FEATURED RECIPE: This easy, no-bake cheesecake makes a wonderful, healthy summertime dessert.
One of my favorite ministries is serving as the Meal Planning Contributor for The Better Mom, where I share my bi-weekly real food meal plans as a way to help inspire and encourage others. Each bi-weekly meal plan includes what’s on the menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as links to more than 40 of the delicious real food recipes featured.
Why is this called “Meal Plan Monday,” when it’s posted on Saturday?
I thought it would be nice to give you the heads-up about what’s on the menu for the week ahead. That way, you have time to take advantage of incorporating some (or all) of the meals featured, if you’d like. Remember: To view the recipe links for each of the meal plans below, please pop on over to The Better Mom.
So … without further ado … here’s what’s on the menu for the next two weeks at
The Nourishing Home:
P.S. I’ve provided free links, so you can download the new Meal Plan Template for your own personal use.
P.S.S. If you’d like to learn more about meal planning, please check out “Mastering Meal Planning.”
Joyfully Serving Him, Kelly
You would be so proud of me…
I actually meal-planned this week.
I’m prepping for our October accountability.
All that said…so appreciate the new recipe ideas…I need new, exciting, healthy ideas to try 🙂
Thank you.
P.S. I need crockpot ideas for when we get home late and need the food to be good-to-go 🙂
Woo hoo, Kara! You’re on your way! And so funny you should mention crockpot recipes! The whole month of September, I’ll be posting about some of my favorites. Look for a post on Friday with a new crockpot recipe. In the meantime, have you tried my crockpot turkey-veggie chili. It’s one of my kiddos favorites. We serve it over rice – yum! Love to you, sweet friend, Kelly 🙂
http://thenourishinghome.com/2012/04/hearty-turkey-veggie-crockpot-chili-gluten-free/
Hi, I’m new to your site. I was just wondering about how much your weekly grocery bills are in using these menus. Thanks! 🙂
Hi, Hayley. Welcome to The Nourishing Home. I’m so glad the Lord has led you here! I don’t share dollar figures because they are not a good gauge since grocery prices depend on where you live and where you shop. For example, I belong to a great co-op called Azure Standard, that makes eating healthier much more affordable. In addition, we opt to not eat out at all, except a few times of month at most, which frees up more budget for purchasing whole foods. Also, due to my health issues, eating healthy is essential and has saved us hundreds of dollars in medications and doctors’ visits, praise be to God for bringing me into remission from my illnesses. Instead, what I recommend is that each family make a plan based on their budget and then find ways to cut costs by incorporating some tried-n-true methods for cost savings. Here are two posts that discuss this. I hope these help you, as they have so many others, in creating a food budget and plan for healthy eating that meets your family’s needs. Blessings, Kelly 🙂
• Real Food on a Budget: http://thenourishinghome.com/2012/03/8-tips-for-real-food-on-a-budget/
• Real Food on a Budget, Part 2: http://thenourishinghome.com/2012/03/real-food-on-a-budget-part-2/
Thank you, Kelly. We live in San Diego and try to stick to $150/week for our family. We are 2 adults, 1 toddler and infant twins (who are JUST starting homemade purees). I have been meal-planning with dinners for a long time, but have never made real plans for breakfast and lunch. I’m going to read your two posts about budgets. What items do you buy from Azure Standard?
Also, my son is allergic to sesame and all nuts. Are there any good substitutions for almond flour or almond meal in your recipes?
Hi, Hayley! You have a great budget to work with, so I highly recommend reading the two posts I mentioned and seeing what options are available to you in your area as far as food co-ops and CSAs, etc. I’m not sure if Azure goes down to San Diego, but I’d definitely visit their site to find out: http://www.AzureStandard.com. I purchase a lot of bulk-size staple items from Azure.
As far as your son’s allergy, I do have some coconut flour recipes on my site, so if he’s not allergic to coconut, these would be a great option. But unfortunately, it’s not possible to make simple cup-for-cup substitutions for blanched almond flour recipes because the recipe is precisely developed for this particular flour. In fact, each GF flour behaves very differently, so it would be best for you to find recipes using options that your son can tolerate. I have a wonderful friend – Michelle of The Willing Cook, who revises many of my recipes, as well as has many of her own for those with nut, dairy and egg allergies. I recommend paying her a visit: http://willingcook.com/
Lots of blessings, Kelly 🙂