Menu Plan Monday

I have been making weekly dinner menus for my family for as long as I can remember.  It used to be (& still is to a point) a running joke with my brother in laws and myself....everytime they would come to the house the first question would always be "what's on the menu this week?"  It always just seemed logical to me to plan out what we were having and shop for those items...I had neither the time nor patience to be running to the store to pick up items I needed for a recipe.  Plus, with a picky husband, kids with different tastes and myself who is very strict on low carbs/low sugar, knowing I have something on the menu each night that everyone will eat, and fits into our schedule, was genius!  If you popped over here from Org Junkie...you must be a genius too...and my BIL's cave dwellers...

I must admit though, meal planning isn't my all time favorite activity.  It takes me HOURS sometimes, leaving me frustrated and ready to throw in the towel.  Perhaps it is because the varied tastes of my family, although I have learned to overcome that...the main reason is I am so overwhelmed by the amount of recipes I have already and the amount that I keep finding on Pinterest or the Internet.  I am on a never ending mission to get myself organized and as I write this post I think I need to move the huge job of tackling cookbooks, magazines and clipped recipes up to the forefront...to save my weekly sanity.

One thing I did do this week, which I wish I had thought of earlier, was to assign each night a theme.  It made it so much easier when looking at my recipes and our schedule to pick out that night's meal.  I wish I had thought of it after racking my brain for 2 hours thought...here is what a week might look like:

Monday - Mexican/Tex Mex
Tuesday - Asian
Wednesday - Italian
Thursday - Leftovers (with the exception of the summer months, I shop on Friday morning)
Friday - Pizza
Saturday & Sunday - Pork, beef or chicken recipes that don't fall into one of the above categories

During the summer, my menu runs Saturday to Friday (Friday to Thursday during the rest of the year) only because of when I shop.  Here is what is on the menu this week:

Saturday - Pizza (pepperoni and cheese for the kids, BBQ Chicken for the hubby) and mushroom and cheese using this gluten free / low carb crust for me. 

Sunday -  Lemon BBQ pork chops, green beans, baked potato

Monday  - Mexican Chicken, corn, hashbrown potatoes

Tuesday - Spicy Basil Chicken, white rice, snowpeas and carrots, mandarin oranges

Wednesday - Spaghetti & Meatballs with homemade sauce, bread machine bread

Thursday - Key West grilled chicken, salad, baked potatoes

Friday - Leftovers or sandwiches

I hope something on my menu inspires you this week! Want more menu planning inspiration?  Head on over to Org Junkie to see what others are cooking up this week.

What is on your menu this week?