One of the keys to frugal, healthy(er), stress-free eating is menu planning. We live 16 miles from the nearest grocery store and fast food, and I’m okay with that. The costs and inconvenience of driving to town encourages me to better plan for and prepare our meals at home.
I’m a major meal experimenter. I love to try out new recipes on my family, based on items I find on sale or those that are growing in our backyard. And since I’ve been reading blogs… wow; so many wonderful recipes posted everywhere, I can’t keep up!
My family, for the most part, enjoys my experiments, but sometimes it’s nice to fall back on our favorite. The Happy Housewife challenged us all to come up with a list of 15 favorite meals for our first assignment in her Menu Planning 101 series. My six-year-old daughter, who is quite sick of zucchini at the moment, was thrilled to be the secretary for this fun morning activity.
Our list may change as the seasons change, but it’s nice to have some favorites to fall back on when I don’t want to think too much about meals, or I’m tired of experimenting with new recipes… or my family is a little weary of my trying something new. 
Our Favorite 15 Meals
- steak (grilled, baked, chicken fry) with potatoes and veggies
- homemade pizza or pizza braid with salad and/or fresh fruit
- loaded tostadas (or any other form of tacos)
- bbq meatballs, cheesy potatoes, green beans
- grilled hamburgers, chicken, and hot dogs, deviled eggs
- cavatini with salad, green beans or corn, and french bread or breadsticks
- chicken and black bean quesadillas with lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream and salsa
- enchiladas
- Aussie Chicken (a great date night dish)
- Mexican lasagna
- roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans or corn, rolls
- beef and chicken fajitas
- brown bag burritos
- zippy turkey tortilla bake
- taco soup, cinnamon rolls
What are your favorite meals? Maybe I can add them to my list!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Now I’m inspired to do the same.
When I first started meal planning by the month, I came up with a list of about 35 meals. I asked my DH and all 3 boys to add 4 or 5. Now I just use that list when I do my meal plan each month.
Your list looks tasty! Thanks for sharing!
~Liz
Some of our favorites are:
White Chili
Red Chili
Enchiladas
Chicken Noodle (homemade)Soup
Tator Tot Casserole
Beef Stew
Sopa de Maize
We eat alot of soups come fall and winter.
That’s a great list:-)
Yum! You’ve got some great meals on your list! I’ll have to try a few!
Excellent list – I always want new ideas – love the fact that you posted complete meals
I made up a master list of meals some time ago as well. It sure does make meal planning easier when you just are tired of meal planning — lol! A few of our faves:
1. chicken parmesan with pasta
2. chicken picatta with spinach orzo
3. Asian chicken salad (see a trend here, cluck, cluck!) chicken over greens with chopped cabbage, chow mein noodles, scallions, sliced almonds, shredded carrots and a honey mustard dressing
4. Italian wedding soup with turkey sausage meatballs
5. baked ziti (my kids personal fave — meaty, cheesy, bad for you!)
Your fam and mine would get along just fine! We love Mexican, too. Did you notice the number of Mexi-meals you had on there? We eat a lot of soup, at least once a week, because it stretches so well and is a great way to get veggies in. I have LOTS of soup recipes!
Great post! And too funny, since our internet has been out for days on end and our family has been working on the very same thing…a Master Dinner List.
Stop by and see me over at Free 2 Be Frugal!