry Spinach Salad ** | Green Chicken Taco Soup | homemade applesauce make huge batch (save 4-5 cups for tomorrow & Sunday) |
| Saturday | Apple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake** | Leftover Green Chicken Taco Soup + Fruit | Cheese & Veggie Pizza (crust from last week) | popcorn |
| Sunday | Asparagus Friatta | Pork Chops & Applesauce Broccoli | Stir Fry (Vegetarian with 1 cup peanuts) | fruit |
Treat: Apple Crisp & Ice Cream
Week 3:
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snack | |
| Monday | Fruit & Granola (leftover) | Grilled Pear & Cheese (use 4 pears) | Black Beans & Brown Rice | fruit |
| Tuesday | Oatmeal with fruit | Fruit, bread cheese, kabobs | Early Autumn Stew | granola |
| Wednesday | Yogurt & Fruit | Leftover Early Autumn Stew | Roasted Acorn Squash Soup with Peasant Bread | celery with peanut butter |
| Thursday | Maple Breakfast Cookies & Fruit | Salad with Grilled Beets & Feta - Pears | Cider Beef over Cheddar Potatoes | Granola |
| Friday | 2 c. Spinach/garden Omelet (add ground mustard & nutmeg) | Roasted Garlic Hummus, Pita Chips, Peppers | Pork Chops with Beets Green Beans Apple | watermelon |
| Saturday | French toast with maple syrup and fruit | leftover Fruit | Cheese & Tomato Pizza | popcorn |
| Sunday | zucchini bread (use coconut oil) | Walnuts, Ham & Cheese Apple | Soufflé** | fruit |
Treat: Snickerdoodle Cookies
Week 4:
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Snack | |
| Monday | Fruit & Granola | hummus on pita, peppers | Chicken Pot Pie ** | fruit |
| Tuesday | Oatmeal with fruit | tuna salad on homemade bun (save 1/2 for eating with Wed dinner) & apple | Stuffed peppers | granola |
| Wednesday | Yogurt & Fruit | refried bean burritos (homemade tortillas - make shells & save 1/2 for Friday) + Friday | Tomato Soup with homemade bun | fruit |
| Thursday | Muffins + Fruit | Leftover Tomato Soup | Egg in a whole and fruit | Granola |
| Friday | Apple Crepes with sausage | Quesadillas with homemade salsa & chips | Scalloped Potato Casserole** + Fruit | popcorn |
| Saturday | Eggs & Zucchini pancakes & Orange Juice | Leftovers | Cheese & Veggie Pizza | fruit |
| Sunday | Squash Tea Bread & OJ if any leftover or tea | Lasagna with small salad | Scrambled Eggs with sweet potato pancakes | homemade applesauce |
Treat: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
{free} Weekly Shopping List Printable
First off, because I know you are going to ask, where is the Menu {free} printable? I know I usually have free printables for everything! But I think it will be more helpful to you if you just read the menu {this post} on your smart phone, ipad, or computer. All the recipes are hyperlinked for your convenience! {This is how I am cooking now too}
>> {free} Printable Weekly Shopping Lists <<
You can also pull up your shopping list from your smart phone, but I know sometimes it is easier to print this off to add your own notes {things you already have, add’l household supplies you need, etc.} Each weekly shopping list contains everything you need to make the recipes that week. Easy Peasy!
If you notice a mistake, please let me know so I can fix it. Thanks
Feedback
I’d love to hear from you if you used my meal planner. What’s your families favorite meal?
Looking for a different month? Check all the monthly meal planner
