So no doubt you read today’s post tile and thought hmm.. Erin’s going to teach us how to meal plan? Riiiiight. :) If you’ve read my blog for more than two minutes then you know that all things dealing with cooking and meal planning are NOT my strong suit. In fact, one of the first posts I ever wrote for this blog over four years ago when my girls were little was called
“cooking is for the birds” and pretty much sums up how I still to this day feel about cooking. But I do have a family. And I am the mom. And much to my dismay, they are all hungry and want to eat from time to time. So one of my main goals once we move into our new house and get settled is to be better about meal planning. (Along with my other goal to lose the 5 lbs I gained this year from stress eating. Wish me luck achieving those two goals at the same time – ha!)
If you’re newish to my blog I want you to meet Koni. One of my best friends who I’ve been thick as thieves with since junior high. Quick flashback so you can understand all we’ve been through together…
Sorry Koni. I had to go there. We’ve had too much fun in our past not to share it. I’ve got three scrapbooks full of pics of the two of us acting like idiots. Good times for sure. :) Anyway – now that you’ve met Koni and can see that she is as dorky entertaining as I am, let me tell you something else about her. She is AMAZING at cooking and meal planning and preparing healthy food for her family. People used to always tease us that we shared a brain so I keep hoping that her cooking and meal planning skills will somehow magically rub off. It hasn’t happened yet but I’m not giving up hope. Koni has four kids with one on the way and decided she wanted to be more organized with breakfast and school lunches. She also wanted to make sure she was feeding her kids a good variety of healthy foods (you know – instead of feeding her kids Cheerios for breakfast every single morning like some people she knows… ahem). So she made a list of breakfast food ideas and another list of lunch food ideas. Then she put together a two week breakfast and lunch menu so she always knows what to buy and prepare. Every two weeks she starts over. I think this is BRILLIANT! I’m sharing her lists and menus with you today in case something like this might work for you. OR in case you just need some ideas for healthy breakfasts and lunches. I’d love to try this. My menu won’t be nearly as impressive, but at least we might be able to get out of our Cheerio rut. Maybe Cheerios on Mon, Wed, Fri and on Tues, Thurs I’ll get wild and whip up some waffles? Baby steps. :)
Breakfast Ideas
Smoothies:
Fruit Smoothies
Green Smoothies
PB Smoothies
Cereals:
Oatmeal with Berries
Oatmeal with Bananas
Cream of Wheat with PB
Cold Cereal
Baked Oatmeal
Baked Goods: Toppings:
Pancakes Syrup
Waffles Applesauce
French Toasts Yogurt
Crepes Honey/Powdered Sugar
Muffins Whipped Cream
German Pancakes
Bagels
Sides:
Avocado Toast
Cut up Fruit
Yogurt
Eggs:
Scrambled Eggs
Omelets
David Eggs
Egg & Toast
Meats:
Sausage
Bacon
Fruits (not a part of the lunch menu)
Berries
Melons
Pineapple
Apricots
Peaches
Mangos
Lunch Ideas
Sandwiches:
Meat: (Turkey/Ham, Wheat Bread, Avocado, Mustard, Tomato, Pickle, Lettuce, Cheese?)
Peanut Butter & Jelly
Peanut Butter & Honey with Bananas
Tuna Fish in Pita Pocket
Meat Wrap: (Tortilla, Shredded Chicken/sliced deli meat,
Other Grains:
Bagels
Rice Cakes
Crackers
Muffins
Granola Bar
Pretzels
Trail Mix (Pretzels, Cranberries, M&M’s, Nuts)
Fruits:
Apples (Pink Lady or Yellow)
Grapes
Clementine Oranges (small ones)
Kiwi (peeled, but leave whole)
Strawberries
Banana (don’t peel)
Pears (don’t peel or cut)
Pineapple (canned or fresh)
Cherries
Apricots
Plums
Melons (watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew)
Oranges (cut in small quarter pieces or peeled)
Applesauce cups
Mandarin oranges (in the cups)
Vegetables:
Peppers (all colors)
Cucumbers (no peeling)
Carrots
Sugar Snap Peas
Grape Tomatoes
Celery
Pickles (mini variety)
Protein:
Yogurt
Hard Boiled Eggs
Breakfast Menu
Day 1
Berry Smoothie
Half of a Bagel with Butter and Honey
Day 2
Scrambled Eggs
Tomatoes
2-3 Sausages
Day 3
Oatmeal with Berries or frozen peaches, no bananas
Day 4
Peanut Butter Smoothie
1 Avocado Toast
Day 5
Pancakes w/yogurt (light syrup)
Berries or strawberries cut up on top
Day 6
Green Smoothie with mixed fruit bag
Half of a Bagel with butter and jelly
Day 7
David Eggs
2-3 Bacons
Pineapple (fresh or frozen)
Day 8
Cream of Wheat with Peanut Butter
Day 9
Waffles w/applesauce (light syrup)
Banana Slices
Day 10
Peach Smoothie
1 Avocado Toast
Weekends:
French Toast
Crepes
German Pancakes
Baked Oatmeal
Yogurt
Cold Cereal
Egg & Toast
Orange Juice
Strawberry Shakes
Lunch Menu
Day 1
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Vegetable: Carrots
Fruit: Apples
Treat
Day 2
Tortilla Wrap (Tortilla, deli slices, mustard, avocado spread, lettuce, cheese?)- cut in half
Fruit: Pear
Crackers
Treat
Day 3
1 muffin
I yogurt/spoon
Fruit: Banana
Trail Mix (Nuts, Cranberries, M&Ms)
Day 4
2 Hard Boiled Eggs, cut in half, sprinkle with salt and pepper
Vegetable: Cucumbers
Fruit: Oranges (fresh or in a cup/spoon)
Rice Cake
Treat
Day 5
Tuna Fish Sandwich in Pita Pocket w/lettuce and pickles
Vegetable: Grape Tomatoes (can make into a skewer)
Fruit: Grapes
Treat
Day 6
Peanut Butter, Honey, Banana Sandwich
Vegetable: Peppers
Trail Mix (Pretzels, M&Ms, Raisins)
Day 7
1 muffin
1 yogurt/spoon
Vegetable: Sugar Snap Peas
Fruit: Cherries or Strawberries
Treat
Day 8
Meat Sandwich (Wheat bread, deli slices, mustard, avocado, lettuce, tomato)
Fruit: Applesauce Cup/spoon
Crackers
Treat
Day 9
Bagel, cut in half, spread jelly on the insides
Celery and Peanut Butter with a few cranberries
Fruit: Kiwi or Plums or Apricots
Treat
{So impressive Koni! Almost as cool as your Batman impression. :) Love you.}
Happy breakfast and lunch planning everyone!
xoxo, Erin
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I want some of that for breakfast and lunch. I might be able to prepare some of that. HA! Loved this post Erin!
The pictures are priceless!
These seem like great meal ideas! –Hanna Lei
I love you both and a walk down memory is always priceless! Thanks for the ideas Koni!
I’m dying to know- what are David eggs?
Me too:).
If only my picky eater would eat some of the stuff on her menu. :(
Kim from Indy
By the way – these photo’s scream of the 90’s! Class of ’95!
Kim from Indy
I want to know if all her kids will eat all those things, that’s the problem I run into around here. A lot of good ideas there though!
Not sure if I gave you this or not, but I changed my blog address.
cl7everyday.blogspot.com (that’s an L not a one).
I know you don’t have a lot of time to read, but that’s the new address.
Tell koni “hi”, I have such good college memories from you two!!
Thanks Cathy and Hanna!
Sarah – so fun to hear from you! I’ve got some pretty good pics with you in them too! Ha ha… :)
Sue and Julie – I have no clue! I’ll ask her!
Kim – my kids are the same way. They wouldn’t eat half of that stuff. But part of that is probably my fault for not feeding enough of it to them! And you are SPOT ON with the pics! Go class of 95!! :)
Thanks Lindsey! Same to you!
I SO needed this! Awesome ideas! :-)
-Erika
I noticed Koni’s use of avocado for many breakfast meals. I love avocadoes, but the ones we can buy in the midwest are probably tiny compared to the ones you have in California. They sell for about $1.00 each here in Missouri and are small. What are they like in California?
I love Koni’s breakfast ideas!!! Thank you so much for posting!
Really helpful list! Thanks for sharing!
Now can you convince Koni to do the same for dinner?
I think David eggs are sunny side up eggs like in the picture book No David!