5 Day Easy Menu Plan for a family of 5

One of the obstacles I had to learn to overcome was just menu planning. I had to keep it simple until I learned how to add in things.  So I will walk you through 5 easy dinner meals for a family of 5. We are starting out with some fresh foods and eliminating processed items. 

Here's what you will need from the Grocery store (Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Market Street, Central Markets have a good variety of organics and special diets):

6 Organic Zucchini Squash
6 Organic Yellow Squash
4 bell peppers (You can get them in packs of 3 and just add one) (Yellow, Red, Orange, Green)
1 Large Red Onion
1 piece of garlic
1 large pack of Baby Bella Mushrooms
1 large 1lb Pack of Organic Baby Spinach
1 pack of Asparagus
6 med Ziploc plastic containers
Small bag of Red potatoes
Bag of Brown or White Basmati rice


Wash everything thoroughly

1.
Start with the Zucchini and the Yellow Squash. Cut off ends.
Dice three zucchini and yellow squash up. Toss in 1st  & 6th Container.
Slice two zucchini and yellow squash up in 1/2in. slices. Quarter the slices. Toss in 2nd container.
Slice two zucchini and yellow squash up up in 1/2 slices. Toss in 3rd container.

2.
Take Yellow Bell pepper. Cut ends off. Rinse out seeds.  Quarter.
Take one quarter and dice up. Toss in 1st & 6th Container
Take 2nd & 3rd quarter. Slice in 1/2 slices. Toss in 2nd container
Take 4th quarter. Cut up in chunks. Toss in 3rd container.
Repeat on steps Red, Orange and Green Bell peppers.

3.
Cut Red Onion into Quarters.
Take 1st quarter, Dice and toss into 1st  & 6th Container.
Take 2nd quarter, Cut into 4 vertical slices. Toss in 2nd container.
Take 3rd quarter, Cut into chunks and separate layers. Toss into 3rd container.
Take 4th quarter, Dice and toss into 4th container

4.
Take Mushrooms, slice half of the package and dice half of package.
Toss some of dice mushrooms into 1st, 4th, 6th container.
Take some of slice mushrooms into 2nd & 3rd container.

5.
Break apart  garlic and dice 4 or 5 pieces and add to 4th container.

6.
Take Asparagus and cut off 1/2 in of ends. Toss into 5th container.

1st Container. Day 1
Saute in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add cooked veggies to cooked fish or rotisserie chicken, rice, potatoes

2nd Container. Day 2
Saute in Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Add cooked veggies to grilled chicken or tofu and rice

3rd Container. Day 3
Make kabobs in oven or grill. Add a meat.

4th Container. Day 4.
Make a Robust flavored spaghetti. Saute onions, garlic first in Extra Virgin Oil Olive. Add in diced veggies. Add GF Spaghetti sauce (Costco Brand, RAGU brand, etc- just read the label).  Cook ground turkey or ground meat in another skillet. Drain and add to veggie sauce.  Serve with cooked Gluten Free noodles.

5th Container. Day 5.
Heat your oven to 425. Season with Salt and Pepper and Extra Virgin Oil. Cook for 12 mins.  Serve with meat and starch.

6th Container.  5 Lunches:

Add a 2 or 3 handfuls of the baby spinach. One handful of the diced veggies from the 6th container. You can add in GF Nitrate free Deli meat or organic grilled chicken. Add a handful of cranberries. Add Walnuts, Almonds, or whatever nut of choice.  Add GF Salad dressing. You can repeat this for salads throughout the week. I do this for my hubby every day.


You can tweak this with GFCF desserts and breads but this should give you a little more practical ways of how to do it. Hope it helps. Please check out My Connolly Sample Meal for a Day link for Breakfast and other lunch options for your kiddos and yourself.