Family Meal Plan: Summer Menu

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This family-friendly, two-week healthy meal plan is designed for the spring and summer months and is full of recipes the whole family will love that are easy to make — plus, it comes with a free printable shopping list.



 

Healthy Meal Plan + Tips

If you want to feed your family well but aren’t sure where to start, this is the post for you. I have a whole foods approach to eating that your whole family will gobble up (with no health food store needed… score).

This meal plan is ideal for families because all of the recipes are beyond simple, the ingredients are easy to find, and your whole family will chow down the meals. If you are new to healthy eating or trying to eat with a focus on whole foods, this a great place to start because the recipes are very traditional while also being simply delicious, if I do say so myself.

I do want to mention that “healthy” is a relative term, and we may not agree on what it means. To me, it’s about balance, eating foods that make you feel good, and not restricting yourself. 

🍽️ More Easy Family Meal Planning Ideas!

Healthy Eating Meal Plan: Summer Menu

Let me take the thinking out of feeding your family! This eating clean meal plan is great for busy families who want to eat at home more! You are going to love all of the tried-and-true recipes I’ve been making for my family of seven for years.

Breakfast:

Here are 14 breakfast ideas to start your morning off well.

  1. Scrambled Eggs + Muffins 
  2. Whole Wheat Waffles
  3. Breakfast Burritos (with roasted sweet potatoes)
  4. Oatmeal (with frozen berries)
  5. Egg Bake 
  6. Pancakes
  7. Granola + berries + milk (like cold cereal)
  8. Scrambled Eggs + Muffins 
  9. Waffles 
  10. Breakfast Cookies
  11. Oatmeal or Overnight Oats
  12. Egg Bake 
  13. Strawberry Pancakes
  14. Granola + berries + milk 

Tip: Make a double batch of the waffles and pancakes on the first day, and freeze half for the second time you plan to serve them for breakfast. Thaw in the fridge overnight, and reheat in a toaster. Easy as can be!

Lunch:

Here are some simple lunch ideas for your family that can be made at home or taken on the go to work, school, or the park.

  1. Homemade Lunchables
  2. Quesadillas
  3. Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches
  4. Sandwich on a Stick Lunchbox Ideas
  5. Leftovers
  6. Muffin Tray Meal
  7. Hummus Sandwich
  8. Avocado Egg Salad Sandwich

Remember: Don’t overthink lunch! I feel like this should be a fuss-free meal in the day.

I’ve made this EVEN EASIER! Sign up here to get a free PDF printable shopping list for the dinners included in this meal plan.

2 Weeks of Dinners the Whole Family Will Love

Dinner is the hardest meal of the day because everyone’s a little bit tired, and there’s still a lot left to do (homework, sports practice, baths, bedtime, cleanup, etc.). Here’s my easy meal plan that is perfect for summertime dinners that’ll take the stress out of getting the final meal of the day on the table! All of these recipes are made WITHOUT TURNING ON THE OVEN! They are made in the slow cooker, on the grill, or on the stove top. No hot house needed!

Week 1

Day 1: Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork (the BBQ sauce is served as an optional addition at the end)

Day 2: Grilled Salmon Foil Packets 

Day 3: Stovetop Chicken Enchilada Skillet 

Day 4: Garden Veggie Pasta

Day 5: One Pot Sausage Rice and Peas

Day 6: One Pot Farmstand Wonder

Day 7: Leftovers/Eat out

Week 2:

Day 1: 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken Legs

Day 2: The BEST chicken tacos

Day 3: Healthy Quinoa Taco Casserole

Day 4: Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna

Day 5: Shrimp Stir Fry

Day 6: Grilled Sausage and Veggie Foil Packs

Day 7: Leftovers/Eat out

Sides for dinner:

Summer is such an EASY time to get sides for dinner. Serve fresh fruit (watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, peaches, cherries, or berries) just as they are because they are in season and taste great.

Veggie options include corn on the cob, grilled or lightly sauteed zucchini, fresh green beans boiled with onion until tender (it takes a good long while for them to cook, about 40 minutes), simple salads with great dressings, cucumber salads, or just garden cucumbers and tomatoes on a plate with salt and pepper. 

Don’t overthink your sides in the summer, but do plan on them (and add them to your shopping list accordingly). Hit up the roadside stands, your grandpa’s garden, the farmer’s market, or your neighbor. Summer is a great time to eat simple foods just as they are from the earth. Fresh and seasonal produce makes fruits and veggies a treat to add to meals.

Snacks:

If your kids are like mine, I bet they are eating you out of house and home while home from school! 

  • You have lots of snack options that go beyond sliced fruit, vegetables, and string cheese sticks, but don’t discount those simple options, as well.
  • I always keep a veggie box in my fridge. It’s the best thing ever, and makes it way easier to eat veggies regularly!
  • One of my 8 No-Bake Oatmeal Bites are always in my fridge! My kids LOVE these.
  • Smoothies in all shapes and sizes. Just don’t get tricked into using sugar if your recipe calls for yogurt. Read that label!
  • Popcorn… Did you know you can pop it in a brown paper bag in the microwave?
  • Homemade Graham Crackers.
  • Whole Peanuts. Peanuts in the shell are so much more fun to eat if you don’t mind the mess. Trust me.
  • Popsicles. Easy Rainbow Popsicles are a favorite around here. I make a double-batch of smoothies and freeze half in popsicle molds all the time, but you can also try freezing a 100% fruit juice for easy popsicles. Popsicles are the easiest way for my kids to enjoy fruit and hidden veggies.
  • Boiled Eggs.
  • No-Bake Date Balls. The peanut butter and jelly ones are our favorite.
  • I always have a loaf or two of 100% whole wheat bread ready to slice and butter. Just toast a piece and spread peanut butter on it for a really good and filling snack.
  • Healthy Snack Bars.
  • Healthy Fruit Dip. This is perfect with apples for some extra protein and fat.

See? Meal planning is easy… Just let me do it for you!

I’ve made this EVEN EASIER! Sign up here to get a free PDF printable shopping list for the dinners included in this meal plan.

Love a summer meal plan? Don’t worry, I have a fall and winter one too! You can find my fall and winter meal plan here.

I hope this free meal plan for families really helps you out, saves you time, and takes some of the thinking out of “what’s for dinner?”!

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586 Comments

  1. Monica L. says:

    Hi Melissa. I’m loving your philosophy on “clean” eating. Your 100% whole wheat bread link seems to be broken. I would like to start grinding my own flour and making bread at home. Is this the recipe you always use? Do you have a link? Thanks!

  2. Emily says:

    Great post. As a full time working mom I try to do the best i can. I like your 80/20 rule. that is about where we are most of the time. Some time the ratio is higher on the not so good end but that is okay. If it isn’t in the house the kids dont ask for it nor to they realize they are missing anything. My freezer is my friend–along with the garden, grandmas’ apple trees, and the farmers market. Can’t wait to try some of your recipes.

  3. Judygallagher says:

    Melissa, is there an easy grocery list or do you just go off the recipes as far as what you need?

    1. Melissa says:

      No… it’s not something I’ve done. It’s a hard on for me because I can a lot and and try to have lots of stuff in my freezer from sales or from my garden! I might make a list one day though and if I do I’ll email you!

  4. Mandy says:

    Thank you and congratulations on the pregnancy. It wasn’t to much info at all. Its actually perfect. With 6 of us and a budget of $600 a month this fits perfect. I too include all my cleaing supplies in my “food” budget. Can’t wait to see your Fall/Winter menu. ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. Christy says:

    THANKYOU for this post! This is where I want to be !

  6. Mandy says:

    This post is amazing. We are a family of six with 2 picky eaters in the family. I’m sure that we could get them to eat most of these foods. I just have one question for you. What is the average food bill for the two weeks? I’d love to purchase the meal plans but want to make sure it fits into our budget first.

    1. Melissa says:

      I spend about $500 a month on everything “household” including food (that my soaps for dishes and laundry, any paper goods, and most other things get lumped into that). So that would put you at about $250 for the two weeks, so maybe $100 a week for just the food? We rarely eat out, so that saves a bunch of money but that also means that I’m serving 3 square meals a day. My husband works at home so he eats all meals with us and my 19 year old brother is living with us too… so really I’m feeding 3 adults (and I’m pregnant so I eat plenty) and three children 42 meals in that 2 weeks. That puts me at about $6 a meal which is only a dollar a person per meal for real food! And that isn’t even quiet right because I still make snacks, treats, and have all the living expenses tied in. It’s also a little bias because I have a huge garden and I can a lot. I never buy tomatoes but use them a lot (I have them on the shelf from last year’s garden!) and I grind my own wheat berries for flour… and on the opposite end I live in a tiny town and the food prices are quiet high. I don’t shop around or “hit the sales” because there aren’t any sales really and theirs only one store. So I think in the end it all comes out in the wash. What do you think? Was too much info ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for asking though, it was great to hear from you!

  7. Sarah Katz says:

    Thank you for all your hard work and vulnerability in putting this together and making it available to strangers on the web out of the goodness of your heart!! Thanks also for bringing grace and a budget friendly perspective to clean eating. Really appreciate! (Got here from your first post, via pinterest. =)

  8. Heidi says:

    I really appreciate this idea of clean eating. I have thought others are just too time consuming, costly, and not practical for my family. But thinking old fashion the way grandma used to cook I can do! Thank you

  9. Amanda Troyer says:

    Should be called “common sense” right? Thanks for the post! I’m so tired of seeing people be so insanely strict about some things, you definitely have I right IMO. Balance and moderation!

  10. Hannah says:

    Super post. Love the balance between green smoothies and ring pops ๐Ÿ™‚ all things in moderation. In trying to become more intentional with my family’s eating habits, I’m really trying to find a good substitute for processed flour and you mentioned a wheat grinder. Any particular brand you would recommend? Thanks again for the post!