My Approach to Meal Planning for January!

Hey friends!! Happy Tuesday!! I hope your week is off to a great start!

I shared last week on Instagram that I decided to change things up and do a monthly meal plan for January. I used to do this regularly when the kids were much younger.

I had a theme for each day and I was really ON IT. HA!

Now I am much lazier. HA!

But- in an effort to plan ahead and just make life a little easier- I decided to give the monthly meal plan a try again!

Here's what I have planned for the month:

As you can see- I am going to make 2 baked zitis and 2 lasagnas. One to eat that night and one to eat later in the month! They are super easy to double and they freeze great! 

I am going to double the amount of protein I make so I can serve it twice during the week.

You can click on the link HERE for the recipe I use for the baked ziti! My family loves it. It's a great meatless meal- or you can add a protein with it!

I always try to keep a stock of green beans and broccoli (the two vegetables all of my kids eat) and several starchy sides on hand. I always have several boxes of pasta, a couple boxes of mac 'n' cheese and a container of rice in my pantry. In my freezer, I always have a couple loaves of Walmart's Italian bread from the bakery and frozen biscuits. By having those staples on hand- it's easy to just add a protein! Dinner is done! :)

You will also notice that the meals I have planned are SIMPLE. 

Like baked chicken + boxed macaroni (and I will serve either green beans or broccoli). My kids enjoy this type of meal, they get a good portion of protein with the chicken and it is incredibly easy to make. This is exactly why I have it on the menu several times throughout the month!

I am looking forward to seeing how I like going back to planning our meals out monthly! If anything, it's nice to change it up, even if it's something I don't do on a regular basis!

Have you ever ever planned out your meal's monthly? If so- did you find it helpful? Let me know!

Hope you have a BEAUTIFUL day!