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August Menu for THM

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Full 31 Day family menu that works for THM - with free shopping lists!

August is a time of renewal around our house. We reorganize our homeschool space, do some deep cleaning, and identify character issues that need work. Personally, I use August as a time of reflection, and try to work on areas where I need more discipline – one of which is my diet!

I revamped one of my earliest Trim Healthy Mama menus this month, trying to get back to basics. Many of these recipes are from the original Trim Healthy Mama book or the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook (if you don't have one or both of these, try Pinterest for substitutions, just make sure the substitute falls into the THM guidelines). This is a very basic THM menu, and requires some recipe doubling and freezing at the beginning of the month, because by the end of the month our homeschool year will be in full swing and I'll need all of the spare time I can get!

Resources I Use:

Maybe August isn't a busy month for you, or maybe your tastes are a little different. If this menu doesn't appeal to you, I have months and months of other menus available here

After many requests, I went back to the way I used to do the menus – 31 meals that you can make when it fits your family. This makes it much more customizable to your eating habits and cooking style – just choose what you want, and go from there! This menu planning style goes really well with a Menu Board – you might want to try that out if you find you have food go bad before you can get to it or if you want to try a really efficient way to meal plan that takes very little time. I worked really hard to put together a clean, easy-to-read and follow menu and shopping list to make your shopping experience even better. I hope it works well for you!

Here are your notes (these are important!), and below these notes you’ll find the free printable downloads:

  • If you’re interested in eating a healthy, frugal diet but you don’t know what the “S and E” letters next to the meal names are, don’t worry! Anyone can benefit from this healthy menu. Those letters are for the Trim Healthy Mama diet (which I highly recommend!), and if you’re interested, you can learn more about it in the Trim Healthy Mama book or with one of my free resources. 
  • MOST IMPORTANT if you follow Trim Healthy Mama: The clickable recipe links in the menu may not be THM-friendly as written. PLEASE make sure that you read the notes next to the recipe link that make each recipe THM-compliant.
  • As always, this menu is gluten-free.
  • Each week, I’ll put up a new post with the printable shopping lists. You can sign up in the white section at the top of this page to get updates so you don’t miss out!
  • If there’s no clickable recipe link, that means it’s super simple and you can make it to your liking. If, for example, you don’t know how long to cook chicken thighs, you can just season them to your liking and cook them the way you normally do, or search for instructions online. But I try to include some instruction with each meal idea to make it simple. Lots of the breakfasts for this month are pretty easy, like scrambled eggs, and don’t include instructions.
  • As always, please note that my menu planning system includes repeating breakfasts, lunches, and snacks throughout the month for simplicity. That means there are lists of breakfasts, lunches, and a handful of snacks included on this menu. My kids and I enjoy the routine of knowing that on Monday we will be eating a certain thing for breakfast and a certain thing for lunch – it definitely saves time in the kitchen!
  • Some of the dinners filled us up with just the entree alone, but it just might be us – feel free to add a side salad or round out your meals as desired.
  • Remember that THM is SO ADAPTABLE! You may need to swap out E for S, or S for E, or switch things up during the week. Don’t be afraid to mix up your fuel types and keep your body guessing!
  • This menu and the shopping lists that go with it feed my family of 7, but my oldest is 12. If you have bigger kids, or big eaters, you may want to add more protein, rice, and veggies to your shopping list. It doesn’t hurt the recipes to add an extra chicken breast or 1/2 lb of ground beef to make a meal stretch, and you can always add extra rice or veggies or salads as side dishes for the kids. When money’s tight, I’ll grab a bag of potatoes and give the kids a baked potato lunch when I’m eating a salad, or serve them as dinner sides that I avoid.
  • If you have a smaller family you may want to make the meals as directed but freeze half (if it’s freezable), or just eat the leftovers for lunch.
  • If you already need these ingredients and want to help keep WorkingatHomeschool.com running, using my affiliate links here doesn’t cost you any extra and definitely helps me out! You can check out my Resources Page to see where I buy my favorites.

Here is the list of monthly meals, with clickable recipe links:

Printable August Menu

Week 1:

Printable Shopping List for Week 1

Week 2:

Printable Shopping List for Week 2

Week 3:

Printable Shopping List for Week 3

Weeks 4 & 5:

Printable Shopping List for Weeks 4 & 5

 

Shared at OrgJunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday

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15 Comments

  1. I’m not sure I’m a fan of blue cheese. 🙂 Can I use Feta instead in the Cobb Salad on Day 3? BTW, I love your menus, I have found quite a few new recipes that are THM and family approved. Thank you!

    1. My only issue with feta is that I use ranch on the salad, and I don’t think the two go together very well. You could definitely use feta, but I’d recommend a different dressing like a vinaigrette. Or I use cheddar sometimes. Really, as long as it’s on the THM plan and fits your tastes any cheese will work!

  2. I just wanted to tell you i love the new format & this months’ menu has some great ideas on it! Thanks for making this available!

    1. That’s so encouraging, thanks! I appreciate the feedback on the menu formats! It’s hard to know what will be the most useful.

  3. I’m new to THM. Just finishing reading the book. I’vera.av been slowly piecing together some meals to get started. I am hopeful to dive in next week. Looking at meal plans already made are very helpful to my hectic life. Could you go over your format for meal plan. On the grocery list where it specifies the day, is that in reference to the dinner listed? The book reminds me often to not get overwhelmed…but as the book is coming to a close, I feel the overwhelm of it all taking over = )

    Thanks!

    1. Yes, on the shopping list if it says (day 1), that means that the ingredient listed there goes with the meal listed on day 1. I hope that helps! THM can seem overwhelming at first, but once you get it, it becomes second-nature.

  4. I downloaded the first week and I can’t open it. What program do I use to open it up? Thanks.

    1. I’m sorry you’re having trouble, Linda! It’s a PDF file, so Adobe Reader, Acrobat, or any other program that can open PDFs will work.

  5. Once again, you’re saving me so much time and crazy, especially with back-to-homeschool time upon us! THANK YOU!!!! We’ve found some new family favorites because of your amazing meal plans. I appreciate you & all your hard work!!!

  6. Thanks so much Jen. You’re helping me get back on track, and back into meal planning to make sure a) we don’t keep throwing food out and b) I get back to my goal weight again. You’re another gift from God, and I appreciate everything you do to make my life easier!

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