If any of you celebrated Thanksgiving like we did, you’re probably still completely stuffed from all the turkey you consumed these past few days!

And while I love a great cut of meat as much as the next person, I also realize that using less meat is one of the simplest ways to stretch a small grocery budget. So if you’re looking for another way to reduce your monthly expenses, try switching up your weekly meal plans to include a variety of these low-meat meals.

1. Mexican:

You’d be surprised how many people you can feed with one pound of ground beef or shredded chicken when you mix it with refried beans, onions, peppers, and rice.

I’ve made so many different Mexican dishes over the years and I almost always use half as much meat as they call for — and then supplement with beans and rice. No one ever knows the difference!

2. Pasta:

Although I usually like to make my own homemade pasta sauce, we always have a variety of pasta and jarred sauces in our pantry for last-minute meals when plans change and we’re in a hurry.

And while some of our favorite pasta dishes use small amounts of meat, others are totally vegetarian — yet still so rich and delicious that we don’t even miss the meat!

3. Soup and Salad:

We love eating different soups and main-dish salads for dinner throughout the year — both of which use very little meat.

Some of our favorite soups are tomato, cheese tortellini, chicken and rice, vegetable beef, and broccoli cheese — and if the recipe calls for meat, I always use a little less and supplement with more veggies.

Our favorite salad toppings include lots of veggies, dried fruits, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and only small amounts of meat.

4. Pizza:

Homemade pizza is another great vegetarian meal that will still please even your pickiest eaters. Of course, pizza tastes great with meat too; but even just a small amount of your favorite meat adds the necessary flavor for a delicious low-meat meal.

5. Breakfast:

We eat some type of breakfast food for dinner every single week. Either omelets, pancakes, stuffed french toast, quiche, or other breakfast casseroles.

Sometimes I’ll include small amounts of sausage, ham, or bacon; but we usually just consider the eggs to be our main source of protein for these meals. And you know how much cheaper eggs are than meat!

 

With just a few simple alterations to your weekly meal plan, you can enjoy a nice savings on your grocery bill… just in time for some holiday shopping

What are your best tips for using less meat?

Source: Simple Organized Living

The fall months are some of the busiest months for our family — and I suspect for many other families as well. With the start-up of another school year, more evening commitments, shorter days, and the upcoming holiday season; it’s easy to put meal planning on the back burner {pun intended!}.

However, these busy months are some of the most important months to create and utilize a meal plan… because it will save you so much time and stress!

If you are struggling to get back into your meal-planning routine, here are a few simple ideas that just might help:

1. Create daily “themes” for your meals.

For some reason, it is SO much easier for me to create a meal plan if I have a “theme” for each night of the week.  For example; our daily themes are:

MONDAYS: Mexican or Italian

TUESDAYS: Casserole

WEDNESDAYS: Breakfast

THURSDAYS: Meat {pork chops, chicken, ribs, burgers, brats, steak, meatloaf}

FRIDAYS: Mexican or Italian {whatever we didn’t have on Monday}

SATURDAYS: Soup, salad, sandwiches, or leftovers

There are just so many recipes out there to choose from that if I know I’m only looking for “Italian recipes” or “breakfast recipes”  it helps me narrow down the possibilities.

Of course, there are still hundreds Italian and breakfast recipes out there, so we definitely don’t eat the same thing over and over again, but these daily themes have helped me to create better, more efficient meal plans each week.

2. Re-use meal plans.

I know people who plan one months worth of meals and then reuse that exact same meal plan month after month. Talk about a time-saver! I personally don’t go to that extreme, but I do re-use weekly meal plans — especially if we really liked all the recipes.

You can do this simply with Plan to Eat by saving and loading your favorite meal plans!

3. Make 2 meals at a time.

If I’m making soup, stew, casserols, or pasta dishes, I’ll save myself a bunch of time {and dirty dishes} by making a double batch and freezing half of it for a few weeks down the road.

Obviously, this won’t work with every meal you make, but I try make double batches of food at least once or twice a week. This means I always have a pretty good selection of meals in the freezer, and boy do they come in handy for busy days when time gets away from me!

Another way to save time is by making two different meals at the same time. For example, if you have two chicken meals planned in one week, cook up all the chicken at one time and then portion it out for the two different meals. Or make your meal for tonight, and while it’s baking in the oven, get a head start on some of the prep work for tomorrow’s meal.

4. Plan foods that can be packed for lunch the next day.

I’m not a huge fan of packing lunches… yet we do it almost every day! I try to get as creative as I can, but there are only so many ways you can make a sandwich “fun”.

So whenever we can, we always try to pack leftovers in our lunches. However, in order to do this, you have to plan ahead and think what recipes would also make good lunches.

Some of our favorites leftovers are:  meat to put on salads, pizza, casseroles and soups {we have access to a microwave}, baked sandwiches or paninis, etc.  We always pack our lunches as we’re cleaning up dinner, so packing leftovers is just as easy as making a sandwich.

5. Have a back-up plan for busy nights.

Even though I always look at our weekly schedules BEFORE I plan out our meals, there are still nights that get busier than I planned. For those nights, I reserve the right to have leftovers, meals from the freezer, canned soup, grilled cheese, cereal, or even take-out.

I suppose even the most organized meal plans need a back-up plan!

So as you enter this extremely busy time of year, utilize a few of these simple tips to keep your meal planning on track. Your family and your sanity will thank you!

How do you simplify your meal planning routine?

We are enjoying our Jamie's Food Revolution cook-along. This is the third week. My cooking skills are being stretched and we are trying new things. Most we like and some we do not.  Here is the meal plan for this week and the links to each recipe in our Plan to Eat account:

Monday

• Hardly Any Prep Shrimp Stir Fry, pg. 66
• Cookies, pg. 336

Tuesday

• Classic Tomato Spaghetti, pg. 43
• Tossed Salad with Balsamic Dressing, pg. 107

Wednesday

• Chicken Tikka Masala, pg. 82

Thursday

• Baked Cod Wrapped in Bacon with Rosemary, pg. 256

 Friday

• Ground  Beef Wellington, pg. 156

Saturday

• Granola, pg. 316

Each day we will prepare the recipes listed for that day and then write about our experience the same evening. So here is our invitation to you.  Cook one or more of the above recipes with us this week and then leave a comment on the post for that recipe. You do not have to cook the recipe the same day we do, just sometime before next Sunday.  You will then be entered into this weeks drawing for a 1 year free subscription to Plan to Eat (valued at $39).

This weeks winner is Jenny. She has won a 1 year subscription to Plan to Eat. Yeah Jenny! Thanks for cooking with us!

The above links do not include the directions to the recipes.  You will need to acquire the cookbook, Jamie's Food Revolution by Jamie Oliver.  But you can save any recipe to your Plan to Eat account and generate a shopping list from the ingredients that have already entered. Many of the complete recipes are on Jamie Oliver's web site. 

We look forward to cooking with you!