FREE SAMPLE
WORK PLANNER!
If you've ever struggled with menu planning (and actually making the meals you've planned), I have seriously the easiest system to make getting dinner on the table a breeze. You can save a bundle when you choose to eat at home, but sometimes actually knowing how to meal plan can feel overwhelming as you begin each week.
A few years ago we created these simple meal plan recipe cards which truly take the guesswork out of menu planning. Just open up a box (or you can get just the PDF files), choose the week you'd like to use, and use the grocery list included for each week to make the meals.
It cannot possibly get any easier than that.
I honestly now don't even stress about making dinner. I do a few simple steps every weekend to prep ahead, pull out a bin each night, and dinner is good to go.
In case you're curious, here's EXACTLY how to meal plan to make it go easily each week:
1. I start by choosing which menu plan to use. (In January I'm using the Low Cal Meals weeks 1-5 ~ you can get the Low Cal Box here and print your meal plan for the month of January HERE)
2. On Saturday or Sunday, I order groceries from my weekly menu plan using Walmart Grocery Delivery or Kroger Clicklist. Walmart Grocery Delivery has become my favorite this year because they deliver to your home and I feel like the prices have been a little better ~ to make it even easier, I use our Monthly Grocery Membership that works if you have a Walmart in your area (it's pretty amazing!)
Kroger Clicklist is also super simple – you pick it up at the store, and lots of other grocery chains offer this service pretty inexpensively! Kroger Clicklist for example is FREE for orders of $35 or more and saves me a bundle in unnecessary purchases! Honestly, I feel like I save a TON of money each month simply by not going to the store, so it's a huge win for me!
3. I organize my meals for the week by putting the non perishable ingredients in small plastic bins in my pantry. (I use these bins from Target.) To organize them, I include each meal's recipe card from our low cal meals along with any pantry items in each bin. All refrigerated goods go in the bottom drawers of my fridge or freezer so I can easily find them.
4. After cooking each night, I pull out the bin, double check to make sure I have everything, and thaw any meat ahead of time if necessary.
5. The next morning if I need to start a recipe (especially for our slow cooker recipes), I go ahead and pull out my crockpot. Otherwise, I just make dinner (oh-so-easily!) at night!
Taking 30 minutes to get my groceries pulled together and ready to go saves me hours each week (AND SO MUCH MONEY). It's been so worth it for me!
So why is it even important to know how to meal plan?
- Planning meals will save you money because you're not tempted to eat out (cooking at home just about always will save you money unless you're eating steak each night)!
- Planning meals will save you time during your busy schedule each week.
- Planning meals takes away the guesswork and overwhelm of what to feed your family each week
- And best of all? Planning delicious meals for your family makes eating at home around your own kitchen table a happier place to be.
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So what's on the menu plan this month? Here we go!
Menu Plan This Month
- Week of Jan 1 – Low Cal Meals Week 1
- Week of Jan 8 – Low Cal Meals Week 2
- Week of Jan 15 – Low Cal Meals Week 3
- Week of Jan 22 – Low Cal Meals Week 4
- Week of Jan 29 – Low Cal Meals Week 5
You can also print your January menu calendar right over here!
And here's exactly what I'll be making along with sides this week:
- Monday – caprese chicken skillet + garlic-parm crescent rolls
- Tuesday – sausage, pepper and onion sandwiches + delicious deviled eggs
- Wednesday – copycat chicken lettuce wraps + edamame, corn and tomato salad
- Thursday – spinach and mozzarella pita pizzas
- Friday – thai-style chicken noodle soupNOTE: On Friday, January 13th we'll do a *special* FREEZER FRIDAY prepping week 1 of the Freezer meals. Watch for me on Facebook Live around 8:30 AM Eastern Time. I can't wait and know this will make January a little easier this year… and we may swap the salmon out for chicken tender sat our house. We'll see!
Would you love to learn more about how to meal plan easily? Snag a PPP Menu Planning Box Bundle, like the Low Cal Meals, Freezer & Slow Cooker Boxes to get all kinds of recipes to make cooking and menu planning easy this month.
I promise these have been a game changer in our home, and I'm pretty sure you'll love them too. 🙂
Today I received my home planner, accessories, etc. I was so excited I yelled Yay! I also yelled Woohoo! I’m glad I was home alone. LOL! Actually my fiance would have just laughed. Anyway I’m seriously that excited for my first planner!! Love you and your team so very much. Thank you all, Sharon
P.s. I didn’t comment about my menu plan downloads or meal planning yet because I haven’t downloaded yet. I can’t wait to get started.
I love doing PPP meals! I work 3 jobs so I donut have to ready think about what to make. I just follow the monthly PPP calendar and add sides. To save money I cook for my house, my parents, and my sister and husband (that makes 6 adults total) every week night. We rarely have to double the recipes and we love the variety PPP boxes provide. I even post the PPP dinners I make on Instagram and save them to my digital recipe keeper.
Oh I love this, Lonnie! That makes me happy to hear how our menu plans have helped you. And that’s so sweet of you to cook for everyone ~ what a blessing you are!❤️ -PPP Team
Hi there! Just want to start off by saying how much I love my PPP planner- it’s absolutely everything I was looking for. The area to write about 1 thing I’m grateful for, has been a big part in helping me change my perspective. Just when I think there is nothing to be grateful for (when things are looking pretty bad), I look at my end of day schedule and make myself find something to be grateful for. It works every time. I am really excited about getting a bunch of your meal plan bundles- being streamlined and organized helps my anxiety from shooting through the roof. BUT- my question is- where can I get that AMAZING crock pot in the picture above? Mine is on its last leg and if I’m going to get a new one, I’d like to check out the one you use. Thanks again!
Noelle
I’m a newbie, so excited to get my menu bundle and planner! Can’t wait for them to get here in the meantime, I have some question for you. I have celiac disease and type 1 diabetes. Do you plan to make a gluten-free box in the future? I see you have low calorie and low carb. I have a very picky family and Im trying to get them to try new foods. That being said, I know my family will not eat all of the recipes, is there a alternative for that nights they won’t eat whats on the menus? Are all the menu boxes freezer friendly? So that I can make ahead of time, freeze and then thaw out? We’re a super busy sports family and eat out entirely to much and with five of us its so expensive. Thank you for you time! I look forward to hearing back.
I also love all the lives and emails you and your team are a true blessing!
Welcome Evelyn, we’re so glad you’re here and can’t wait for you to get your menu bundle and planner either! 🙂 We don’t currently have a gluten-free box in the works, though some folks have been able to tweak the recipes from existing boxes to make them gluten-free 🙂 Sadly not all the recipe boxes are freezer friendly (though we do have a freezer meals box), but there are some recipes in the other boxes that could probably work well as freezer meals or fresh meals. For the alternative nights, you can probably find some highly rated recipes online to supplement! 🙂 Hope that helps!
Please make a gluten-free box! 🙂
Love,
Angela
We have a gluten free pdf. We took 72 recipes from the PPP memory plans and worked closely with a dietitian to so these recipes would work with a gluten free lifestyle. Hope that helps! 🙂 https://shop.passionatepennypincher.com/collections/digital/products/gluten-free-menu-plan-digital-pdf
When you use the freezer meal bundle, do you prep a whole month at a time? I usually buy bulk meat and put it in different meals to cover the whole month, but I don’t know how I would do that with these recipes. I’m excited to try it though. I just don’t want to be prepping freezer meals once a week. How does the freezer bundle work best?
Hi Sara! I usually do either 1 or 2 weeks (then I mix and match when we eat between these and other recipes). Hope that helps – you will love them!
Hey I have loved and used in the past. I have sent everyone I know the new products lolol this morning. But question I’m considering recipes again..is their Keto versions? My Mom has been told with Diabetes and several people we know have gotten off all meds following that diet plan. Also have a friend who has celiac…are the recipes easy to convert? Sorry it’s been a while but now with family having certain requirements trying to decide if I should just organize from recipe books or if these would be easy to switch things out etc. Hope that makes sense…arg.
Hi TMom! At this time we don’t have Keto versions of the recipes, though many of the recipes in our Low Calorie Menu Plan box are naturally lower carb (but aren’t specifically Keto). We’ve had folks say they’ve been able to tweak some of the recipes to make them gluten free by substituting things out, but we don’t have a plan that is fully gluten free. Hope that helps! 🙂
Do you use the small or medium bins from Target?
Hi Robin! The small ones!