A Slightly Better Monthly Meal Planner {Free Printable}

 

This sweet monthly menu planner post has been a labor of LOVE.  I adore calendars, planning, prepping, and the benefits of being prepared.  When I stress over our monthly menu plan all in one evening (or two), I can then sit back and just enjoy the rest of the month.  I first look at our calendar to know if each evening can afford a more detailed meal, or if we need to have something warm to eat in the crock pot because everyone is going to eat at slightly different times.  Or perhaps the Instant Pot needs to be cleaned and ready to go for a particularly busy evening (LOVE that Instant Pot, you have one too, right?).

 

Occasionally the plan needs to be tweaked, but not often.

 

Having a plan also means knowing what preparations are needed (thawing or browning meat, what needs to be purchased, etc).  It’s easy to glance at the calendar and see what can be done a day or two ahead. Like, I love chopping onions, so if I get a spare minute on Tuesday, but don’t need them until Thursday, I’ll do it!  I love flash freezing chopped vegetables to help with dinner prep too.  You can watch my YouTube video on that HERE.

 

Basically, this planner template just takes all the temptation to order take-out, or make a frozen pizza off the table and helps me to make a *slightly* better meal plan.  More vegetables, less processed food, and less waste. After all, I’m not shooting for perfection, only slightly better!

 

Don’t get me wrong, frozen pizza DOES make it onto the menu plan, I just don’t want to be in the habit of grabbing that as a staple due to lack of planning.  

 

There are two different styles of menu planners here you can choose from, monthly including weekends, and monthly with only the weekdays.  I know in some seasons (like this one for us) we don’t often plan our weekend meals because we’re off adventuring, or just cleaning out the fridge for the next week.  Pick what works for you!  If you only wish to plan a week at a time, or just a couple days, you can do that too.  Fill in what you can!

 

I love printing in full color using the HP Instant Ink program.  If you’d like to learn more about that visit this post HERE.

 

Enjoy, sweet friends!

Download your FREE planner HERE –> Monthly Menu (7Days&5Weeks)

 

How about this one? –> Weekday 5-week Planner  No Weekends!

 

Ps.  Are you a blogger with a great family-friendly recipe to share?  I’d love to give it a try, as well as share it on my Facebook page.  Drop a link in the comments below! ♥

 

Pssst.  If you would like one of these in a different color scheme, I am totally willing to make one for you for a limited time.  Message me on FB or IG by July 27th, 2018 @11:59pm cst and I’ll get one ready for you to use this August!  I know this isn’t a very big window, maybe I’ll come out with different colors in the future!

Instant Pot Baked Potato Soup       Instant Pot Hardboiled Eggs      Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes