Mommy TG’s 4-Week Cycle Menu

Here are some strategies in the kitchen that I employ as a practical mom. First and foremost, I try to include as many dishes as possible in the menu that are complete meals in themselves to save on preparation time and money. If the recipe does not include both meat and vegetables, that’s the only time that I include a vegetable dish or side dish. Second, we just have one kind of dish for lunch and dinner since there are only three and a half (Yanthy, my 20-month-old son, is the half.) of us in the house. We cook enough food for lunch and dinner so we save on cooking time and energy. We simply heat the food come dinnertime. This gives me and my maid additional time to do other things. Third, I make sure that there is a balance in our food intake. I make sure that in a week, we don’t only eat chicken and pork dishes. I include fish and vegetable dishes on the weekly menu. I have actually limited pork dishes to twice a month to make our diet healthier. I've decided to take out my usual seafood recipes to make way for healthier fish and vegetable dishes. I'd probably cook them once a quarter only.

We usually eat a heavy breakfast on weekdays so most of the time we have rice in the morning. We don’t serve and eat hotdogs for breakfast or snacks because it’s very unhealthy and contains a lot of carcinogens. I have included here homemade tocino as a healthier option for breakfast courtesy of a friend who shared her recipe with me. Click here to check it out.  When we notice that we’re gaining weight, we simply replace the planned breakfast/dinner with oatmeal. At least once a week, we eat oatmeal for breakfast. Our usual morning drink is either milk, milk chocolate or juice. All meals are accompanied by fruits in season.

On special occasions, I replace the main dish with a pasta dish. If I have extra time, I whip up a dessert. If not, we just buy ice cream or cake.

For snacks in between, we eat sandwiches or fresh fruits. No junk food.  We are slowly shifting to organic food beginning with the use of brown rice, muscovado sugar, and wheat bread. Eventually, we’d be using organic eggs, chicken and vegetables.

This menu cycle is still a work in progress. I intend to include healthier options in the future to replace not so healthy breakfast meals. In the meantime, I continue to search for healthy recipes and experiment in the kitchen in order to come up with healthy meals my family would love.

 I hope to be of help somehow to moms like me by sharing this 4-week cycle menu plan with you.

2014 UPDATE!!!

I have made two versions of this 4-Week-Cycle Menu so readers can choose which one suits their lifestyle or preferences best. The first printable summarizes the dishes included in the original 4-Week-Cycle Menu above. The second printable is an updated version which reflects my family's current preferences (This includes my two boys.). I have made these available in PDF so you can print them and post them in your kitchen. I also made a blank Menu Planning Form in PDF in case you'd like to change some of the dishes I have included or change the sequence or combinations in this menu.

LATEST UPDATE!!!

My 4-week-cycle menu plan is now available in 3 versions. Had to revise it again after my husband requested another healthier option. ;)