By Ann Martin
With school back in session now and finally a routine or schedule is starting to come into view, make the most out of your time and plan out your meals. More than likely you already have a loose plan put together for what your children will eat for lunch during the school week, so why not do that with the rest of your meals too?
Breakfast
Sure frozen waffles or instant oatmeal work well for breakfast ideas when you are rushed for time. But taking a few minutes to create a weekly meal plan for the week doesn’t take much effort and more than likely you’ll be using ingredients you already have on hand. Here are some ideas on how you can have delicious breakfasts during the week that take minimal time to prepare.
- Cook extra pancakes, sausage and bacon on the weekends. This way you can have a pancake and sausage breakfast in the middle of the week, without wasting precious time.
- Use left over noodles from the night before to make a spaghetti frittata using eggs, bacon and leftover vegetables. Peppers, onions, and mushrooms work well with this breakfast menu idea.
- Breakfast Bowls: using any type of bread or roll, gently scoop out some of the bread from the middle, yet leave a thin bread bottom. Fill the hole with a piece or two of cooked bacon, then crack an egg of top. Place on a cookies sheet and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, or until the egg is set.
Lunch
More than likely you have school age children that take their lunch to school. But what about siblings that are still home or even lunch ideas for yourself? Here are some quick and easy menu ideas to put into your weekly meal plan.
- Super Salads: have left over grilled steak, chicken or even shrimp from the night before? Go ahead and chop them up to make a healthy salad for lunch.
- Soups: with the cooler weather settling in, take some time on the weekend to make a few big batches of soup. They can be easily frozen and heated up for a quick and healthy lunch. A few of my favorites are: tomato and basil soup, loaded bake potato soup, butternut squash soup and celery soup.
- Bake Potatoes: Throw potatoes in the oven during the morning hours, or simply cook in the microwave. Experiment with toppings such as: freshly steamed broccoli and cheddar cheese, salsa, or even left over chili.
Dinner
Dinner time can be a stressful time of day for any household. Minimize that stress by planning your dinners for the week. There are several ways to meal plan, so you will have to find out the way that works best for you. I enjoy looking through my recipe binders and choosing recipes based on what ingredients I already have in my house. Another way to meal plan is to see what specials are at your grocery store and plan meals based on what is on sale. Both ways make sure to keep spending low at the store, but also use what you may already have on hand. Once you decide what to make for the week, there will be no second guessing and last minute stress on what will be on your table for dinner.
Ann Martin is a writer for Dinnerware Center, which offers a large assortment of dinnerware styles and flatware sets, such as the Noritake colorwave and Noritake china sets. Ann is a writer for cooking and home-related websites. When Ann is not writing, she enjoys spending time traveling.
Get meal plans sent to your email weekly by joining the Once a Week Cooking club.
Recent Comments