September is here! It’s the month of football starting up. It’s the month where families start to find their groove with school routines. It’s the month where we all recover from Olympic Games Binge Watching. It’s the month of apples being harvested. It’s the month of Labor Day and Elephant Appreciation Day (no kidding!).
How will you celebrate all those things? Attend a football game? Eat some apples? Eat an elephant (one bite at a time)? I don’t know what the month has in store for you, but I do know that you should plan your meals. I still think it’s the #1 thing you can do to save the most money at the grocery store. A coupon isn’t great if you don’t eat the food. A sale will only let you pay less money for food that goes uneaten. But a menu plan? A real, practical one will save you lots of money! And stress! And that’s a win in my book!
The Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Menu:
Available formats:
- The easy-to-print version as a .PDF.
- The pre-filled file in Excel.
- An empty file in Excel. Make your own menu plan!
The Dinner Only Menu:
Available formats:
- The easy-to-print version as a .PDF.
- The pre-filled file in Excel.
- An empty file in Excel. Make your own menu plan!
Its okay if you don’t like these recipes or these ideas – make your own! Just open the Excel version, delete what you don’t want and keep what you do want! I have a menu plan that works for my family – you should have one that works for yours!
What if I don’t cook every night?
Awesome! I don’t either – we often have leftovers 2-3 night/week. Just take this basic plan, cut out some meals and make leftovers part of your plan!
What if I don’t want a particular meal on a specific night?
Awesome! Just take this basic plan and swap meals around.
What if I want to see the Excel version?
Awesome! You can download the Dinner-Only version here or the Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner version here.
What if I don’t eat beef? Or chicken? Or pork?
Awesome! Just take this basic plan, remove the foods you won’t eat and put in foods you will eat.
What if I don’t know how to make that meal?
Awesome! Included are the links for the recipe that I usually use.
What if we always have pizza on Friday nights?
Awesome! (Can I come over?) Just remove my Friday meals and put in pizza.
What if I don’t like your recipe?
Awesome! Use whichever recipe you normally use and just use this basic plan as a suggestion.
What if I have my own monthly menu plan?
Awesome! Care to share it? Share it down below in the comments so that we all can see it and be inspired!
What’s cool about this menu plan?
Breakfast & lunch are simple and repetitive while still providing variety. For dinners, I try to have a lot more variety each week – some beef, some chicken, and some pastas. That way you won’t get too bored. There are also plenty of ways to save time when using this menu plan. Examples: When prepping chicken at the beginning of the month, make enough for the other recipes and freeze it for future use. When making ground beef, brown 2-3 times the normal amount and freeze that. Check out these easy crockpot instructions for bulk cooking chicken and bulk cooking ground beef. It makes it super quick to pull meals together!
Recipes in this menu plan:
Breakfast Recipes:
Breakfast Popsicles
Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Sausage Bagel Sandwiches
English Muffins (top with butter, cream cheese, peanut butter or jelly)
Breakfast Burritos
French Toast Sticks
Scrambled eggs
Cereal
Pancakes
Cinnamon Rolls
Waffles
Fried Eggs
Bagels (top with butter, cream cheese, peanut butter or jelly)
Baked Oatmeal
Lunch Recipes:
Tortilla Roll Ups
Easy Skillet Nachos
Chicken Nuggets
Soup Ideas: Baked Potato Soup, Slow Cooker Ham & Bean Soup, Slow Cooker Ham & Potato Soup, Cheesy Veggie Chowder, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Ham & Bean Soup, Slow Cooker Chili, Taco Soup, Vegetable Soup
Bean & Cheese Burritos
Summer Sausage, Cheese & Crackers
Macaroni & Cheese
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Mini Pizzas
Cheese Quesadillas
Cobb Salad
Peanut Butter & Jelly
Egg Salad
Dinner Recipes:
Spicy Chicken Rigatoni
Pizzadillas
Chicken Parmesan Sandwiches
Cheeseburgers (I make these on the griddle in the winter time)
BBQ Ribs
Chicken Enchiladas
Ham & Swiss Pinwheels
Homemade Chicken Strips
Pepperoni Roll
Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
Hawaiian Chicken
Ham & Cheese Crescent Bake
Chicken Tettrazini
Oven Fried Chicken
Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas
Bubble Pizza
BLTs
Slow Cooker Sweet Sesame Chicken
Taco Salad
Creamy Chicken Pockets
Broccoli Alfredo Stuffed Shells
Quiche
Sweet Asian Chicken
Chile Colorado Burritos
Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Slow Cooker Chili
Crock Pot Smothered Pork Chops
Chicken Tortilla Soup and Paninis
Crispy Onion Chicken
French Bread Pizza
Jayme is a wife to 1 and to four little boys. She coupons, but isn’t super extreme about it. She price matches and loves it! While she likes to cook, she’s in the stage of life where simple is usually better. She never knows how many hands she’ll have free at dinner time. You can find her at No Regrets Living.
