That's right, I said ANNUAL.
If you're anything like me you have a hard time meal planning. Coming up with meals that sound good to eat each week can be so frustrating! Plus, my husband and I are somewhat picky, in that we dislike eating the same meals frequently even if we really like them. This got me thinking a couple weeks ago, and thus the annual meal plan was born!
I started by making a list of all the meals we enjoy eating. I looked at my Pinterest boards to see what meals we tried and liked (I ended up creating a new board for "Tried and True Meals" which saves me from scrolling as much!) (I also have a "Tried and True Sides and Snacks" board, and "Tried and True Sweets" FYI). I also looked through family recipe books and other random places to recall meals we don't eat frequently. but like nonetheless.
I stuck the recipes all into this spread sheet and then decided how often we would realistically like to eat them. Once a month would be 12, Every other month is 6, and so on...
| Meal Ideas | How Many Times Per Year |
| Thai Peanut Curry Stir Fry | 6 |
| Breaded Chicken Alfredo Sauce Pasta | 12 |
| Homemade Pizza | 12 |
| Dry BBQ Rub Chicken & Veggies | 3 |
| Enchiladas | 4 |
| Quiche | 12 |
| Easy Enchilada Noodle Bake | 4 |
| Tuna Casserole | 4 |
| Breakfast For Dinner | 12 |
| Ridiculous Salad | 34 |
| Crunch Wraps | 6 |
| Mexi Chicken Tacos (P) | 4 |
| Carbonara | 3 |
| Lasagna | 3 |
| Chicken Cordon Bleu | 3 |
| Easy Sesame Chicken (P) | 4 |
| Sweet & Sour Meatballs & Rice | 4 |
| Homemade Cafe Rio | 2 |
| Homemade Burgers | 4 |
| Red Curry | 4 |
| Indian Butter Chicken | 4 |
| Chagraple Sandwich | 6 |
| BLT | 4 |
| PW Meatball Marinara Sliders | 2 |
| Corned Beef & Cabbage | 1 |
| Million $ Spaghetti | 2 |
| Loaded Baked Potatoes | 3 |
| Sloppy Joes | 1 |
| Crepes | 4 |
| Braided Stromboli | 2 |
| Mom's BBQ Meatballs | 1 |
| Mom's Tomato Pork Chops | 1 |
| Garbanzo Bean Pasta | 4 |
| Spicy Cauliflour Stir Fry (PW) | 2 |
| Bruchetta w/ Leeks, Goat Cheese & Bacon (PW) | 1 |
| Chicken Pot Pie | 2 |
| Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole | 2 |
| Chicken Pad Thai (P) | 3 |
| Taco Salad | 2 |
| Red Curry Lentils (P) | 1 |
| Baked Teryaki Chicken | 2 |
| Barley Leek Soup | 2 |
| Zupa's Garden Chowder | 2 |
| Garlic Bean Soup | 2 |
| Chicken Noodle Soup | 2 |
| White Chicken Chili | 2 |
| Lentil Soup | 2 |
| Chicken Tortilla Soup w/Fritos | 2 |
| Pasta e Fagioli | 2 |
| Lamb Veggie Soup | 2 |
| Total Meals Planned | 208 |
| Goal for 4 days/week | 208 |
The only meal I have planned for more than once a month is salad, because it's good for you... I mean me... I mean us.
The recipes in red are ones that I've never tried before or that I want to tweak. The ones in blue are soups/stews. I really love soup, but my husband doesn't so much. I wanted them all lumped together in the master list so that when I plugged them into the calendar I wouldn't have more than 2 soups planned for one month. The recipes with a (P) next to it means it's from Pinterest, and the (PW) means it's from http://thepioneerwoman.com.
Which brings me to the next step: Plugging all the meals in a calender. I did this in the same spreadsheet, just to the right of the master list. Since every month has a different amount of days in it I went through a calender to see exactly how many meals I would need. For example July has 31 days, so for 4 meals per week (M-Th) I would need to plan 19 meals. But in August, using the same method, I only need to plan 16 meals.
I started by putting in the meals we wanted to eat every month- that's easy. Then I spaced the others out evenly (or as evenly as I could) according to how many times we would eat them in a year. I was also season-conscious. I put heartier meals in the winter months and more salads in the summer.
I planned for 4 meals a week. I originally wanted to do 5, but once I started this process I realized it was unrealistic. What do we do the other 3 days/week? Eat leftovers, easy meals such as quesadillas or mac & cheese, go out to eat, or eat at a friend's house.
Here's what mine looks like:
| July (19) | Aug (16) |
| Breaded Chicken Alfredo Sauce Pasta | Breaded Chicken Alfredo Sauce Pasta |
| Homemade Pizza | Homemade Pizza |
| Quiche | Quiche |
| Breakfast For Dinner | Breakfast For Dinner |
| Ridiculous Salad | Ridiculous Salad |
| Ridiculous Salad | Ridiculous Salad |
| Ridiculous Salad | Ridiculous Salad |
| Ridiculous Salad | Ridiculous Salad |
| Thai Peanut Curry Stir Fry | Crunch Wraps |
| Chagraple Sandwich | Easy Enchilada Noodle Bake |
| Tuna Casserole | Sweet & Sour Meatballs & Rice |
| Mexi Chicken Tacos (P) | Bruchetta w/ Leeks, Goat Cheese & Bacon (PW) |
| Homemade Burgers | Garbanzo Bean Pasta |
| BLT | Carbonara |
| Loaded Baked Potatoes | Braided Stromboli |
| Taco Salad | Lentil Soup |
| Chicken Tortilla Soup w/Fritos | |
| Red Curry | |
| Spicy Cauliflour Stir Fry (PW) | |
| Dried Fruit | Mango Sticky Rice |
| Fruit Leather |
At the bottom of every month I put a treat or dessert I want to make so that I can plan for special ingredients and we won't have the same boring chocolate chip cookies all the time (okay, okay chocolate chip cookies are delicious and never boring).
Meal planning is not non-existent because I did this, it just takes all the stress out of it! Every week I pick 4 meals I want to make from that month's list and then all I have to do is figure out which ingredients I need!
I love the flexibility of the whole plan. I am so grateful I did this, because now meal planning is easy peasy! I also love it because it helps me figure out what I need for food storage. I can stock up on items we eat frequently when they come on sale, because I know what we're eating!
The whole things is just lovely to me. If you're anything like me I highly recommend trying it, although be aware that I took me about 6 hours to bust it all out. I think it's worth it though. 6 hours once versus agonizing hours every week is just fine with me.
