Simple, Frugal, Kid Friendly January Meal Plans

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Simple, Frugal, Kid Friendly January Meal Plans

Picture above is my Beef Veggie Soup, I toss just about anything in there!

I’ve been meal planning for quite some time now. I love the way that it makes my evenings easier and it has completely stopped the “what’s for supper?” question in our house. Not to mention that it makes my twice monthly shopping trips a breeze and since I have a list I’m MUCH less tempted to add any impulse purchases to my cart. We also order 85% of our monthly foods from a coop (Azure Standard) so I have to know ahead of time what I’m planning on making with the food I’m getting, otherwise it tends to go to waste and I really really really dislike food waste.

It’s been a long time since I’ve shared any of my meal plans here and I thought maybe I’d give it another go. I know that I like to check out other meal plans for inspiration on my own so hopefully this list can do that for you if you are in a bit of a rut.

Here’s a little more info about my meal plans and how I plan meals.

azureorder
My Azure order from December. Some snacks, pasta, beans, yogurt, cheese, and more.
  • We currently grocery shop twice a month. I make a trip to the local grocery store twice a month for produce and usually get to Costco once a month on one of those trips to town. I order from Azure Standard once a month.
  • I do not buy meat from the grocery store. Right now I’ve been getting all of my meat from our family’s beef cows and all of my chicken from online twice a year. We are currently raising pigs for pork but don’t have any on hand and don’t plan on buying any until we have our own.
  • I plan all of my meals off my Meal Planning Binder so I know that I’m already making things that my family will eat. I plan no more than one new recipe per week, usually less.
  • Our family has a large number of food allergies so you may see very little of certain foods on my list (such as breads, eggs, etc.).
  • I do not plan side dishes. We use whatever produce we can find the best deals on during the time of the month that we get to grocery shop for simple sides. This month it was slim pickings because it’s January in South Dakota so we will be mostly using frozen veggies from Costco (you can’t beat 14lbs of organic peas, broccoli, and green beans for $20!) . We eat a lot of fruit for snacks so I don’t usually have that as part of a meal unless a recipe requires it.
  • Breakfasts vary from day to day but are usually a mixture of homemade muffins, smoothies, egg sandwiches, or oatmeal. Lunches are almost always leftovers from the day before and if for some reason we are out of leftovers we will have chef salads or bean burrito bowls.
  • Several of the below meals will be served more than once. We also have leftover nights every Saturday.
Oat pancakes that we make sometimes for a breakfast treat!
Oat pancakes that we make sometimes for a breakfast treat!

And I apologize in advance if not all of these recipes on on the Little House Living website yet. If you’d like to see me post one of them just leave a comment and let me know so I can work on it. 🙂

You can find more info on Budget Meal Planning here along with more sample meal plans and ideas.

Yummy potatoes that we've been storing from our garden last summer.
Yummy potatoes that we’ve been storing from our garden last summer.

Something simple that I also use to help me plan these meals for an entire month at a time is this little chart:

Monday: Soup
Tuesday: Chicken Meal
Wednesday: Meatless Meal
Thursday: Beef Meal
Friday: Pizza Night
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Anything

What are some recipes on your meal plans for January?

merissabio

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10 Comments

  1. It is so nice to see someone who actually cooks and uses their leftovers. I know alot of people who won’t eat leftovers,and because they don’t raise animals,they end up in the trash! I also hate waste..so I find that to be disgusting. I like your plan. I prepare food from our larder. As you know,I can alot and we grow our own meat. I go to the store twice a month as well. I don’t go to big box though,I go to an Amish bulk food store. It suits our needs,and we eat very well! Happy New Year to you and your family!!

  2. I love that you a theme for each day of the week. That really helps me be able to meal plan easily when I’m busy. We usually do Italian one night, Mexican another, soup, etc. It definitely takes a lot of the decision-making out of the plan, which makes it more likely I will follow said plan. 🙂

  3. I love the idea of the set up you have to help you plan. I just recently purchased to your book. I’m excited to receive it.

  4. All the recipes please! lol!!! But thank you for this post!!! Now to go flip through your book some more. 🙂

  5. Thank you for sharing this! My son is 18 months and starting to be a bit of a garbage disposal (already!) and with another boy on the way I know they’ll be eating us out of house and home in no time!

  6. Those oat pancakes look yummy! Thanks for sharing; I always find others’ meal plans inspiring and interesting to read.

    We have recurring favourites like Spaghetti Bolognese, Heritage Sausage Casserole, Fajitas and Pizza. I incorporate leftovers into lunches by putting them into turnovers or pasties for my husband on workdays; I have Kitchen Raider Salads i.e. whatever is hanging around, with oatcakes. I always look forward to Saag Aloo and Bombay Kaddu and the kids right now are telling me they like Cheatballs and Spaghetti, Tomato Soup, Vegetable Curry and rice, and the Berry Muffins they have this week for breakfast -we made them with the elder berries and blackberries we picked and froze last autumn.

    Can I ask… please, how do you make Swiss Steak? It sounds intriguing, and I don’t think it is something I have come across in the UK.

  7. Thanks for such a wonderful blog!!! You really do a good job and I really appreciate all the effort you put into it to make my life so much easier. Thanks for sharing the free e-books and recipes.
    LOVE your book, really enjoying it.