Meal planning

Sorry I've been MIA, I decided to try to make some more bacon by selling off some unused stuff! I love garage sales, but sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. Thankfully we've made quite a nice return on all the work and still have a day to go. I thought since I had a free minute tonight I'd talk about meal planning, I had been asked a while ago by a wonderful reader if I'd add my meal plans to my blog, so I'm working on it! Honestly if you want an amazing grocery budget, you can't afford to NOT meal plan. Even if it's just a little. This way you will know what you need to buy when you go to the store.

We don't plan out each meal, usually just dinner. But we always do the planning as a family. The kids love to help out with this and think of their favorite meals. Of course, it's usually the same thing- Bacon Jr. wants tacos, Little miss Bacon wants Grilled chicken and wild rice and Little boy bacon- well usually it's pizza! We do try to aim to please around here and let them plan one of their favorite meals, but we do like them to think beyond their favorites and pick other meals too. there's only so many tacos you can eat before going crazy!

Once we get our two week meal plan made, I sit down with my grocery list. I scour my cupboards to find what we have to make the meals, and what we still need. Anything missing goes on the grocery list. That way I know there are no unexpected "oh I forgot this" trips to the store, another budget saver. I also try to think about what we will be having for breakfasts and lunches. Someday I might actually plan those out, but right now I have too many other things to remember, like where Little boy Bacon's Yoshi toy went, or all the names of Little miss Bacon's animals she sleeps with (and their birthdays too- oh the fun stuff you get to remember as a mom!)

So are you wondering what two weeks of the Bacon's meal plan looks like yet? Here it is, in no particular order. When we meal plan we just list the meals we want, and then we will pick what nights they fit into our life.

Homemade pizza- salad
Grilled chicken, wild rice, peas
Grilled apple wood smoked bacon pork loin, grilled potatoes, salad (oh this was AMAZING on the grill thanks to Mr.Bacon's great grilling skills!)
Chicken wraps (tortillas, sauteed chicken, lettuce, bacon, tomato, ranch dressing) Fruit
tinfoil dinner
Crunchy fish, rice, veggies
Grilled steak & Shrimp, grilled potatoes, peas & carrots, grilled garlic toast
Cheesy ham and hash brown bake & veggies
Garlic chicken scampi & bread sticks
Tacos/nacho night
Chicken N rice, broccoli
Chicken & broccoli Alfredo & bread sticks
Spaghetti, salad & cheesy bread
BBQ Grilled pork chops, baked potato, corn on cob
hamburgers & hot dogs, fruit salad, chips

So there is two yummy weeks worth of dinner, now this was the meal plan from June 1st - 15th. Of course there have been days Mr. Bacon and I didn't want to make dinner, but we've done a pretty good job of sticking to the list. This way we know what we have on hand, and since we have everything to make a meal, we're not tempted to head out to eat. Actually eating out is very rare around the Bacon house, it gets a bit insane when you take four kids to a restaurant too! So what are your thoughts? Would you like to see more of our meal planning? Are there recipes you'd love to see from them? I love to hear back from my awesome readers!