August 2016 Monthly Menu Plan

{HOT Weather Summer Dinners – Links to 17 Recipes & Printable Download}

 

 

 

I don’t know about where you live, but here in Michigan the summer has been HOT. Most mornings, my husband & I just ask each other, “What do we want to grill tonight?” It’s usually plain chicken, sometimes hamburgers — most often served with raw vegetables. Once in a while I’ll turn on the a/c in the house and cook something with pasta or potatoes.

I’m going to be totally honest here and admit that I was not going to make a monthly menu plan for August. If you check out my June menu plan, it pretty much covers what we eat during the summer. That menu also served us well during July, so I figured we would go with it for another month. We have burgers, chicken, and some sausage in the freezer, not much planning necessary to fill our bellies every night.

Then I started to think maybe we could try something a little different with the chicken that we usually just lightly season and grill. So I turned to my very favorite app on earth — Pinterest — and started searching for summery-type chicken meals. I discovered some delicious-looking new recipes, and decided a new monthly menu plan was definitely a good idea. Let me tell you, my printer got a workout this month!

 

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You will see from my menu that I’m becoming a little obsessed with foil packet recipes. Hey, anything to reduce the cleanup works for me! Plus, my family loves casseroles and one-pot style dinners with meat, starch & vegetables all mixed together. Foil packets are just like that–but cooked OUTSIDE (read: I prep, my husband stands outside in the heat and cooks 😉 ). I saw a brilliant idea on Pinterest to use tin pie plates as the bottom of the packet — that could be interesting! I’ve also read that if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of your food touching the aluminum foil, you can layer parchment paper between the food and foil.

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Related posts:
How to Plan a Monthly Menu That Works For YOU
How to Grocery Shop for a Month

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How much do we spend?

My monthly spending seems to naturally come in around $400, some months a little more or less. This amount feeds 3 adult-size people very well. Doing one big monthly shop and only popping into the store once or twice for milk and fruit saves my family at least $75/month compared to previous averages when I have carefully planned and budgeted, but still shopped weekly. My older son was home with us for a few months, but now he is back at college, so we’re back to feeding 3 people. We love that boy, but my husband is happy to be able to take leftovers again for his lunches. 😉

 

What do we eat besides dinner?

Breakfast – Not much. I’m a homemade iced coffee drinker during the summer — more often I make it the lazy way rather than the right way. (As long as it’s sweet & creamy caffeine, it’s all the same to me.) Sometimes my husband makes eggs and bacon on the weekend, maybe once or twice a month.

Lunch – Leftovers, pb&j, lunchmeat sandwiches, crackers & cheese

Snacks – Fruit, crackers, nuts, tortilla chips.

I usually do not make desserts. If we’re craving something during the summer, I’ll make rice krispie treats or some chocolate pudding to use up milk.

 

The Plan

As you will see, I have marked some of these dinners to be made more than once. I’ve also left open nights for leftovers and restaurant dinners.

Most dinners do not have a side dish listed. This is because it’s either an all-in-one meal, or my plan is to serve raw or grilled vegetables with the main course. August is usually our month to grill loads of zucchini and corn on the cob.

We have restocked our chicken supply, which is perfect for grilling season.

The highlighted links you see in the menu will take you directly to the website for each recipe. If you want to see photos of the linked recipes in one place, you can visit my Pinterest board for main dish recipes. I’m always pinning new recipes, so following my board is a great idea if you’re looking for dinner inspiration.

1. Grilled BBQ chicken leg quarters (2 times)
2. Grilled cheeseburgers (2 times)
3. Grilled chicken burgers, *new recipe* Grilled Foil Packet Frozen Cheese Fries
4. Grilled BBQ B/S chicken thighs
5. *new recipe* Grilled Arnold Palmer Chicken
6. *new recipe* Grilled Fajita Chicken Kabobs
7. *new recipe* BBQ Ranch Grilled Chicken and Veggie Bowls
8. *new recipe* Grilled Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
9. *new recipe* Grilled Easy Tin Foil Sausage and Veggies Dinner
10. *new recipe* Sausage, Potato, and Green Bean Foil Packets
11. *new recipe* All-Purpose Buffalo Chicken
12. *new recipe* Honey Sriracha Chicken
13. *new recipe* Lexington Grilled Chicken
14. Outdoor fish fry (2 times), homemade onion rings, sweet potato fries
15. Oriental Chicken Salad
16. *new recipe* BBQ Chicken Salad
17. Tostadas (I just discovered Aldi now sells tostada shells! Oh happy day – I find them so much easier to eat than corn taco shells! Make these “refried” beans to use on them.)
18. Nachos
19. Smothered B/S chicken breasts
20. Fried cabbage w/sausage or ground beef
21. Easy Chicken Parmesan Bake (My new favorite easy dinner!)
22. *crockpot meal* Red Beans & Rice
23. *new recipe* Deviled Chicken Thighs, glazed carrots
24. *new recipe* One Pot Spaghetti with Sausage Sauce
25. *new recipe* White Chicken Enchilada Pasta

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What’s your favorite summer meal?

Leave a comment or email me at [email protected] with any questions you might have! If you like this menu, click on one of the sharing buttons below to share on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

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