Monthly Gluten-Free Meal Plan: January 2016
Meal planning is one of those topics I can’t know enough about—for me, it feels like the holy grail of organization. I am a busy mom, trying to balance a hectic and unpredictable schedule, so I have learned to rely on meal planning to keep us well-nourished and on budget.
I have touched on gluten-free meal planning in past posts, like when I reviewed how to balance time/effort, money, and nutrition and described gluten-free planning in the real world (includes sample weekly GF meal plans and tips for surviving rougher weeks!)—but I am someone who enjoys looking at real-life meal plans for inspiration, and I thought it might be helpful for other meal planners to see gluten-free options that are (relatively) simple and nutrient-dense.
Included below are our family’s actual (dinner) meal plans for the month of January—all recipes are gluten-free. I have included pictures and recipe links (as available)—some of the recipes are only in my head, but I would be happy to share them if you email me or comment below. Please excuse the amateur smartphone photos! I am always looking for new recipes, so please share links to your favorites in the comments below.
You may have noticed that there was no December Monthly Meal Plan post. I’m going to be honest, December was a mess—not much meal planning happened amongst the chaos of the holidays, traveling, my son’s birthday, and school vacation. We got ourselves together in January (with the exception of our dishwasher breaking during Snowmageddon 2016), so I have lots of new meals to share you with you. You may recognize some of these meals as Recipes of the Week—I will be sure to include links to those posts for your convenience. I have been experimenting with freezing meals this month, so I will update you on how that is going next month. I am also working on a “Pantry Essentials” series where I will feature some of our favorite straight-from-the-pantry recipes. Let me know if you see a meal you would like me to include in that series!
Happy February!
Week 1
Snack: Banana Bread Protein Bars
Dessert: Peanut Butter Molten Lava Cakes (inspired by this recipe)
Sunday
- OUT (Wegmans – Sushi)
Monday
- Oven-Roasted Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Green Beans
Tuesday
- Rotisserie Chicken
- Homemade Gravy
- Mashed Potatoes
- Roasted Asparagus
Wednesday
Thursday
- Penne Bolognese (leftovers)
Friday
- Red Lentil, Curry, & Carrot Stew (slow-cooker)
- Positively Free™ Cornbread
Saturday
- Penne Bolognese (leftovers)
Week 2
Sunday (Sick Mommy)
- Pizza (Glutenfreeda Flatbread w/ Feta, Spinach, & Mozzarella)
Monday (Sick Mommy)
- Carry-out (District Taco)
Tuesday
Wednesday
- Vegetable Paella (leftovers)
Thursday
- Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers (inspired by this recipe)
Friday
- Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers (leftovers)
Saturday
- Turkey Picadillo (slow-cooker)
Week 3
Snack: Banana Bread Protein Bars
Dessert: No-Bake Almond Joy Bars
Sunday
- Turkey Picadillo (leftovers)
Monday
Tuesday
- Curried Butternut Squash Soup (inspired by this recipe)
- Bacon Grilled Cheese
Wednesday (Broken Dishwasher)
- Curried Butternut Squash Soup (leftovers)
- Bacon Grilled Cheese
Thursday (Broken Dishwasher)
- Pizza (Glutenfreeda Flatbread w/ Feta, Kale, & Mozzarella)
Friday (Broken Dishwasher/Blizzard)
- Pizza (Glutenfreeda Flatbread w/ Feta, Kale, & Mozzarella)
Saturday (Broken Dishwasher/Blizzard)
- Pizza (Glutenfreeda Flatbread w/ Feta, Kale, & Mozzarella)
Week 4
Sunday (Broken Dishwasher/Blizzard)
- Pizza (Glutenfreeda Flatbread w/ Feta, Kale, & Mozzarella)
Monday
- Gnocchi w/ Turkey Marinara
- Roasted Asparagus
Tuesday
- OUT (Wegmans Pub) → restocking our fridge after the blizzard!
Portobello “Steak”
Wednesday
Thursday
- Simple Slow Cooker Pork
- Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Roasted Broccoli
Friday
- Black Bean Soup (vegetarian)
- Breadsticks (made with Positively Free™ Pizza Crust)
Saturday
- Simple Slow Cooker Pork (leftovers)
- Black Bean Soup (leftovers)
- Roasted Broccoli (leftovers)
Check out previous monthly meal plans for more meal ideas!
For sneak peeks of my gluten-free meals, follow me on Instagram or Twitter.
