FEATURED RECIPES: This week’s meal plan features some quick and easy healthy breakfast recipes that will give your kids the energy they need to do their best in school, without slowing you down during the busy morning rush hour.
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. Again, you can find each of the recipe links over at The Better Mom.
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 my FREE Video Course “Mastering Meal Planning.”
Joyfully Serving Him, Kelly
I just found your website through A Proverbs 31 Wife and now have added you to my reading list. I am very interested in your real foods menus. I am currently trying to weed out all processed and prepackaged food but I am on a very strict budget. On average, what does your two week budget look like and for how many people? I am currently feeding six people, the youngest being a 15 year old boy, and am averaging about $100.00 per week. Would it be feasible to do some of your menus on that type of budget?
Hi, Myra. Welcome to The Nourishing Home. So glad the Lord has led you here. That’s wonderful that you’re committed to feeding your family healthier. And yes, I know how that can impact the family food budget. We’re a family of four and so the recipes I use for dinner generally feed 4-5, many times with leftovers. With regard to food budgets, I don’t share exact dollar figures because they are not a good gauge since grocery prices vary pretty dramatically depending on where you live and where you shop and of course, how many people you’re feeding.
For example, I belong to a great co-op called Azure Standard, that makes eating healthier much more affordable and I buy in bulk for all of our staples, which also significantly reduces costs. In addition, we opt to not eat out, except a couple of times of month at most, which frees up more budget for purchasing whole foods.
When asked about how best to manage a food budget, what I recommend is that each family create a weekly meal plan based on their personal food budget and then find ways to cut costs by incorporating some tried-n-true methods for achieving cost savings.
Here are two posts that discuss simple ways to do this (save money on whole foods). I hope these help you, as they have so many others, in creating a plan that meets your family’s budget and health goals. And of course, if my meal plans can make it easier on you to do this, that’s definitely my prayer and why I share them here as a free resource!
In addition, I do know it’s possible to manage on a budget of $100 if you keep meals simple. I’ve included a link to my friend Tiffany’s site (Don’t Waste The Crumbs) because she has so many great resources on her site for managing a real food budget. You can find her at http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/category/counting-crumbs/
• 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/
I just joined your site and can’t find grocery shopping lists for the recipes. Do you post them?
Hi, Sandi. Welcome to The Nourishing Home! I’m so glad the Lord has led you here. At this point, I do not have shopping lists for the meal plans because I haven’t found a program that can time-efficiently generate them. But do know it is an option that I would like to include some day soon, so I am continually looking to find an option. In the meantime, if you belong to ZipList (free) or Plan to Eat (fee based service) you can import recipes into custom meal plans in these programs and generate shopping lists. It’s a bit labor and time intensive though. Lots of blessings, Kelly 🙂
Good Morning,
I see on some of your breakfast meals that you are using yogurt. I thought dairy of any kind was not allowed. Please clarify for me, I appreciate it.
I enjoy your site very much. It has tons of info and is very easy to navigate. Thanks for all your hard work.
Hi, Cecilia. With regard to your question, coconut milk yogurt is a wonderful option for those living dairy-free. I make it frequently, and have shared the recipe here: http://thenourishinghome.com/2014/03/make-greek-style-yogurt-no-straining-required/ Also, there are several grain-free diets that permit homemade dairy based yogurt, such as GAPS and the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Of course, if you’re doing Whole30, you need to avoid dairy while on Whole30, in which case, again, coconut milk yogurt would be a great option. I hope this helps clarify! Blessings, Kelly 🙂
Hi Kelly, Thank you so much for clarifying. I guess I should have said that I’m doing the Whole30. I’m going to try & make the coconut milk yogurt today so thanks for the link. Have a blessed day! Oh and Happy St. Patty’s Day.
Always a pleasure to help! I hope you have a super successful whole30 and blessed weekend! 🙂