I have decided to try something different with our dinner preparations. There have been some changes in the amount of time I have available every week and so I don’t have time to prep a bunch of meals to go into the freezer this month.
I have decided to assign each member of our family a day where they will cook dinner. In order to accomplish this, I put together a binder with 14 recipes and step by step instructions for them to refer too. These are available to you as a FREE download!
You can download our current meal plan that includes a blank template for you to use for your own for your family.
2/15/2020: Download the Updated Meal Plan
Freezer prep is a huge lifesaver and I still feel like it is the best option when it comes to the budget, but my time right now is very valuable too. I began to brainstorm ideas about what I could do instead of freezer meal prep day. I didn’t want to be spending extra time in the kitchen on a daily basis because that would defeat the purpose of not doing a prep day.
Like all moms especially ones with large families, my thoughts immediately turned to my kids. How could they help out? How could I turn this into a learning experience for them?
My kiddos have a good foundation when it comes to managing the kitchen. However, other than Sam, age 16, they have not been responsible for making dinner from the beginning to the end.
So I saw this as an opportunity to change that. I figured they all take turns and prepare dinner one day a week. As a perk for preparing dinner, they get to choose what we are having.
So I came up with the following plan:
- Make a Menu Plan Binder
- Host a Family Meeting
- How it’s going to work
Menu Plan Binder
I put together step by step instructions that included what they needed to do in the morning and the evening along with a list of all the meals that were available for the next two weeks. I put all this information in a binder and put it in our kitchen.
Of course, I have made this available to you as a free download later in this post.
Family Meeting
Every change I make I always call for a family meeting so I can explain the new changes in a way that everyone understands. This way they understand the new expectations that we are introducing and have the opportunity to ask me any questions.
All the kiddos were very excited to be able to pick and prepare dinner. They loved having the power to pick what everyone is going to eat.
How it’s going to work
Every day someone will be scheduled for dinner duty. Every morning, they will go to the binder to see what meal they want to make. They will need to consider any activities we have scheduled for that day to make sure they have the time they need to prepare.
Once they have chosen their meal, they will mark off the meal so the next person knows it’s no longer available to cook. They will look in the binder for the instructions and recipe for the meal they have chosen.
They will read through the entire recipe and do whatever the morning instructions require. Then they will plan enough time in their afternoon for the “Before Serving” preparations.
Each recipe gives a “Before Serving” time so they know when to start preparing the meal in the evening. We eat around 6:30 every evening and so they need to calculate when preparations need to start so it’s not 9:00 and dinner is just hitting the table.
Special Note: Not every recipe is going to be safe for the kiddo to complete on their own. That is the beauty of older siblings! At our house, both Sam and Bella are competent in the kitchen. They will be tasked with assisting anyone who needs help.
The Meal Plan
Here’s the list of meals that will be served in the next 14 days.
- Creamy Chicken Tacos (2 meals)
- Spaghetti and Meatballs with Corn (2 meals)
- Chicken Cacciatore with Mashed Potatoes
- Chicken Gravy with Mashed Potatoes and Corn
- Chicken Chili and Tortilla Chips
- Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches and Potato Wedges
- Taco Chili
- Chicken Alfredo Pasta and Peas
- Maple Bacon Chicken Stackers with Green Beans and Potatoes
- Chicken Noodle Soup and Tuna Sandwiches
- Chicken Thighs, Potatoes, and Peas
- Hamburger Mushroom Soup over Rice served with
The vegetables listed are what we like, but you can serve your family’s favorite vegetables. We also add side salads on occasion to add to a variety.
Creamy Chicken Tacos
This is one of our favorite meals and so that is why I planned it twice. It is so easy because you just dump chicken, canned beans, corn, diced tomatoes and green chiles, taco seasoning, and ranch seasoning into the slow cooker.
Cook it on low for at least six hours or until the chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. About 30 minutes before serving, add the cream cheese and let it melt. Stir all together and scoop the mixture into tortillas.
Serve with your favorite taco toppings like; lettuce, onions, sour cream, and salsa.
Spaghetti and Meatballs Served with Corn
My kiddos have been requesting meatballs and so I thought this would be a good opportunity to accommodate them. This meal is also served twice because spaghetti is always a hit at our house!
Most of this meal’s preparation will be in the afternoon because they will need to mix and season the meat and then scoop them onto a cookie sheet to bake.
While the meatballs are baking they will cook the spaghetti, corn, and heat the sauce. They will assemble the plates for serving by layering the pasta, meatballs, and sauce and serving the corn on the side.
Chicken Cacciatore with Mashed Potatoes
This meal is a delicious combination of chicken thighs, tomatoes, onions. and peppers seasoned with a variety of Italian seasonings and served with mashed potatoes.
In the morning, you put the chicken and all the veggies into the slow cooker and cook it on low for 6 hours until the chicken is at an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
I make my mashed potatoes in the instant pot by cooking them under manual pressure for 10 minutes. I drain the water and then mashed them with butter, milk, salt, and pepper.
You can serve the cacciatore on the mashed potatoes or on the side. You can even serve it on rice or pasta.
Chicken Gravy with Mashed Potatoes and Corn
This meal speaks comfort food to me and is so easy to prepare. In the morning, you get your chicken cooking in the slow cooker. When it is ready to be served you simply, shred the chicken and add the gravy.
Serve over mashed potatoes with a side of corn.
Chicken Chili and Tortilla Chips
This is an easy meal that you can set up in the morning and then it is ready to serve within ten minutes that evening. This is what I love to call one of my scoop and go meals!
I do cook this one in my instant pot by simply adding all the ingredients except the tortillas chips to the instant pot. I cook it under pressure for about 90 minutes and then just let it slow cook until we are ready to eat.
Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches and Potato Wedges
Believe it or not, most of my kiddos like the buffalo sauce served in this meal. However, I do have one kiddo that it is a little too spicy for so he would rather just have no sauce. You can easily substitute barbeque sauce if you want too.
Cutting the potatoes into wedges and then roasting them in the oven is one of our favorite side dishes. We serve it with some ketchup and it’s a healthy version of french fries.
Taco Chili
This recipe is my favorite for a beef chili and is so easy to make. I do try to add some vegetables to it because it adds so much texture and flavor. This is another one that you just add the ingredients to the instant pot, put it under pressure and leave it alone until you are ready to serve.
You can serve with sour cream, cheese, diced onions, tortilla chips, or anything you like to put on your chili.
If you have leftovers, you can add a “rollover” meal if you need too. Just to give a few ideas, you could turn it into nachos, chili mac, or chili dogs.
Chicken Alfredo Pasta & Peas
This meal is on our menu plan every week because we have special guests who come to our house for dinner and this is one of their favorites. It is incredibly easy!
The preparation starts about 90 minutes before serving when you add the chicken to the instant pot and set it to cook. Once it is cooked, I pull it out and shred it. I add water to the instant pot to equal the amount I need and put my pasta in. While the pasta is cooking in the instant pot, I get my peas started.
Before serving we mix the alfredo sauce and chicken with the pasta and serve with a side of peas.
Maple Bacon Chicken Stackers with Green Beans & Potatoes
Oh, my! I want this one right now! It’s chicken topped with maple bacon and some shredded cheese of your choice. We use mozzarella. We serve it with green beans and potatoes which we start early in the morning.
I paired these together because we use bacon in both of these recipes. A couple of slices of bacon is added to the green beans and potatoes while the rest is used for the chicken. It is cooked with maple syrup to add the most delicious sweetness to our stackers.
This meal has some prep time in the morning and before serving so we will have to be sure our day allows for that.
Chicken Noodle Soup with Tuna Sandwiches
This is another favorite meal at our house! It’s a great one to have the supplies for especially if someone isn’t feeling their best.
You can start the soup first thing in the morning and the smell will remind everyone there is something special for dinner.
You definitely don’t want to add your noodles until closer to the serving time so they keep their texture.
You can make your tuna fish salad based on your family’s preference. We like to keep ours pretty simple using mayonnaise, mustard, and relish. If others like to add veggies they can do that individually.
We have even made tuna melts, which is adding cheese and then grilling the sandwich, to change things up.
Chicken Thighs, Potatoes, and Peas
This meal is an easy delicious option using potatoes and chicken thighs. We chunk up the potatoes, place them in the slow cooker, top them with the chicken thighs and cook on low until they are done.
We serve them with a veggie side and I chose peas for this one.
Hamburger Mushroom Soup Over Rice with Peas
This is one is based on one of my husband’s signature meals and it is just so comforting! He has made it for years and it is one of my favorites. It is a meal that must be prepared and served shortly after.
In one large pan brown ground beef and onion. Then add mushroom soup and stir in the water until all is mixed and soup is no longer clumpy. Cook rice in microwave or stovetop and then add to mushroom soup mixture. Season with at least salt and pepper to taste, Rick adds a little garlic salt also.
Serve with vegetables of your choice, I like peas with this.
Free Download of this Menu Plan!
Of course, I am going to share this with you all! You can download the menu plan that serves 4-6 people or that serves 8-10 people. Whatever fits your needs!
Our kiddos are very excited about doing this and next time I am going to rope them into helping with the menu planning too!
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