Hello November! I love this time of year. The weather is getting warmer, signs of Christmas start appearing and the school year starts to wind down towards the end of the month. November and December tend to be full of fun activities, so I find making sure I menu plan is even more crucial at this time of year.
My menu plans work in conjunction with my weekly meal prep. When I plan our evening meals on the weekends, I try to plan and cook meals that will have left over capabilities I can turn into lunches for the kids and for me. This generally means cooking in bulk and it is a great way to save time and energy when preparing food.
Weekly prep ideas from my November menu plans
Of a weekend I like to prepare for the kids:
- one savoury item for the lunch boxes
- one sweet item for the lunch boxes
While it may change a little depending on circumstances and requests from the kids, using the below menu plans these will be the lunch box items I make for the kids in November:
Taco parcels from left over taco meat and nut free choc peppermint balls.
Spring rolls using the left over meat from Sang Choy Bow, rice malt syrup chocolate cake and air popped popcorn.
Sushi using veggies cut up when preparing veggies for meals on the weekend and choc chip biscuits.
Our weekly menu plans for November
Just one of the many benefits of menu planning and writing it down, is that you can easily recycle menu plans and have your menu planning for the month done in minutes! The following monthly menu plan I created a few years ago. Thanks to the blog, I have it all documented, so I have now printed out the plans and weekly shopping lists and am ready to tackle November dinners!
Day | Week Commencing 5th Nov |
|
|---|---|---|
| Mon |  | Sausage and salad |
| Tue |  | Moroccan minted beef |
| Wed |  | Slow cooker honey sesame chicken (gluten free) |
| Thu |  | Dukkah crusted salmon with crunchy potatoes and garlic spinach |
| Fri |  | Homemade pizzas |
| Sat |   | Slow cooker butter chicken Green veggies |
| Sun |  | Tacos with homemade seasoning |
| Shopping List | weekly-menu-plan-shopping-list-1 | |
Day | Week Commencing 12th Nov |
|
|---|---|---|
| Mon |  | Chicken schnitzel and vegetables |
| Tue |  | Chicken, cashew and ginger stir fry |
| Wed |  | Mexibake |
| Thu |  | Sausages, veg and crispy mashed potato mounds |
| Fri |  | Pan Fried Fish and Salad |
| Sat |  | Slow cooker spaghetti bolognese Green veggies |
| Sun |  | Sweet chilli chicken wraps |
| Shopping List | weekly-menu-plan-shopping-list-2 | |
Day | Week Commencing 19th Nov |
|
|---|---|---|
| Mon |  | Lamb chops and vegetables |
| Tue |   | Easy slow cooker Mexican beef Rice cooker Mexican rice |
| Sun |  | Sang choy bow |
| Shopping List | weekly-menu-plan-shopping-list-3 | |
Day | Week Commencing 26th Nov |
|
|---|---|---|
| Mon | | Chicken schnitzel and vegetables |
| Tue | | Chicken, cashew and ginger stir fry |
| Wed |   | Slow cooker balsamic beef with pumpkin salad Roast pumpkin salad |
| Thu | | Lamb chops and vegetables |
| Fri |  | Chicken sticks and salad |
| Sat | | Slow cooker spaghetti bolognese Green veggies |
| Sun | | Tacos |
| Shopping List | weekly-menu-plan-shopping-list-4 | |
Want to make feeding the family easier?
Once you have your menu plans created, you can then easily begin doing some meal prep! To help families kick start their weekly meal prep habit, I have created an online course called Meal Prep Primer! Meal Prep Primer shows you how to effectively plan your time in the kitchen over the weekend, and prep food that will make your week days easier.
To keep on top of feeding the family, many years ago I started spending some time on the weekend, prepping food for the week ahead. Even if it is was just one or two things, the difference this made during the week was huge.
As I was rewarded each week for my efforts in the kitchen on the weekend, I began increasing the food I prepped. And the more weekly meal prep sessions I did, the better I became at it. The better I became at it, the less time it took me to do the sessions and the better we ate – win-win all around!
In my Meal Prep Primer course I will teach you the process I have developed over these years. The course will:
- save you time
- save you money
- save you stress through the week days
- ensure your family eats well
- allow you to enjoy meal time more with the family
For three weeks you will receive:
- A plan – the plan outlines what you will be cooking and when. You can tailor this plan to suit your family’s needs and the time you have available. The plan also has clickable links to all the recipes you need to cook for the weekend.
- A shopping list – as you may tailor the plan to suit your family’s needs, the shopping list is broken down into items per recipe. That way you can easily cross off items you don’t need to buy, but make sure you have all the ingredients for the recipes you do intend to cook.
- The recipes – a PDF of all the recipes you will need to cook for the week.
- Plus there is a detailed video and other resources on the course website and further support emails to keep the habit going after three weeks..
You can read more and sign up for the short course here.