My family-friendly meal plan for November is here to help you serve up quick, easy, and healthy meals to everyone in the house. I hope you find lots of inspiration for fall recipes to make, especially as the holidays draw closer and life inevitably speeds up!
Fall Recipes
Fall RecipesI chose these recipes with a seasonal perspective and tried to include lots of produce that you’ll be seeing at your stores. And since I know that not every family will like the same things, I tried to offer variety too. With any of these meals, I recommend offering 1-2 simple sides such as fruit, fresh veggies, crackers, or cheese if you are at all worried that your kids won’t like the main dish. That way, they have “safe” foods on the table and you don’t need to get up to make a different meal!
Easy Meal Rotation
Easy Meal RotationI do my meal plans using the idea of a rotation where you use general categories every other week to reduce decision fatigue and also give the kids a chance to see foods regularly to help them learn to like the. Above here is our rough meal plan for this month. Yes, really, THIS IS IT. I have two options for breakfast and dinner that we can choose from—I usually alternate each week—then a set rotation of lunch ideas. I know this will be a busy/crazy/anxiety filled month with the election and Thanksgiving, so I’m streamlining to help save (some of) my sanity.
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This allows me to the number of decisions I need to make since I’m starting with narrow categories— but still have flexibility, variety, and spontaneity with all of the choices available within a category. (Because there are a million pasta recipes we could have on pasta night, for example, which is great since my kids generally like pasta!)
TIP: Download a printable pdf of this meal rotation in my Free Resource Library.
November Week 1
November Week 1Add fruit or an easy vegetable recipe as a side dish to any of these recipes. I usually use the homemade ideas for breakfast, lunch, and snack for more than one day each week (a full batch will likely make plenty) to reduce the overall amount of cooking.
BREAKFAST IDEAS
- Apple Oatmeal
- Healthy Pumpkin Bars
- Mashed Sweet Potato with Scrambled Eggs
LUNCH IDEAS
SNACK IDEAS
DINNER IDEAS
- Salmon Cakes with rolls and peas
- Quick Butternut Squash Pasta
- Slow Cooker Burritos with Beef and Veggies
- 30-Minute Lentil Soup with Cornbread Muffins
- Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese
- Pizza Pockets (or takeout pizza!)
November Week 2
November Week 2Try an easy vegetable for lunch to add a simple side to the midday meal. And check out my favorite store bought snacks to round things out.
BREAKFAST IDEAS
LUNCH IDEAS
SNACK IDEAS
DINNER IDEAS
- Baked Chicken Meatballs with Sweet Potato, buttered noodles or rice with peas
- Instant Pot Spaghetti
- Vegetarian Bean Quesadillas
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Cheese and Crackers
- Sheet Pan Tofu Teriyaki with Sweet Potato and Broccoli
November Week 3
November Week 3You can make a double batch of the meatballs and save them for future easy dinners or lunches.
BREAKFAST IDEAS
LUNCH IDEAS
Snack Ideas
Dinner Ideas
- Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup
- Roasted Veggie Enchiladas
- Sausage Meatball sandwiches
- Baked Chicken Nuggets with a favorite grain and Broccoli
- Sheet Pan Shrimp Fajitas
November Week 4
November Week 4This is Thanksgiving week, so take all of the shortcuts you need to make the holiday as low stress as possible! So if you don’t want to cook anything else that week, embrace it and ignore these other ideas! (Though maybe freeze your leftover pumpkin puree to bake with later on:)
Breakfast Ideas
Lunch Ideas
Snack Ideas
Dinner Ideas
TIP: Try my Easy Thanksgiving Recipes including Cranberry Sauce, Butternut Squash Pie, Cornbread Muffins, Sweet Potato Cake, and Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes.
I love the meal plan posts. I use them most for breakfast and lunch, and sub in well loved dinner ideas. Tonight we did try the beef and veg burritos. My picky husband liked them, and said he would eat again. My daughter will have to see it a few times, but I’m optimistic. Thanks for what you do!
What would a snack lunch consist of? I thought I seen a post about it but I can’t find it! Also love all your recipes and posts. Thank you for sharing .
You can see some ideas here. Thanks!
Is there a way to print the rotation plan?
I love everything that you post!!! Easy ideas. Also very healthy and affordable!! Thank you so much!
I’m so glad!