January Menu Plan

 

Happy New Year! Seriously, how can we be starting a whole new year already? And it’s not only the start of a new year, it’s the start of a new month. That means it’s also time for a our January Menu Plan.

Hopefully, January will be a more restful month for everyone. As much as I love the holiday season, it can be a little exhausting. There’s also that whole “eating way too much” thing to deal with. Cue the diet and exercise resolutions!

 

 

 

January Menu Planning Tips:

1. Do a kitchen inventory. It’s a brand new year, so let’s start it by cleaning out/rotating our food storage. Take an inventory of the fridge, freezer, and pantry and use those ingredients to plan your menu.
2. Add some healthy menu options at least a few times a week. I’m all for simple things like burgers and pasta, but I know I definitely need some extra veggies and less carbs after December. Throwing in a little salad just can’t hurt!
3. Freeze those leftovers! Our daughter will go back to college soon and I still haven’t learned to cook for less than five people. I have, however, learned to freeze things we won’t eat right away. They are great to thaw out for lunch or a quick dinner.
4. Prep parts of the meal instead of entire meals at once. Batch cook meat and chop vegetables for chili and other soup.
5. Try something new. One of my New Year’s goals is to try 52 new recipes this year. Considering how many food boards I have on Pinterest, I feel like that’s not going to be hard to do!

 

 

January Menu

 

Sunday/1:  Christmas dinner with the in-laws. We’re having a late celebration this year and ham is on the menu. I’ll probably be done with ham for a few months.

Monday/2:  Cheesy Pig Taters. We’ll be sharing these with my grandfather for his 87th birthday! I really need to post this recipe soon.

 

Tuesday/3:  Turkey & Noodles, Mashed potatoes, Green Beans, Rolls. The leftover turkey bones that I froze will be used to make the broth for turkey and noodles.

Wednesday/4:  Salmon Patties, Potato Cakes, Salad. I froze the leftover mashed potatoes from Christmas dinner and those will be used to make potato cakes.

Thursday/5:  Hot & Sour Soup, Fried Rice, Sesame Chicken, Dumplings. These are recipes from Pinterest that I’m going to try out!

Friday/6:  Leftovers. Normally, we have leftovers on Thursdays, but I decided to switch up for a change.

Saturday/7:  Hot Dogs, Chili, Potato Salad, and Baked Beans. I promised my daughter I’d make her some potato salad and beans before she went back to school, but she said she wanted something simple like hot dogs to go with it.

 

Sunday/8:  Leftovers/Family Dinner. For anyone who hasn’t seen one of my monthly menus, Sundays are almost always dinner with family and very rarely eaten here. That means I don’t have to cook!

Monday/9:  Chili & Cornbread. Part of this will go into the freezer for later.

 

Tuesday/10:  Broccoli Cheese Soup, Club Sandwich Sliders. Anything left over will be lunch for a couple of days.

Wednesday/11:  Caribbean Pork Roast, Rice and Beans, Sweet Potatoes/Yams with Pineapple. This is another recipe that can be frozen. The leftover pork will make great tacos or flatbread.

Thursday/12:  Leftovers

Friday/13:  Chicken Quesadillas, Chipotle Sauce, Mexican Rice. There isn’t much good food to be found in a hospital, but there was one little stand that sold quesadillas with chipotle sauce. My husband used to walk to the other side of campus and have them delivered to me while I was having chemo treatments. (He wasn’t allowed to be with me because of stupid covid rules.) Anyway, once I could cook again, I came up with a better version. Even my pickiest child likes these!

Saturday/14:  Beef roast with Potatoes, Carrots, Celery, and Onion, Green Beans, Cream Biscuits. Slow cooker meals are the best!!

 

Sunday/15:  Family Dinner.

Monday/16:  Cream of Vegetable Soup, Garlic Cheese Biscuits, Side Salad. This is the recipe from Dolly’s Stampede in Pigeon Forge, TN. I don’t know if this is the original recipe, but it’s a bit addictive! I predict there won’t be enough left to freeze.

Tuesday/17:  Pinto Beans, Cornbread, Fried Potatoes. A leftover ham bone I put in the freezer will go in the beans while they cook. There’s just something about beans cooked that way!

 

Wednesday/18:  Spring Roll Bowls with Sweet Garlic Lime Sauce. I’ve had this on the menu a couple of times and something always happens that I have to change entrees. This time I’m determined to make it!

Thursday/19:  Leftovers

Friday/20:  BBQ Ribs, Cole Slaw, Corn on the Cob, Garlic Bread. We grill year round unless there is lightning or heavy snow/ice and I have a pack of ribs in the freezer that need to be used.

Saturday/21:  Dinner Out. I always allow at least one night a month for dinner out. Even people who enjoy cooking get tired of it sometimes!

Sunday/22:  Family Dinner

Monday/23:  Fajita Chili and Mexican Cornbread. These are recipes from two of my many church cookbooks. I’ll let you know how they turn out!

Tuesday/24:  Cajun Chicken Pasta, Side Salad. I love Cajun and Creole dishes, but I rarely make them because my daughter is very sensitive to spice. While she’s back at college, I make things I know she can’t or won’t eat!

Wednesday/25:  Slow Cooker Roast Beef Sandwiches, Corn on the Cob. Is it sad that I look so forward to eating corn? This came from my in-laws garden and we put it up ourselves. It’s the sweetest corn I’ve ever eaten in my life. (Here’s a random photo of one of our dinners so that you can see how pretty this corn is. I may be a little obsessed! Also, I like butter.)

 

Thursday/26:  Leftovers.

Friday/27:  Brown Sugar Dijon Pork, Roasted Root Vegetables, Apple Pecan Slaw. Roasted root vegetables would probably be on my menu every week if I had constant access to rutabagas. Someday I’ll plant some that actually grow.

Saturday/28:  Steak, Baked Potato, Salad, Sweet and Sour Green Beans. Sometimes you just want a steak dinner.

Sunday/29:  Family Dinner

Monday/30:  Chicken Curry with Lentils. I adore curry. Lentils are my attempt at being healthy.

Tuesday/31:  Salmon Taco Bowls. This is a recipe for two, but I will probably double it so that our son can eat with us and we can have leftovers. I am sooo looking forward to this!!

 

That’s it for our January Menu! As always, there may be days where I have to tweak it a little. One of the best pieces of advice I can give you about menu planning is to be flexible and not stress out about it.

What are you cooking this month? I’d love to hear your ideas!

 

Definitely check out the other monthly menu plans and sign up for the newsletter to get the January Menu Plan printable!