April Meal Planning

Tanner and I have been meal planning for several years now. What do I mean by that? At the end of every month, I sit down and create a menu for the next month. I usually plan between 3 and 4 dinners per week. I would love to plan more, but our schedule just doesn't allow us to eat at home every night right now.

I have found that sticking to our meal plan is the thing that helps our food budget the most. I create a monthly meal plan because then I only have to do one big grocery shopping trip per month. Some people like to create weekly meal plans because they can plan according to sales. I would suggest trying both ways if you haven't, and see what works best for your family! I usually put mine on a monthly calendar, but we always mix-up the order.

Most of the time my meal plan includes freezer meals. One of my best friends and I get together every few months and freeze as many meals as we can in a few hours. We usually end up preparing around 7-10 meals. This is one of my favorite things to do because I know that I have some delicious meals waiting for me in the freezer, and usually all I have to do is thaw them and put them in a crockpot or the oven!

I'm going to do a longer post about freezer meals sometime, but for now, I thought I would show you our meal plan for April. Let me know if you want the recipes! I may start posting this each month and adding pictures.

• Chicken casserole (freezer meal)
• Goulash & salad
• Crockpot chicken and stuffing
• Tater Tot Casserole (can be a freezer meal, but I haven't made it yet)
• Chicken Ranch Quesadillas
• Chicken BBQ (can be a freezer meal, but I haven't made it yet)
• Meatloaf (can be a freezer meal, but I haven't made it yet)
• Chicken pot pie (freezer meal)
• Lawnmower Taco
• Honey Lime Tilapia (freezer meal)
• Saucy Roast Beef
• Grilled Cheese
• Breakfast
• Chicken Teriyaki