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Meal Planning, Theme Nights · January 12, 2021

50 Amazing Theme Night Meal Planning Ideas (+ ultimate list printable)

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Go beyond Taco Tuesday with these creative meal planning theme nights! If you’re a busy mom, you need these to help you get dinner on the table quicker and easier!

(This post probably contains affiliate links. My full disclosure policy is quite boring, but you can read it here if you’d like!)

If you don’t want to bother doing this yourself, and just want it semi-done for you – grab the Ultimate Theme Nights Recipe Lists! These are the most popular, kid-friendly recipes for all the theme nights. Check it out here.

I’m sure you’ve heard of Taco Tuesday (who hasn’t??). Theme night meal ideas are gaining popularity in the meal planning world because they’re simple and limit your options of “what’s for dinner?”. Who knows where they came from, I’m assuming the party world because everyone loves a theme party, right?!?

There was always that kid in elementary school who had the themed birthday party.

Costume party.

Pony party.

Makeover party.

Gosh, I hated those. Just gimme a piece of cake, some pin the tail on the donkey, and call it a day. Open your present already and let me go home with my goodie bag filled with tiny toys my mom’s going to throw out by this time next weekend…

Ok, so I might not have liked birthday parties as a kid… what can I say, I was extremely shy!

Well now that I’m older (and a tad more outgoing), I kinda like theme parties. Especially if they involve costumes or 80’s music. I could dress up like Olivia Newton John and perform Let’s Get Physical all. day. long.

You didn’t realize we were going to be bonding over 80’s music and meal planning, huh? Lucky you.

Anyhoo.

Before we get started, you can grab the Ultimate Theme Nights Recipe list for super cheap right here – it has all the theme night ideas from the freebie below plus all the recipe ideas you’d need for those themed dinner nights!

Dinner theme nights just make your life easier – if you know that Wednesdays are One-pot meals or Fridays are Freezer meals, then you have less decisions you have to make!

If you didn’t snag the Ultimate Theme Nights Recipe List above, make sure you download the free list of Theme Night meal ideas – there’s a worksheet in there for you to plan your theme nights and a list of over 42 themed dinner ideas – and let’s get physical started!

Free Theme Nights Ideas list

1. Choose your dinner theme nights based on HOW instead of WHAT

I know, I know. Taco Tuesday is suuuuuuper popular but I personally think creating a meal plan that revolves around how to prepare your meal is easier than what you eat. Mainly because it will work with your schedule better. Think slow cooker instead of Spaghetti Sunday, grilling instead of Taco Tuesday, 30 minute meal instead of Meatless Mondays, etc.

Who am I kidding? I’ll never give up Taco Tuesday. Ok, maybe that one’s the exception to the rule!

So how do you choose your dinner theme nights for your meal plan?

You decide based on your routine. If you know you get home late on Monday nights, you need a 30 minute meal or to use the crockpot. If you have to leave right after dinner to get to baseball practice every Tuesday, you need to use an indoor grill pan or a sheet pan (this one is amazing and super cheap!) recipe so there’s virtually no cleanup. #sheetpandinnersrock

Of course you can have exceptions, or variations of your theme night. If you want to use your crockpot 3 nights a week, maybe one night is chicken in the crockpot, one night is soup in the crockpot, and one night is pasta in the crockpot. That would be a really good way to narrow it down!

My only exception is that in the winter I have soup days and in the summer I have salad days. Alright, we’re up to 3 exceptions. #rebel

So take a look at your calendar over the next month or two and see what recurring nights you have commitments. We’re not necessarily talking about specific appointments here, just a general overview of your weekly schedule.

Write those on the blank Theme Nights worksheet.

2. Don’t forget a leftovers day!

Unless you know your family will either have no leftovers, or they’ll eat all the leftovers for lunch then I highly suggest a standing leftovers night. It just makes things simple.

Write it on that same worksheet.

3. Use your themed dinner ideas with a monthly meal plan

Theme nights work best with a longer-term plan, like a whole month. I’m all about saving time and doing things efficiently so if you’re sitting down to meal plan for the week, spend an extra 10 minutes and do the entire month while you’re there!

If you need a monthly meal planner, you can get one in the Freebie Library!

Plus, when you’re using theme nights you can quickly and easily create an entire month’s worth of meals because you’re only looking for 4-5 recipes for each theme. Before you know it, your entire month is filled!

You know what makes this super easy? The recipes already being chosen for you – like in the Ultimate Theme Nights Recipe List! These are the most popular, kid-friendly recipes for all the theme nights. Check it out here.

4. Add your themed dinner recipe ideas vertically

Once you have your themes all set and your monthly meal planner ready to go, write your recipes under the appropriate theme night. Work vertically – meaning fill up one theme night before moving on to the next – to make it easier.

If you’re planning for a whole month, you’ll need 4-5 recipes under each theme.

5. Search for easy family-friendly recipes

Where do you normally find recipes? I go to my recipe box first and then usually Pinterest.

  • Pinterest – make your search specific (not “chicken recipes” – instead search “30 minute chicken pasta recipes” or “slow cooker chicken soup recipes”). Follow me on Pinterest, I pin lots of easy dinner ideas (but not thousands!) and they’re well organized!
  • Library – look at some cookbooks or magazines. This cookbook from Racheal Ray is one of my hands-down favorites! That and the Better Homes & Gardens magazines (that have a specific food topic) are both really good places to start.
  • Social media! Seriously – your friends will love to share recipes if you ask for a crockpot recipe or their favorite 15 minute dinner. Try it!

6. Fill in your monthly meal planner

Now you can take your theme master list and transfer the meals to your monthly meal planner. You can do it in the order you added them, or use my Pro Tip below to change it up a bit.

Pro Tip: If you want to grocery shop every two weeks, put all the meals that use fresh produce in weeks 1 and 3. For weeks 2 and 4, you can put the meals that use frozen or canned produce, or more shelf-stable items like onions, potatoes, etc.

7. Create your grocery list

Now that you have your entire monthly meal plan, you’ve organized your meals into fresh/frozen produce lists, you can create your grocery list for the entire month!

Don’t forget to snap a picture with your smart phone (and make it a favorite!) so you can always reference your meal plan and grocery list!

Download your free Theme Night Meal Ideas list below or make it even faster with the Ultimate Theme Nights Recipe List!
Free Theme Nights Ideas list

In: Meal Planning, Theme Nights

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Spice jar organization! Swipe for the before. Alt Spice jar organization! Swipe for the before. 
Although I had cute little glass jars and labels before, I was having trouble seeing my spice labels (hello aging eyes...). 
And I don’t know about you, but I tend to not use something if I can’t find it easily. 
So I got new jars and made myself some easy-to-see labels using sticker printer paper. 
Now I want to use ALL the spices! What do you think?
(jars from Amazon - link in bio, labels designed on Canva and printed on Avery sticker paper)
The best, true, good love. Nothing can separate us The best, true, good love. Nothing can separate us from it. 
❤️ Happy Valentine’s Day!
How to come up with dinner (quick!) when your meal How to come up with dinner (quick!) when your meal plan fails. I wasn’t planning on making dinner tonight but then our plans changed and I needed an idea pronto! Here’s how I deal with that.
Fun fact: I have ZERO poker face. Like none. I’m Fun fact: I have ZERO poker face. Like none. I’m a thinker and have  always lived in my head. It’s the Enneagram 5 in me. 
Bonus: it’s allowed me to be able to talk my way out of any situation. (Except that one time in social studies in 10th grade when a girl was bullying me and I had to fight back. Let’s just say she left me alone after that!😂).
Anyhoo. A friend recently said to me “it makes sense that your face betrays you because you’re so in control of your tongue”. 
My face betrays me 😂 
She’s right, I can hold my tongue pretty well unless it’s something that really gets my goat. 
🐐Fun fact #2: “gets my goat” is one of my favorite phrases ever!
🤢 Fun fact #3: I am not a picky eater and will eat just about anything but don’t you dare make me eat a sandwich with the cheese and Mayo touching!! 
Tell me: are you a thinker too?!? What are some fun facts about you?
One of the most common misconceptions I hear about One of the most common misconceptions I hear about planning for more than one week is that it takes so much time...

But the reason this is such a big misconception is because if you think it take a lot of time to make a seasonal meal plan, think about how much time it takes you to meal plan from a blank slate every week. 
Let's look at it over the course of a year.
1. weekly meal planning 1 hour x 52 weeks = 52 hours
2. monthly meal planning 1 hour x 12 months = 12 hours
3. seasonal meal planning 2 hours x 4 seasons = 8 hours 

And we're not even talking about how much time you're losing by following a weekly meal plan and subsequently grocery shopping. 

Think about how much you're missing out on with your family by spending so much time planning and shopping so often. An hour meal planning + 2 hours grocery shopping every single week is 3 hours a week you could have back to do fun things with them!

I mean, I get it...you NEED to feed your family every day, right? (kinda something we hafta do...).
But you can  do 👏🏼 it 👏🏼 differently 👏🏼
A seasonal meal plan with not only help you spend less time in planning-mode, but also help with your grocery shopping so that you can go to the grocery store less, and stop making emergency trips to the store because you forgot something.

And while you're here, let me tell ya this: avoiding a seasonal meal plan because you don't have TIME is HOGWASH... because I have lots of short cuts and tricks to show you that will maximize your time. 

PS. Stay tuned for tomorrow's post - I'm sharing my newest meal planning formula calendar... It's only around for a few days...see ya tomorrow!

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Meet Karyn. She had amazing results as a customer Meet Karyn. She had amazing results as a customer of ours and I need to share her with you.
 
She bought the Daily Dinner Blueprint calendar, dug right in, and told me she was so excited because she got these results:

📆 her meals are planned until SPRING (and she said it was painless!)!
🛒 a streamlined grocery shopping list!
🥣 an ingredient-based plan that doesn't limit what her family is eating!

She also said how every month "will be even quicker and easier"!

Here’s what she had to say about our business in her own words...
"My husband and I just did our first plan using your system and I wanted to drop you a line to say THANK YOU! Once you wrap your head around the process, and you start using it, it's easy to see how it will streamline grocery shopping without limiting what you are eating!

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Thank you Karyn for being a customer! 💜
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One of the most common mistakes I see people make One of the most common mistakes I see people make when it comes to meal planning ​is doing it backwards.
BACKWARDS = planning your meals THEN doing your grocery shopping. 
Honestly, I used to teach it this way. 
But I found this doesn't work because:
🕳 you buy single, hard-to-find ingredients that end up in a black hole after you use it for just one recipe (oyster sauce in the back of the fridge, I'm looking at you...)
💰 you overbuy ingredients thinking this is the week your toddler finally eats broccoli, or this is the week you're totally going to cook every night...but end up eating the same thing over and over anyway.
🤷🏻‍♀️ you have too many options and if your plan gets interrupted (which it WILL), you're left staring at a full pantry or fridge wondering "what can I make???" And then end up ordering takeout!

Don't worry, I've got ideas for you. Check out my stories for 3 things you can do instead of backwards planning!
I could tell you so many things about this girl... I could tell you so many things about this girl... 
...my BFF Cara @apurposedrivenmom 
...but I want to focus on how she KILLS it at going after her goals. And loves teaching other busy mamas to do the same. 
She helped me map out an action plan for my goals on Saturday and wow, guys. Just wow. 
So I asked her if she would help my audience with their goal setting for the new year...
...and she agreed! 
Join both of us this Thursday (LIVE!) for “How to Take MASSIVE ACTION on your Goals (without burnout or overwhelm)”.
Sound like something you want to chat about with us?!? Link is in my bio (just click this picture of Cara and I!).
Who else hates throwing away lots of un-eaten prod Who else hates throwing away lots of un-eaten produce at the end of the week as much as I do? 
Focus on an ingredient-based meal plan instead of the other way around. That's what the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar does. Here's this week's meal plan...
🍕🌮 🍔 
‣‣‣Monday: Dinner Blueprint # 51 (A4+B1+C3)
Homemade Pizza Dough & Pizza Sauce (two recipes)
‣‣‣Tuesday: Dinner Blueprint # 33 (A3+B1+C1)
Blackened Tilapia Tacos
‣‣‣Wednesday: Dinner Blueprint # 10 (A1+B3+C2)
Crispy Lemon Chicken & Veggies
‣‣‣Thursday: Dinner Blueprint # 5 (A1+B2+C1)
Santa Fe Double Chicken
‣‣‣Friday: Dinner Blueprint # 40 (A3+B2+C4)
Baked Fish Sticks (+ leftover veggies or salad)
‣‣‣Saturday: Dinner Blueprint # 13 (A1+B4+C1)
Santa Fe Double Chicken Soup (just add a carton of chicken broth to leftovers to make soup)
‣‣‣Sunday: Dinner Blueprint # 3 (A1+B1+C3)
Chicken Parmesan w/Pasta
🍕 
If you're following along on the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, these are the same Dinner Blueprint #’s for each day. You can use the blueprint to come up with your own dinner idea, or use the linked example recipe.
🌮 
If you don’t own the 2021 Annual Meal Planning Calendar, you can purchase it by clicking my link in bio or if you're seeing this on Facebook, click here:
https://mpb.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1065589/?action=signup
🍉🥬Tell me... what fruit or veggie do you always end up throwing away? (watermelon and fresh spinach here!)
I don't know about you, but I can waste time like I don't know about you, but I can waste time like a CHAMP. Like re-drying the same load of laundry 3 times or scrolling IG like a zombie in bed.
Anyone else?
But I don't like it. 
And I definitely try to be more intentional on the things that give me more time back than what I spent on it. 
Meal planning is one of those things. Spend ONE hour a month meal planning, and you'll gain so many more hours each day (and *bonus* - it's during that dreaded pre-dinner time when the kids are maniacs!)

P.S. Please stop weekly meal planning. That doesn't actually save you time. (you can watch the ✨free training✨ in my link in bio if you want to know how often I suggest!)
Tell me...what would you do with an extra 30 mins each day?
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