Meal Planning - Calendar

This month we've been inching our way through meal planning and today we're going combine our themes with other important things to consider:

• plan leftovers - that way you'll have them, you'll save time in the kitchen, and it's a money saver
• take schedule into consideration - Wednesday night is church night, so we keep meals simple and quick
• what's in the freezer - some weeks I pull a meal from the freezer one night and the next night is leftovers of that meal - talk about a vacation!  Prep ahead, prep ahead, prep ahead!  Having a couple steps already taken care of is a huge timesaver.
• what's on sale/coupons - if there's a sale on chicken, I will probably try to work that into the meal plan for the week
• the #1 goal is that there's food on the table and we eat together - it doesn't have to be perfect - grilled cheese and a can of soup works 

Ready?  Go and snag this printable calendar (it's for the next 6 weeks).  

Then,look at your family favorites printable:

Start with the week of September 26th-October 2nd.  Keep this week easy peasy - plan 2 winner dinners (with leftovers), and a 30 minute meal with leftovers and maybe something new.  Follow your themes and fill in the first week.  If you are feeling like a show-off, you could work your way through the entire six week period.  Next up?  Making shopping easier with meal planning.  In the comments, I'd love to hear what your first meal is going to be for September 26th?