Easy Ideas and Monthly Menu for July
Since we are in the heat of the summer, I am sharing pretty simple meals. I hope these easy ideas and monthly menu for July simplify your summer and give you more family time.
Most of these meal ideas can be prepped or completely made in 30 minutes or less. Enjoy!
You can use the Table of Contents to jump directly to the menu if you want.
What is a Monthly Meal Plan
This monthly meal plan is filled with ideas for quick and easy weeknight meals. Since the planning can be the most challenging part, use this as a guide for ideas.
These are weeknight meals only. We usually eat leftovers or go out for dinner on the weekends.
I try my best to plan meals where you can “double dip” some of the work. You will notice a few notes about making extra for another meal later in the week. Why do the work twice?
Get Weekly Reminders
I send weekly menu reminders each Monday morning in my newsletter. I would love for you to join me each week for faith, family, and food ideas. Join below and also receive my favorite quick and easy candy recipes.
Weeknight Ideas and Menu for July
Instead of a chart like I normally do, I am sharing the menu for July in a list. Let me know which way works best for you.
If the menu idea is highlighted in brown, you can click it to go directly to the recipe.
- 06/30 – Grilled Chicken with Couscous (Grill extra chicken for Wednesday.)
- 07/01 – Shrimp Scampi
- 07/02 – Chicken Alfredo
- 07/03 – Chicken Strip Salad
- 07/04 – 4th of July Cookout
- 07/05 – Weekend
- 07/06 – Weekend
- 07/07 – Apricot Chicken
- 07/08 – Chicken & Waffle Tacos
- 07/09 – Beef Tips & Noodles (or Rice)
- 07/10 – Fiesta Chicken Soup
- 07/11 – BLTs
- 07/12 – Weekend
- 07/13 – Weekend
- 07/14 – Brisket
- 07/15 – Poblano Chicken
- 07/16 – Fajitas
- 07/17 – Pork Chops
- 07/18 – 15 Minute Meal (If you have extra chicken from Tuesday, use it here.)
- 07/19 – Weekend
- 07/20 – Weekend
- 07/21 – Baked Ham
- 07/22 – Baked Potatoes (Use any extra ham for toppings.)
- 07/23 – Farmers’ Market Chicken
- 07/24 – Raviolis
- 07/25 – Corny Dogs w/ Macaroni & Cheese
- 07/26 – Weekend
- 07/27 – Weekend
- 07/28 – Roast with Vegetables
- 07/29 – Pan Fried Tilapia
- 07/30 – Tostadas (Make extra taco meat for Friday.)
- 07/31 – Pulled Pork (Use leftover roast.)
- 08/01 – Taco Salad
Favorite Kitchen Items
Click the links below to get the details on each item. These are some of my favorites!
- Meat Chopper
- Jalapeno Corer
- Food Chopper
- Taco Stands
- Stainless Steel Strainers
- Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer
Menu and Meal Planning Tips
There are so many ways to make meal planning and prepping go faster and smoother. I have put together a few tips and ideas to help.
- Print or take a photo of the meal plan and keep it visible during the month.
- Keep staples on hand (baking items, seasonings, etc.)
- Buy in bulk when possible.
- Look at the monthly meal plan and make a grocery list of all items you can get in advance. If possible, buy all of these items once instead of making multiple grocery trips. (Grocery Delivery is wonderful too! Walmart+ has been a lifesaver for me!)
- Keep a master list of the main grocery items you use on a regular basis. Having a ready made grocery shopping list can save you time, and help you remember items you need to purchase.
- Set aside time at the beginning of the month for meal prep, to prepare food (cut vegetables, divide bulk items and freeze when necessary, etc.)
- Look at your weekly meal plan over the weekend, and write out your weekly shopping lists so you can make one trip to the grocery store or farmers markets to get fresh produce and other items you will need.
- Remember that this is just a guide with recipe ideas – use what you want and skip the rest.
I hope some of these meal ideas work for you and your family. They are easy to tweak to meet any special needs.
If you have other quick and easy meals, I would love to hear from you. Please share.
Ideas from Pinterest
You can find so many ideas on Pinterest, as you probably already know. I have several ideas pinned on my Main Meals Board. Feel free to take a look.
Related Posts
Until next time,
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“Every living creature will be food for you; as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything.” Genesis 9:3
When my sons were children, I don’t remember meal planning, it just happened. But now that it’s just my husband and I, it seems like a chore. So I started a meal plan calendar similar to yours, although I do it weekly. I might try monthly. I created my own shopping list based on what we use and it has been well worth the time.
Isn’t that funny how that works. I guess that is kind of the same with me. It seems like it would be easier now, but I almost have to have a plan.😂
I have taco stands and that meat chopper and love them both. Thanks for these yummy meal ideas. Making a plan is so smart–I live by it! Thanks for sharing this post at our month-long Will Blog for Comments #65 linkup. We’ll be back to our regular schedule now, so #66 opens Monday morning. Hope to see you there.
Aren’t those the handiest items? I hope to see you there!
Such a great menu, Susan! I love that you do so many things in advance. We have a monthly menu as well but sometimes I totally forget the ingredients from one week to the next so I’m definitely going to try a master grocery list and then just add the extra things we need based on the week. It would save so much time! Hugs, CoCo