Monthly Trim Healthy Mama Meal Plan – October
Update: Weekly shopping lists are up! Happy Autumn! This is an updated October Menu – a full Trim Healthy Mama meal plan – and this one includes a bonus! I have a shopping list for the whole month included with the menu (you can click on the recipe names on the menu to see the recipes. They aren't underlined, so you'll have to hover over the recipe name with your mouse to see the recipe linked).
You can scroll down to the bottom of this post to get the menu and monthly shopping list, but please read the notes below first! As always, I'll post weekly shopping lists here every Friday if you're a once-a-week shopper instead of once-a-month.
Week 1 Shopping List: October Days 1-7 Shopping List
Week 2 Shopping List: October Days 8-14 Week 2 Shopping List
Week 3 Shopping List: October Days 15-22 Week 3 Shopping List
Week 4 Shopping List: October Days 23-31 Week 4 Shopping List
If your tastes are a little different, or 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!
You can get the full menu with the monthly printable shopping list by scrolling to the bottom of the post! But please read the notes, first – they explain how this menu works and answer questions you may have. They also give important tips about the recipes on the menu.
October Menu Notes:
- You'll notice the note “Double and Freeze” next to some recipes. That's because I utilized my favorite method of freezer cooking, which is to double or triple a recipe while I'm cooking it on a weeknight and freeze one or two portions while we eat the other for dinner. If you do this at least once a week you'll have a full freezer sooner than you think. This is why you'll see a few dinners repeated – we are always lower on time and money as the month goes on, so it's great to have these meals frozen and ready to go for later in the month. But just in case you are the once-a-month kind of person, I have several freezer cooking sessions you can use if you'd prefer to get it all done at once.
- 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.
- The shopping list for week one is for days 1-7, week 2 is days 8-14, etc. That way you can start your week depending on when you normally do your grocery shopping.
- 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 don't like one of the veggies listed, just swap it with something you like better that works for the plan.
- The Trim Healthy Pancakes recipe can be found in the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook on page 259.
- I multiply the “Just Like Campbell's Tomato Soup” lunch recipe x 6 to make enough for me and the kids. The correct ingredient amounts are on the weekly shopping list.
- For Day 3 – if you brown ALL of the ground beef, you can reserve and use the second half of the meat for a quick dinner on day 5.
- For Day 5 – Roast a spaghetti squash (instructions here), or (my favorite method) cook in an instant pot (instructions here); heat canned or jarred spaghetti sauce and stir in the cooked ground beef until heated through. Serve like spaghetti with meat sauce. If you aren't a fan of spaghetti squash, you could sub zucchini noodles or Dreamfields pasta (if you're not gluten-free).
- For Day 20 – When you double and freeze the Coconut Thai Chicken, please do not add the Not-Naughty or Shirataki Noodles before you freeze it. Save the package and add them when it's time to eat.
- For Day 22 – Use your family's favorite taco recipe, or try Taco Stack Ups.
**You can find links to all of the ingredients and resources I used for this menu on my Resources Page.** This post is linked up at OrgJunkie's Menu Plan Monday.
It seems that it's way easier for you if I email the menu directly to you, instead of dealing with some of the download issues we've had in the past, so you can fill in the fields below and I'll send it right over!
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Thank you for sharing all your hard work.
FYI, several of your links are wrong, starting with dinner #5. They all want to take me to the Chicken & Black Bean Salad recipe. Then further down several links are all for the homemade chicken bone broth, not the recipes listed.
I fixed it, thanks for letting me know! Sorry!
Thanks for sharing your menu! I needed some new ideas for meals.
So eager to make these for October. Do you know when you’ll have the shopping lists? Thanks bunches!
I’m working on it! I hope to have it up in a few days!
Im very excited to dive into this with more detail. It looks like a lot of hard work went into your meal planning. I have been using myhealthymealplan.com for about a month and they have great recipes too. As a family, we prefer to do the gluten-free plan.
My download does not have recipe links.
I’m sorry! I just double checked the PDF and they are still working. There is not a link for every single recipe. When I open it, I have to hover over the meal names with my mouse. When there isn’t a link,that means it’s a simple recipe that doesn’t need a link (you can use a family favorite or a Pinterest recipe) or that it’s from the cookbook. If you still don’t see anything, you may want to try downloading it again.
I’m having a hard time figuring out how many this serves for breakfast. Lunch. And dinners. Can you tell me please?
Sure! All of the menus feed 6-8. You can add extra sides for a bigger family, or half the recipes for a smaller family (or have lots of leftovers!).
Thank you so much for your hard work, and sharing with us!!
Thanks Martha! 🙂
Where is the link to the menu? 🙂
If you scroll to the bottom, you’ll see where you enter your email address and I’ll send it right to you. 🙂
But if we already receive you emails….
You won’t get sent double emails, don’t worry! If you put your email address in, when you click to confirm it will download the menu automatically. Sorry if it seems confusing! Doing it this way has meant that more people are able to download without crashing the website.
I can’t figure out how to download?
If you scroll to the bottom, you’ll see where you enter your email address and I’ll send it right to you. 🙂
Jen, the menu sent to us does not have clickable links for the (non-THM book) recipes. Will those be available?
Disregard – I see some are clickable. Oops!
Yes, sorry, I put a note about that on the post. The underlines didn’t show up, but if you hover over the recipe name with your mouse you should be able to click on it.
I am new to this stuff and love that you have so many different things to offer..is there anyway you could send me a link to the best place to buy the cook book?
I have an affiliate link here on my Resources Page – I think the book’s about $16 right now and that’s the best price I’ve seen so far.
Thank you Jen for sharing your menus, I have been very discouraged I just can’t seem to get the hang of the THM concept. I find this to be most helpful. Thanks again God bless you and yours.
Thanks Peggy! If you have trouble, I really recommend the THM Facebook groups. The admins there are so helpful!
What if we already receive your emails? How do we get the menu?
Hi Lisa! If you enter your email address, you’ll get the download in your inbox. Entering your email address won’t result in double emails from me or anything – I just can’t send the download to everyone on my list automatically or I get reported for spam. I hope it’s not too inconvenient, I’m trying to make it so that everyone who wants the menu can download it. Thanks!
I appreciate your sharing all your hard work with us.
Thank you
Thanks Elizabeth! I’m glad it’s helpful for you!
I’m confused. The email for October Menus said to click the link to download and it brings you here. I scroll all the way down and it only has a place to put your email. But you already have my email. Where do I get the October Menu? Help! Thanks for all you do to help us mama’s out!!
Hi Angie! In order to get the menu to everyone who wants it, the best way right now is for me to email it to everyone. If you already get my emails (thanks for signing up, by the way!), if you don’t mind just putting your email in again so I know you want the menu, I’ll send it right over. You won’t get two sets of emails from me or anything, this way I can just make sure I’m not sending downloads to people who don’t want them. I hope that makes sense!
Thank you!! It does!
Thank you for blessing us with sharing your menus for free!! May the Lord bless you abundantly for your heart and multiply it back to you and your family!!
Thank you so much for your encouragement, Michelle! I’m so glad this is helpful for you!
Thank you very much. This is a blessing.
I am really impressed by the amount of thought and work you have put into this. It is a Godsend for many of us who are bamboozled when it comes to creating a month’s worth of recipes…and a shopping list to boot! Thanks so much from someone who is just gearing up to begin THM. I have been reading the books and have yet to get through them all, but am ready and determined to begin my journey to a really healthy body and way of life. Many thanks!
Thanks for the kind words, Patricia! I’ve gotten in and out of my THM journey a few times, but I always feel much better when I stick with it. I’m so glad this is helpful for you!
hi first of all thank you so much for doing this. second..i only seem to see the shopping list and meal names. I can’t seem to find what recipes i will be making for the first week. i keep looking but can’t find it. thanks
Hi Penny! If you hover your mouse over the recipe name on the pdf, you’ll see that it’s linked and you can click to go to the recipe. 🙂 You can re-read the notes on the blog post to see more directions and instructions, and information about the few recipes that don’t have links. Thanks!
HI jen sorry to keep bothering you. I have the shopping list and i see the links for the recipes. what i don’t have is the menu. so i have the shopping list for the first week but i don’t know what recipes the list is for. Does that make sense…like day 1 chicken and dumplings, day 2 veggie soup..etc. thank you for all the help.
Hi Penny, it sounds like you didn’t download the menu. The shopping list for week 1 goes with the October menu.
I just don’t think we are understanding each other…I have both downloads. Neither tells you which meals to .aleisha on which days. Thanks for the help anyways.
Hi Penny. The October Menu says “Dinners” and has 31 dinners listed. The shopping list gives the ingredients that go with each one of those numbered dinners. I’m just not sure where the confusion is; I’m sorry.
Thank you so much for the month menu for THM. I need some structure for our homeschool family of 7 if I’m going to be successful at THM. I do have a question…I downloaded the menu, but there is no link to the recipes (at least not on the downloaded pdf?) Do I search them on your site?
I’m sorry it looks confusing! The links are there, just hover your mouse over the meal name and click. The lines disappeared on the pdf, but I promise the links are still there!
Thanks so much for your hard work! I’ll definitely be using part of this menu! Just FYI, the link for Chicken Divan goes to THM tips page… I haven’t gone through all the links yet but that was the only one I found that wasn’t right.
Thanks Misty! I just double-checked, and it worked for me and a friend that I asked to check, so maybe it was a weird glitch! Here’s the link for you – thanks for letting me know about a potential problem! https://thewellplannedkitchen.com/2015/08/21/low-carb-chicken-divan-casserole
I really like the idea of a monthly meal plan. Thank you for all of your hard work putting one together. Ive entered my email address 3 times though, and it’s still not sending me anything. Would you mind checking it? Thank you!
Hi, Erin, it looks like it was sent a few times – do you mind checking your spam folder? If you still don’t have it, I can try switching email accounts and send it from another one.
I received it. Thank you so much!
The link for the meal plan is not showing up for me. Can you please email it to me?
Thank you!
I made sure I sent it – please let me know if you don’t get it!
This is wonderful, once again. I’ve been recommending you to my THM friends! Thank you sooo much for your hard work!
I just completed the 21 day no soda. I am Dr. Pepper free!! Thanks for your help. I love your websites and the monthly menus are a blessing. 🙂
Yay, congrats, Susan! I’m so excited for you! I feel SO much better now that I quit soda! Thanks for your encouraging words! 🙂
I can’t seem to see the listed menu with the clickable links? Am I missing something? I’m signed up already and loved the past menus.
Hi Jessica! Did you enter your email address in the box at the bottom for the October menu? If you did, it will show up in your email inbox.
How can I access this menu? I submitted my email address over a week ago and also sent a couple emails, and still haven’t received anything in my email. Please help! Thanks in advance!
Hi Brooke! I saw your email and replied to it, could I be blocked? Or going to your spam? I’ll go try to send another one right now. I’m sorry I’m not getting this to you; I’m not sure what the problem is!
Dear Jen,
Thank you so much for the meal plans and shopping list!! They are so helpful!! I hope the underlined recipe will return. I use my ipad and for some reason it doesn’t always pull up links so easily.
Again, i really am grateful for your work and how you so easily share.
Thank you!!
Thanks, Crystal, I had some computer glitches, but I’m working on it!
Are these recipes dairy free too? Are they easy to convert if not?
Hi! My March and April menus are dairy free. Other menus can be converted or adapted. Hope that helps!
Thanks for including the shopping list. I am way more likely to follow the plan if this step is done. Also your xtra tips about when to add things when freezing are super helpful.. Overall great information, thanks for sharing