Weekly menu plans are fantastic.  Really.  I have been menu planning for 20 weeks now…  And in case you couldn’t tell, I am sold!  They have completely revolutionized the way I look at cooking for my family.  I really can’t believe that I wasted so much time (and money!) by waiting until about 4-5 p.m. each day to figure out an answer to the question, “What’s for dinner?”

If you have not given menu planning a go, I really hope you’ll try planning at least dinners for a couple days.  I believe it will benefit everyone!  Be flexible with your plan, too.  Last week, I was able to snag a free pizza via a Facebook giveaway, so that went into the plan for the week instead of another meal.  Additionally, some good friends of ours spontaneously had us over one afternoon, and asked us to stay for dinner!  It was so unexpected and sweet of them.  Hopefully we can return the favor and have them over for a meal soon!

When meals get bumped out of the week’s plan, I usually already have everything on hand.  If the recipe involves fresh items that will spoil, they get moved to the front of the line for the next week’s plan.  When they don’t involve anything fresh (or I just haven’t gone to the store yet!), they go into the queue for later on in the next week.

For example… the cornbread casserole and kielbasa dish are leftover from last week’s plan.  I just didn’t get to them.  Hopefully I will this week!

Dinners
Cheesy Cornbread Casserole (new recipe to us)
Homemade Pizza
Kielbasa and Beans (third time’s a charm, right?!)
Bacon Cheeseburger Buns with my dough recipe
Cheesy Beans and Rice
Leftovers/Freezer meal (x2)

What’s on your menu plan this week?