September 2026

September 2026 Family Meal Plan — 5-Week Flexible Version

Notes

• **Leftover lunches:** Spiced Chickpea Stew, Creamy Spicy Tomato Beans and Greens, Sausage and Lentil Soup, Unstuffed Cabbage Skillet, and Pantry Tuna and White Bean Pasta all make enough for a next-day lunch — use one of these instead of cooking a separate lunch the day after they're on the dinner list.
• **Lunch focus:** dinners already cover concentrated protein and starch, so weekday lunches lean into food circle groups 2 & 3 (vegetables and fruit) with a lighter protein.
• **Breakfast pattern:** each week gets 1 savory special (Biscuits and Gravy / Potato Hash with Eggs, alternating) + 1 sweet special (Pancakes / French Toast, alternating) + 2 quick weekday options, cycling through the existing breakfast recipes for variety.
• Italian Picnic Heroes dropped from the lunch rotation — too much active effort and meat for a weekday lunch.
• Smoothie bowls dropped from lunches too — too cold for the season. They're still great as breakfast options if you want them back in that slot.
• **Ingredient overlap pass:** Weeks 2 and 4 pair Hummus and Veggie Wrap (lunch) with Gurke-Hummus-Cracker (Kita snack) — one tub of hummus and one cucumber covers both.
• **Kita snacks** are just the morning box — Kita covers Cozy's actual lunch.
• Swap anything freely — these are starting points, not a schedule.