Menu Plan Monday:: 04 Nov

So we recently started menu planning (and actually sticking with it!), so I figured I'd start sharing them! Generally I'll plan out one meal for each dinner. However, we're flexible- if we notice an abundance of leftovers, or we're just tired/busy one night, we'll nix the originally planned meal and instead have leftovers or a super easy 10-minute dinner of some sort.

Here is our menu plan from the past week! We tried a few new things and were pleasantly surprised! These recipes are all vegetarian (my carnivorous hubby had some crock pot meat with his meals) and are gluten-free, or I adapted them to be GF :) I added comments about what I did differently, if anything, when I made these... enjoy!

• scrambled egg beaters with shredded cheese
• Greek yogurt & apple slices
• Refrigerator Maple Blueberry Oatmeal
• Change Ups: substituted 1 1/2 tsp agave syrup for the maple syrup, used whole milk, upped the blueberries since I use a larger container, added some nuts upon consumption :) I also started doubling the recipe so its a more substantial meal.

• leftovers
• pasta
• salad
• ... anything quick I can throw together during the baby's nap!

.: Sunday :.
Broccoli Cheese & Rice Casserole
Notes... This is a new go-to recipe for us! Pretty easy to throw together and yummy! We plan on trying different cheeses to see if we can get an even better flavor. Also plan to add some cauliflower next time!
Change Ups...

• doubled the broccoli, which I also chopped up so you'd get bits of broccoli in every bite!
• upped the parm to ~1/2c.
• used GF flour
• substituted paprika for the mustard
• we too used brown rice

.: Monday :.
Black Bean Burgers

Notes... This is a staple in our family's "Fav Recipes." Easy to whip together, nutritious, and you can add toppings or spices to tailor this to your own family's likings!! You can see how I switched things up a bit below- I usually try something new with the spices every time!

Change Ups...

• substituted 1 whole chopped green onion (green and white parts) instead of the pureed onion
• used 2 cans of black beans, rinsed
• used GF flour (I've also used cornstarch instead)
• used Ezekiel bread (ran out of GF bread)
• used garlic powder instead of fresh (we were on a time crunch!)
• added ~1 tsp smoked paprika (we LOVE us some paprika in the SK household)
• added 1/4 tsp dried oregano

.: Tuesday :.
Quinoa Veggie Mac N Cheese

Notes... This is pretty similar to the Broccoli & Cheese Rice Casserole from Sunday. DH liked this quinoa version better, but I preferred the Rice version. Might try and combine the two next time!!

Change Ups... 

• used ~3c. broccoli & cauliflower for our "veggie," which I also chopped up so you'd get bits of veggie in every bite! 
• added Adobo seasoning
• used whole milk instead of soy/non-fat
• skipped the optional items and toppings

.: Wednesday :.
Smashed Cauliflower
leftover Quinoa Veggie Mac N Cheese
Baked Potato Fans

Notes... Being a vegetarian, I often create meals out of a few side dishes- tonight was one of those nights! I'll be posting the cauliflower recipe in the near future, so stay tuned ;)

Change Ups (to Baked Potato Fans)...

• left the skins on the potatoes, just took the eyes out
• poked holes in potatoes with a fork, then just popped them in the microwave on "potato" setting, no added water
• sprinkled potatoes with salt along with the olive oil before baking

.: Thursday :.
Leftovers
Green Monster Smoothies

Notes... The green monster smoothie ended up being Baby E's first food that she really enjoyed!! Go figure, but at least she's getting her leafy greens, hehe. 

.: Friday :.
Red Beans and Rice
Green Monster Smoothies
Notes... I'll get ya the link to the red beans & rice when DH gets home (he made them!).


.: Saturday :.
Leftovers



{linking up here...}
Homemaking Link Up @ Raising Homemakers
Gluten Free Weds @ Gluten Free Homemaker
EOA Link Up @ Deep Roots At Home

31 Days:: Planning your Meals

{Dining Series}

Welcome to today's topic: Planning your Meals! Now that you have a little more info about bringing vs. buying your meals at WDW, here is how I go about pre-planning everything. I explained a bit {here} in my Budget Planning post, but I'll elaborate today!

incredible zucchini fries at Portobello's at Downtown Disney

Step 1: Worksheets & Lists
Grab your Meal Planner worksheet {from this post}, your Budget Worksheet {from this post}, and your Shopping List from {this post}. Meals are where you can really make or break a budget.

Step 2: Restaurants
Check out my previous posts about different places to eat in each park (Magic, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom), as well as places to eat at {Disney's Boardwalk} and {Downtown Disney}. Don't forget any offsite locations, like {Sea World or Universal Studios} and don't forget even your resort's restaurant(s). See if any of those restaurants strike your fancy, or check out more restaurants on Disney's website {here} and AllEar's website {here}. Narrow it down to one restaurant per meal, just a few of your top picks, or skip this step all together if you want to bring all your meals! Don't forget to make your ADRs as soon as possible- check out my previous post {here} for more details. Plug in your restaurants and confirmation numbers on your Budget Worksheet and Meal Planner.

If you know you'll be back again soon, perhaps leave some restaurants to try on your next trip. Since we've been able to visit yearly, our restaurant choices are generally a few favorites, a few new choices, and a few brought meals. This helps cut costs, and we always have something to look forward to next trip- either some favorites we didn't get to go to this year and/or some new ones to try!

Step 3: Restaurant Menus

(Skip if you're bringing all meals!) Check out the menu for each restaurant you've chosen, and guestimate what you and your family will likely eat. I generally chose the highest priced item, if I'm not sure if we'll feel like splurging that night or not. Total up all the meal choices, add an extra $5-10 (in case you want another coffee or soda!), add Florida's 6.5% sales tax, and add your 10-20% tip for the waiter. This should give you an upper-ended estimate for what the meal will cost. Hopefully you'll come in under budget this way, but you'll have padded the budget just in case. Plug in these costs to your Budget Worksheet.

Step 4: Meal Planning

(Skip if you're eating out all meals!) Check out my previous post about {Bringing Your Meals}, and decide what you'll have for each of your meals that you plan to pack yourself. Whether it's granola for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, or staying in and cooking rice and beans for dinner, figure out what you'll be having! Plug that into your Meal Planner and fill out your Shopping List accordingly. For meals that I'm bringing, I plug in the total amount for the groceries into one of the rows on my Budget Worksheet (or you can divide the total grocery cost by the number of meals you bring and plug that total into each row where you're bringing that meal... you're call!). 

Step 5: Cutting Costs

A few ideas to cut costs down during your trip...

• bring your own snacks to the park 
• bring a reusable non-glass water bottle and refill it at the water fountains
• skip the sodas at meals and opt for water (which is generally free of charge, or at least cheaper)
• skip desserts and appetizers, or share one amongst the whole table
• Quick Service restaurants will be cheaper than Table Service restaurants, and no tip needed!
• lunch at Table Service restaurants will be cheaper than dinner (and often the same or similar menus)

Nothing too complicated here today, but I wanted to show you step by step how I figure out where to eat our meals! Hope this helped a bit :) Check back tomorrow when I'll be starting my Insider Info mini series and sharing transportation tips about getting around WDW once you're there!

Menu planner printables

Here are two more menu planners for your holiday planner! Just like I said, here's the Thanksgiving menu and New Year's menu planners :) Links to the printables are below each image if you'd like to download them for yourself!

{download Thanksgiving Menu here}

{download New Year's menu here}

Christmas Menu Printable

Here's the second day of sharing my inserts for my holiday planner! They're also printables- you can download them at the end of each post or click the links in the right-hand column! If you have any problems, or would like a customized version for yourself, let me know and I can email it to you :)

.: Day Two :.

Christmas Menu

easily customizable to any holiday- Thanksgiving and New Years versions coming soon!

{download your copy here}