Menu planning theme nights

I don't know about you but every week when it came time to make a grocery list and plan the meals it was always a chore.  I often ended up making the same staples each week and it got super old real fast. Although, if you ask my husband he would say why change what's working?!  

I'm definitely a person that likes variety.  I like to cook and I like to try new recipes and ideas.  Sometimes they are a total fail, but that's ok I had fun trying it.  What I didn't like was trying to find a time in our busy life to come up with ideas and to get my husband's input on the menu.  It was exhausting to even think about. 

We were moderately successful with this type of meal plan, but I often didn't take into account the husband's crazy ever-changing schedule #coachswifelife and just tried to make it work.  This led to wasted food (any money) and scrambling for meals at the last minute.

After reading a blog post by the amazing Haley Wynn Designs, in came weekly theme nights.  We took one night and made the time to talk about a way to structure our week that made sense for us, with themes that worked for our family.  Our themes have changed with the seasons (football, basketball, spring) and the changing demands on our family (read: the crazy coaching schedule).

These themes have been a life changer and I now don't dread the meal planning.  I purposefully schedule super easy things for P and I on nights daddy is working late.  They are perfect portion sizes for us, and can be done quickly so we can get to a game in time with little to no cooking and cleaning win-win.

Here are our current themes:
Sunday: Grill/veggies
Monday: Pasta/Italian
Tuesday: Freezer meal
Wednesday: Mexican/Asian
Thursday: Instant Pot/Sheet pan meal
Friday: Freezer/Pizza/Soup or sandwich
Saturday: Comfort food/favorites

These work for us because during basketball season the hubs is gone Tuesday and Friday for games.  We make it to as many as we can, depending on how far away they are.  Using freezer meals (or a frozen pizza) helps to get dinner on the table quickly and reduces the clean up for me.  

We are also working on a bank of our favorite meal ideas.  Maybe one day I'll get the recipes linked but for now it's just a list.  It helps me with inspiration if I'm struggling and it's sorted by theme.

Taking the time to organize this way ahead of time has seriously made menu planning each week way easier.

Here are some other great theme ideas  if you want to start your own weekly themes

Hope these great ideas help you! Love, Jen