Dear June,
What are you doing here, and what did you do with May? Don’t get me wrong, I like that you’re here. You bring three important celebrations – Father’s Day, my wedding anniversary and my birthday – and in most cases, you’re a little less busy than May (which in case you didn’t know, has you beat with one extra holiday). However this year is a little different. In addition to the celebrations, you’ve brought a weekend out of town, a summer kick-off church barbeque, a week-long vacation bible school, dinner at a friends house (twice) and you’ve invited company over to our house (twice)! My oh my June, we’re going to be very busy!
Please don’t get me wrong June, I’m not complaining that you’re busy. I’ve very thankful that we have all these fellowship opportunities planned, but I’m just afraid that you’re going to slip out the backdoor just as quickly as May did!
Week #1
(S) Family Dinner
(M) Chicken & Spinach Enchiladas, Spanish Rice
(Tu) leftovers
(W) DIY Salads
(Th) leftovers
(F) Homemade Pizza
(S) Summer Kick-Off BBQ (Church) – bringing Greek Pasta Salad
Baking Session: Spiced Carrot Vanilla Chip Bread x2, White Sandwich Bread
Week #2
(S) Family Dinner
(M) VBS / Mini-Chicken Sandwiches on Homemade Rolls (from the freezer), Potato Wedges
(Tu) VBS / leftovers
(W) VBS / Summer Vegetable & Black Bean Pasta Bake
(Th) VBS / leftovers
(F) VBS / Homemade Pizza on Homemade English Muffins
(S) Dinner at a Friend’s House
Baking Session: Maple Apple Muffins, Sourdough Bread
Week #3
(S) Wedding Anniversary! / Father’s Day / Family Dinner – I’m bringing dessert
(M) Fried Coconut Shrimp, Coconut Rice, Broccoli, Spicy Orange Mustard Sauce
(Tu) leftovers
(W) Vegetable & Garbanzo Bean Fried Rice
(Th) leftovers
(F) My Birthday! / Homemade Pizza w/Friends
(S) Bacon-Wrapped Pesto Chicken with Pasta, Broccoli
Baking Session: Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, White/Sourdough Sandwich Bread
Week #4
(S) Family Dinner
(M) Tilapia & Shrimp Tacos, Coconut Rice, Southwestern Corn, Homemade Salsa, Homemade Tortillas
(Tu) leftovers
(W) DIY Salads
(Th) leftovers
(F) Homemade Pizza
(S) Hosting Company / Grill Tri-Tip, Risotto, Corn on the Cob, Green Salad, Homemade Rolls (from the freezer)
Baking Session: Muffins TBD
What’s on your menu this month?
This post is shared at Stone Gable, OrgJunkie, Life as MOM
The month of June is looking good and busy!
Hi,
Your meal plans look wonderful but do you have any tips for sticking to them? I always find that if I do a meal plan for the week I stick to it for two or maybe three days then it all falls apart. I don’t know if I’m rebelling against the plan or what but I just can’t bring myself to cook whatever is on the list for the second part of the week – I simply don’t want to eat it, even if it is a favourite dish.
Any tips?
Hi Lorna! I plan for the whole month, but there is definitely flexibility if we’re not “feeling” a certain meal. I’ve often switched out Monday for Wednesday, or a meal from week 3 for week 2 instead. One thing that has helped me stick to the plan is doing most of the shopping at the first of the month. It’s much harder to stray from the meal if I know I’ve already purchased the ingredients… and if I don’t use them, they go to waste. If I choose to “steal” from a meal later in the month, then I have to replace what I stole, or eventually eat the original meal I had planned. If I have an extra night of chicken this week, then there will be another meal later that requires chicken that I won’t have. My efforts to deviate end up backfiring, on myself!
I think that if you don’t want to eat what you’ve cooked, perhaps allow yourself some deviation. Maybe use the veggies planned, but do something else with them. Or allow yourself to eat what you want, but it has to be from the pantry (i.e. you can’t go buy anything). Another idea is to give yourself one night “off,” where you don’t HAVE to eat what you planned, but you can only do that once each week.
That spiced carrot bread recipe looks yummy. (I would make some healthy substitutions.) But you call it vanilla chip carrot bread. Tell me more about vanilla chips, do you make them yourself or buy them and where?
Thank you Laura! The original recipe could definitely use some healthier upgrades
There’s a better version here, but that can certainly be improved too!
The vanilla chips were in the pantry – I did not make them myself. They can be found near the chocolate chips at the store. I used up the remaining chips I had shortly after the first recipe was posted (hence the sunflower seeds and cranberries in the upgrade), but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some no-no ingredients listed! Our eating habits are improving and some of those older recipes show where we’ve come from.
Carob or chocolate chips would work, or even seeds, nuts or other dried fruit too! ~Tiffany