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Home » Crystal Paine » This Week’s Menu Plan

This Week’s Menu Plan

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Breakfasts

Chocolate Chip Pancakes, strawberries
Whole-Wheat Waffles, peaches
Scrambled Eggs, Bagels
Blueberry Ginger Smoothies, Toast
Whole-Wheat Pancakes, fruit
Granola, fruit
Egg McMuffins, fruit

Lunches

Peanut Butter Banana Wraps
Tossed Salad with Hard-Boiled Eggs, Toasted Bagels
Peanut butter & Homemade Jam Sandwiches, Apple Slices, Peas
Macaroni & Cheese, Fresh Apple Carrot Juice
Beans and Rice with cheese, frozen veggies
Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies

Dinners

Ravioli, Tossed Salad, Fruit Salad
Southwest Roll-ups, Fruit Salad, Chips & Salsa
Taco Chicken Bowls, Fruit Salad
Steak, Brown Rice, Frozen Vegetables, Fruit Salad
Crockpot Barbecue Chicken, Au Gratin Potatoes, Frozen Vegetables, Fruit Salad
Dinner at Party
Dinner at Extended Family’s House

Freezer Cooking in an Hour

Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Bars
Egg McMuffins

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Reader Interactions

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  2. Jada says

    Link attached. One of our meals is a take on your 30 Minute Pizza recipe. We have made the recipe our own and have used it over and over again!

  7. Meredith says

    Time for me to get us back on track. I endeavored to be prepared to go by the menu plan I had all laid out for the last part of July & this month, but adding a fourth person to our family took me by storm and it just didn’t happen! Some nights I managed to pull it together, but not most. 🙁 With no family in town, and a lot of foods we have to stay away from b/c of allergies, we have done take out WAY WAY WAY more than I planned. At least I still have my stockpile – not going anywhere – so I can get back to our menu plan this week and keep chuggin’ along. Thanks Crystal for posting your menu plan every week! You help me keep on keepin’ on. 🙂

    • Crystal says

      Adding a fourth person to your family is totally cause for giving yourself some grace and slack. Let go of the guilt, my friend! 🙂

      • Meredith says

        Thanks Crystal. 🙂 You’re right and I’m tryin – it’s a mindset thing I think.

  8. su says

    Any suggestions on what I can use to substitute for the honey in the granola bars and other like recipes?
    thx

    • Nelia says

      You can use agave syrup or mix 1/2 a cup of brown sugar with 1/2 cup of water in the microwave and heat for 3 min. That is my go to recepie when I’m out of honey!! Hope it helps.

      • Debbie says

        Hi Crystal, if you don’t mind my asking what time of day are you able to get your runs in? Are you able to run in your neighborhood or on a trail somewhere? Just curious. Oh also, do you have a running buddy? I’m just so impressed with all that you do. Thanks for sharing yourself with us and being such an inspiration.

        • Crystal says

          I usually get up early and run before the children are up (and while my husband is still home). Typically, I’m running on the treadmill in our basement.

  10. Heather says

    Thats awesome! I wish i could plan out our menus like that. But its just me and the hubs and sometimes we change our moods on what we want to eat.

    • Heather says

      Hi Heather – another Heather here 😉

      I just wanted to tell you that you can definitely still menu plan even though it’s just you and your husband! It’s been just me and mine for 4 years now and we’ve menu planned through most of it. We don’t always stick to the plan and somedays I decide I want what I planned for Thursday on Tuesday or my husband works late and we grab a pizza.

      The biggest benefit of having a plan is that we are able to grocery shop by the plan and that saves us so much at the store. A friend recently told me that she didn’t think she’d see a difference but her and her husband tried it for a month and shaved $90 off their grocery bill! That’s huge!

      Anyway, don’t be discouraged since it’s just the two of you – if you’re interested in planning, you should give it a try! 🙂

    • Rachel says

      We also only have the two of us and I find menu planning very helpful. We make sure we are rotating out things starting to get old in our cabinets but leave it open to change our minds.

      It is a great starting place for grocery shopping and making sure we use leftovers (since our meals are often more than just two of us can eat, it helps us remember to eat the leftovers).

    • Emily says

      Like the other ladies have said, I’m in the same position. It’s just my husband and me and I menu plan! I actually plan one month at a time. I am not able to just come up with something every afternoon for dinner, so it helps me to have it written down. Sometimes I move things around, but at least I have a general idea!

      I encourage you to give it a shot for a month and see if you can find a way to make it work for you!

  11. Willing Cook says

    I have our “Back to School Meal Plan” scheduled to post on my blog on Friday, but here are a few dinner highlights.

    Balsamic Glazed Boneless Pork Chops, Wild Rice, Spinach Cantaloupe Salad
    Eggplant Marinara, Garlic Bread
    Bone-In Chicken Breast, Grilled Zucchini & Squash Potato Salad, Fruit
    Mahi-Mahi Fish Tacos with Homemade Salsa

    Crystal, I noticed that you are having granola this week. I have tried several versions over the years as I LOVE granola and it’s way too expensive to buy premade. Here is a link to my favorite recipe…it is tasty and easy to make. Great as a gift too!

    http://willingcook.com/recipe/breakfast/homemade-granola/

  14. Krista says

    The menu looks great! I’ve wanted to try those granola bars for a while. I look forward to reading your review.

    • Chrys says

      Me too. As yummy as they were when I made them, they could never be called granola bars (maybe granola bark, lol)

    • Crystal says

      No, I’m just typing up my menus right now as that seems to be the easiest. I just copy and paste from this blog post, print, and hang on the refrigerator.

      • Sara@Save Money, Live Joyfully says

        I try to input my menu plan into excel, so I can “rate” each meal after we eat it. I also add any recipe notes, and what I can do to make each meal better. I have 5 years of menu plans on excel, and it helps when I’ve hit a planning rut–I just look at old plans and see what meals our family liked 🙂

        • Crystal says

          You’re inspiring–and way more organized than me! I avoid spreadsheets whenever possible. My husband, on the other hand, creates them for fun! 🙂

          • Sara@Save Money, Live Joyfully says

            Love of Spreadsheets are my ONLY claim to organizational skills…just ask my extremely neat and tidy mother who spent her Saturday helping me organize our new classroom area (formerly the dining room). She says I obviously took after my father, not her 😉

  17. Doretta says

    Since I’m seeing chocolate chips in those Peanut Butter Banana Wraps, I’m assuming that nutrition isn’t the top priority in this snack. 😉 So may I suggest adding mini marshmallows?! (I skip the honey then.) My children really enjoy these with a tall glass of ice cold milk.

  18. Autumn says

    Is that a homemade chicken pizza in the photo? Is that one of your previous recipes as well or something new I missed?

    • Crystal says

      That’s homemade chicken pizza. Homemade crust, spaghetti sauce, diced chicken, and cheese.

      We sometimes substitute salsa for the spaghetti sauce (just depends upon what I have on hand!)

  19. Casey says

    With veggies from the garden PLENTIFUL recently, I’ve been making all sorts of soup and freezing most of it. Zucchini Tomato Soup, Curried Squash Soup, Broccoli Cheddar (Broccoli from Aldi, not garden, but still…) Plus we made some homemade salsa-first attempt was honestly not great, but have some ideas to tweek it for next time.

    I started canning this year for the first time and have successfully canned both green beans and peaches thus far. More peaches ripening right now, plan to can them on Wednesday.

    My freezer is getting FULL, so need to start canning more and freezing less. Have yet to can soup, but very eager to try. Frightens me a little as there are so many rules (guidelines really) about what NOT to include when canning: rice, noodles, flour, milk products, beans (unless you soak them first.) Canning is intimidating, but I am determined!

    I’m enjoying more homemade foods and less store bought. Cook often and enjoy it. Always creating new recipes and/or tweaking old ones-that’s what makes cooking fun. 🙂

  22. Andrea says

    Are your lunches things you send with kids to school? Just wondering how mac and cheese would work in a lunch box.

    • Crystal says

      We homeschool, so I just make lunch up right before lunchtime. (I know some homeschoolers do brown bag lunches to make things easier; I’ve not tried it yet!)

  23. Heather says

    My menu plan – go to Crystal’s house. Crystal – your meals sound tasty! 🙂 (and thanks for sharing the recipes and pictures – I have tried a few and am planning on trying quite a few more once the cooler weather arrives)

    Oh and lots of good nutritional choices to help you with your running!

  24. Tammy @ Skinny Mom's Kitchen says

    Hey Ladies! Here is my menu plan, make ahead action plan, and sample grocery list. The menu plan is 1300-1500 calories because I am still in weight loss mode.

    http://www.skinnymomskitchen.com/2011/08/23/weekly-menu-plan-make-ahead-action-plan-and-sample-grocery-list-2/

    I am also having breakfast sandwiches. Actually I made and froze 27 of them over the weekend. I put a quick easy tutorial on my blogging on making and freezing breakfast sandwiches. Perfect for busy back to school mornings.

    Have a great day everyone!

  27. Bridie @ I Heart Veggies says

    Here’s our mostly vegetarian menu plan, although I haven’t had time to type up and link the recipes for this week, there are prior weeks menu’s on the page as well if you want some inspiration. Lots of using what’s on hand and in the pantry this week, not a lot of grocery shopping (except a stockpile trip to Target yesterday which can be found on the “Weekly Grocery Shop” tab!)

    http://www.iheartveggies.net/p/weekly-menu.html

  28. ashley turner says

    I see you used your freezer pizza dough 🙂 I also made some but I am curious do you let it thaw in the plastic or remove it and place it in a bowl ?

  29. Michelle @ Simplify, Live, Love says

    I love the link you included for McMuffins! I actually have those on our menu this week too and never thought to cook the eggs in a muffin pan. What a fabulous idea.

    A fellow homeschool mom gave me two eggplants last week and I cooked up eggplant Parmesan for the first time yesterday. It was really good! We’ve also got Italian Zucchini Pie on the menu and homemade eggrolls. My menu plan is here: http://www.simplifylivelove.com/2011/08/menu-freezer-cooking-plan-822.html

    And the Italian Zucchini Pie recipe is here: http://www.simplifylivelove.com/2011/08/italian-zucchini-pie.html

  30. Julie M says

    Made the crockpot Taco Chicken last night. Very good and super easy. We added some cubed fresh avocado to the top.

  32. analisa says

    I am so inspired by you all the time! Can’t wait for your book. Thanks for all that you do. I did some freezer cooking today and decided to make cheeseburger cups, have you ever made them? You take canned biscuits and put them in the bottom of muffin cups and make a cup out of them, mix ketchup and mustard together with some ground beef, spoon it in the cups and top with cheese. They came out delicious and freeze well too. Im sure the stuff in it can be substituted for healthier ingredients. Just thought I would share:)

  34. Becky says

    We only plan out dinners. This week, we’re having spinach quiche, Santa fe quesadillas, buffalo chicken pudgie pies, turkey burgers,, Parmesan chicken, homemade pizza and chef salads.

  35. Lara says

    Ok.. so I’ve tried 2 different homemade fruit leather.. neither have worked. If yours turns out… please let me know… I’d love to make my own.. and it’s just not working!!!

  36. Tina says

    I have a question. I have a family of 6 living in a small two bedroom apartment. I try to freezer cook the best I can but have a small fridge. Needless to say, the freezer is pretty tiny. I’d like to freezer cook for a 2 week time period. Any suggestions on making things fit in there? I know I can use freezer bags for some stuff, but what about casseroles? And snacks & breads, such as pretzels, muffins, bagels. Those can get pretty lumpy. Any advice is sincerely appreciated. Thanks!