Meal Planning Ideas For Busy Moms

Meal planning makes the difference between stress-free dinners or lots of last minute trips to the grocery store. These meal planning ideas will get you off to a great start!

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Meal Planning Ideas

• Lemon Rosemary Chicken
• Cilantro Lime Tacos
• Baked Ziti With Veggies
• Turkey Meatloaf with Mushrooms, Spinach & Feta
• Mushroom & Sausage Stuffed Peppers
• Pesto Zucchini Noodles With Chicken & Mushroom
• Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to start meal planning again. When I do it regularly, it makes life so much easier. It’s pretty easy once I come up with some good meal planning ideas. Once I get a week’s worth of recipes together, I just write down what I need and my shopping list is done for the week. (Get my free printable weekly meal planner here)

That means no running to the grocery store in the middle of the week because I didn’t plan dinner for the family…it’s all taken care of. Plus, fewer trips to the grocery store means I also spend less money (and that keeps my hubby happy).

Meal Planning Recipes

I’m starting my first week of planning with some of our favorite tried and true dinner recipes. I love these meal planning recipes because they’re easy to make and they also make my family happy so it’s a win/win.  

Feel free to join me. I’ve even made a free menu planning calendar so you can write down your choices for each night and make a shopping list at the same time. 

Monday: Lemon Rosemary Chicken

This chicken recipe is so simple to make and full of flavor!  

Tuesday: Cilantro Lime Tacos

For some reason, we seem to have tacos any other night except Tuesday. Looks like I have to schedule it to get it right. You can also substitute fish to make fish tacos or change it up and make these easy tofu tacos.

Wednesday: Baked Ziti With Hidden Veggies

Not only does this baked ziti tastes delish but it’s an easy way to get the kids to eat their veggies. What they don’t know won’t hurt them, right?

Thursday: Turkey Meatloaf With Mushrooms, Spinach And Feta

This flavorful meatloaf is better than any meatloaf you’ve tried before. With feta, mushrooms and spinach, it’s a delicious twist on your standard meatloaf recipe.

Friday: Mushroom & Sausage Stuffed Peppers

I love that my girls are such a big fan of peppers and these stuffed peppers are always a hit. You can also change things up with Taco Stuffed Peppers or my Shrimp Stuffed Peppers, featured in CountryLiving.com. 

Saturday: Pesto Zucchini Noodles With Chicken & Mushrooms

While this recipe is super easy, it’s the only one that requires a kitchen tool that you may or may not have…a spiralizer. I absolutely love my Ninja Kitchen System but if you don’t need all the extra equipment, you can find plenty of inexpensive spiralizers on Amazon. This healthy version of spaghetti is one of my favorites!

Sunday: Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

It doesn’t get much easier than these 6 ingredient Teriyaki Chicken Skewers. Plus, we all know that kids love their food on a stick, right?

Have you tried meal planning or will this be a first for you? Which of these recipes do you think your family will enjoy most? What great meal planning ideas do you have?

If you enjoyed this post, you may want to check these out too…

Weekly Meal Planner (with free printable)

15 Of The Best Slow Cooker Ideas

21 Of The Best Grilling Recipes

Part of successful meal planning is having an easy way to clean up the kitchen. I had the opportunity to try out and review the AutoAir™ Bosch 500 Series dishwasher. It sure helps get my dishes clean in a flash.