By: Andrea Westervelt

October starts in just a few days and today I’m sharing a printable meal calendar for a month of meal planning. I definitely like to plan my meals ahead. Although we shop often at farmers markets, I usually head there with some idea of what I am making, so I know what veggies I need or what prepared foods I’m looking for. I don’t plan ahead for the weekends as it seems our plans are always changing or we have some sort of family event. This also allows us to perhaps cook up a market find, or just keep it simple and have leftovers. Find a market near you using Farmspread.com!

October Meal Planning Calendar

Click here to download and print the calendar.

for Crockpot chicken tacos- i usually just pop some onions in the crockpot, top with the chicken, and then top with a Frontega sauce or any salsa
I made these zucchini boats a long time ago and want to try them out again, and zucchini are plentiful at the farmers market now
for pasta with vodka sauce: I will pick up a ready-made sauce at a farmers market or our local italian market- easy night!
I always cook salmon the same way: in the oven with this sauce
Our favorite farmers market has a local meat vendor, that always has chicken, pork, and ground beef. All the meat is sold sealed and frozen, so I stock up and just defrost before I’m ready to cook. Their italian sausage is great.
I also stock up on tomatoes when they are fresh at the market and make a giant batch of this tomato soup: https://foodess.com/creamy-tomato-soup/ My trick is to strain it after it cooks so it’s super smooth ala Campbells
salad bar is a favorite dinner: just wash and cut a bunch of veggies, grill some chicken and hard-boil some eggs. My husband and I put it together like a salad- but my kids just eat all the parts separately.
My kids say I make the best homemade pizza- ha ha! It’s just store-bought dough, sauce and cheese- sometimes with some farmers market veggies on top. Our meat vendor makes their own pepperoni that we like too!