Meal Plans December 29-January 4

Each week, I plan to add a week's worth of meals to a monthly meal plan document and share the document at the end of the week. I say "document," but it's actually three documents. They are:

1. Monthly Meal Plan
2. Grocery Shopping List
3. Recipe List

I use these documents to organize my meals and to determine what I need to buy in order to meet the minimum requirements of these meals. That being said, these lists are for me, and if you can benefit from them, I want to share them with you. Right now, though, I do not have the time to add the extras (recipes that I wouldn't otherwise write in the Recipe List or ingredients that I already have to the Grocery List, etc).

Monthly Meal Plan...

is organized by week. Each week is categorized by Breakfast, Snack (2 per person), Lunch, & Dinner. I know how many of each I need to make each week, and sometimes it varies. I am not planning for 7 breakfasts, 7 (x2) snacks, 7 lunches, and 7 dinners every week. I am planning for what fits my family's needs.

Grocery Shopping List...

is divided according to weeks. I am considering subcategorising by type of item (dairy, produce, meat, etc). Right now, I am not buying enough groceries to need to do that. The grocery list only includes items that I need to buy. It does not include every ingredient for every recipe.

Recipe List...

is what I will use when cooking and is categorized according to meal type (breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner). I like putting all the recipes in one place so that I am not having to find websites or pages in books. If I am using a particular recipe from an online source, the name of the recipe is also a link. I use my computer, iPhone, or my husband's iPad when cooking. The links come in handy when the original website has pictures or user comments, etc.

The Links

Okay! I think I have explained these lists enough. These lists are my own meal plans. They are not in any way to be nutritional advice, fail-proof recipes (remember, it's my first time making the majority of them!), or anything that challenges the way you meal plan or your eating patterns.

I put a LOT of time and effort in putting these plans together. If you would like to copy them for purposes other than your individual in-home use(for example, blog, cooking party, print offs, etc), please give me credit. :-)

(Click on the document you would like to view.)

Monthly Meal Plan
Grocery Shopping List
Recipe List

To further clarify a point: I plan to post about my experience using the recipes I list immediately after I prepare a recipe. At the end of the week, I will post my meal plans. My reasoning is so that I can experience the recipe first before recommending it to you. My meal plan may include recipes that are no good, and I want to give you that heads up before you use the recipe. Or I may have my own comments on modifications to the recipe that you may find helpful when preparing it also.

This first week of January has had so many other "introductory" posts, and I forgot to take pictures of the meals I made this week. This first week's update on how the meals went will be different from the following weeks. (P.S. All the foods turned out fine this week, but I was not quite satisfied with the sweet potato fries and the curry recipe is not a keeper. More in a later update.)

I hope you can benefit from these meals!

God bless you and keep you,
~Raquel