June brings us the end of the school year, and as always I am torn. I love having days and days to spend with my kids, without the pressures of school obligations. I love running off to the park or the beach, or crafting something, or making ice cream. I do not love the sibling rivalry or the screaming.
June also brings the beginning of weather that’s too hot for cooking. Too hawt. I have a couple tricks for these days, like using the crockpot on the porch, or cooking my protein late the night before and in bulk.
Ideas and resources for menu planning in June, many seasonal winter and real food recipes. Very simple ingredients, from scratch. As always, these are all frugal recipes intended for a tight budget. Real food/from scratch/traditional diet/nutrient dense/whole food/blah blah blah. My monthly meal plans use an alternative meal planning method, recipes organized into tiers based on how perishable the ingredients are, not sorted into particular days.
*Attention real food purists/whole foodies – the recipes I link/pin are all from scratch, but some of them you may have to make substitutions or modifications. For example, I link recipes that have sugar, but you can substitute whatever your favorite sweetener is.
*Don’t forget to read about how I meal plan at Frugal, Flexible Monthly Menu Planning!*
In this post: Seasonal Produce ~ Recipes ~ Download PDF ~ Other Plans ~ Pinterest Boards
We like to do snacks, crafts, and activities based on weird holidays. Every day is an excuse to celebrate something. Offbeat holidays in June include: National Rocky Road Day (2), National Donut Day (6), National Jerky Day (12), National Eat Your Veggies Day (17), International Picnic Day (18), International Sushi Day (18), Summer Solstice (21), National Onion Rings Day (22), International Fairy Day (24), and National Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day (July 1).
Seasonal produce for June includes:
Apricots
Beets
Blueberries
Cherries
Corn
Green beans
Kiwi
Peaches
Peas
Nectarines
Strawberries
Watermelon
Yellow/summer squash
Epicurious Seasonal produce maps by state
CUESA Seasonal vegetables by month
Use my custom Google search to scan over 150 sites
for real food recipes for your meal plan.
Recipes from the June Meal Plan (organized by how perishable ingredients are)
Tier 1/Most Perishable (ie cukes, lettuce, mushrooms, peas, spinach, tomatoes)
Chinese Chicken Salad from And Love It Too peas, celery
Corn Fritters with Spicy Zucchini Salsa from Epicurious cherry tomatoes, zukes, jalapeno
Curry Chicken Wraps with Nectarine Chutney from Cooking Light arugula, cukes, nectarines
Greek-Style Squash from Taste of Home squash, tomato, zuke
Green Pea Samosas from Food & Wine jalapeno, peas
Laarb-inspired Summer Salad from Eat Recycle Repeat cukes peppers
Light Summer Salad from Cookie and Kate spinach, strawberries
Pea Tortilla with Mint and Yogurt from Food & Wine make ahead peas
Pork Fajitas with Smoky Cherry Salsa from Eating Well bell pepper, cherries
Roasted Corn and Ricotta Enchiladas with Chipotle Tomato Sauce from Naturally Ella tomatoes
Sweet Summer Quinoa and Black Bean Power Wraps from Erica’s Recipes spinach
Toasted Chickpea and Apricot Salad from Cooking Light arugula, apricot
Tomato Florentine Soup from Good Life Eats spinach
Wild Salmon Vegetable Salad with Lemon Miso Dressing from A Harmony Healing cukes, romaine
Tier 2/Less Perishable (ie beets, cabbage, corn, green beans, peppers, scallion, yellow/summer squash)
Easy Crock-pot Zucchini Lasagna from Thank Your Body zukes
Fettuccine with Asparagus, Beet Green Pesto, and Poached Egg from Epicurious asparagus, beet greens
Sweet Summer Corn Soup from Epicurious bell pepper, corn
Tier 3/Pantry or Make It Whenever (ie carrot, celery, onion)
Creamy Vegetarian Enchilada Pasta from Budget Bytes
Curried Chicken and Rice Soup from Food Network
Vegetable Tamale Pies from A Couple Cooks
Download PDF. This has the links in the order listed above. Keep in mind I don’t limit myself to particular days, so this is not in order by date. Save it to your desktop and you will always have a quick reference when you’re hunting dinner, you probably have the ingredients for Tier 3 recipes at this very moment!
Other June Food Meal Plans
Bi-Weekly Whole Food Meal Plan May 24–June 6 from The Better Mom
Weekly Meal Plan by Jo-Lynne Shane
Weekly Meal Plan by Real Food Whole Life
Whole Foods Freezer Meal Plan from Once a Month Meals
June Meal Plan Pinterest Boards:
Meal Plan June (just look at all that tastiness!)
Recipes to Try Spring
Recipes to Try Summer
In this post: Seasonal Produce ~ Recipes ~ Download PDF ~ Other Plans ~ Pinterest Boards
How do you reduce waste and stretch the food you have?
*Also see our
We hope you enjoyed our June Real Food Monthly Menu Plan post for seasonal eating
Shared with Clever Chicks Blog Hop, Family Fun Friday, Farmgirl Friday, Fat Tuesday, Frugal Family Linky, Good Tips Tuesday, Happy Home Life, Healthy, Happy, Green & Natural, Homemaking Linkup, Inspire Me Wednesday, Mostly Homemade Mondays, Motivation Monday, Our Simple Homestead, Real Food Friday, Thank Goodness It’s Monday, Wonderful Wednesday
Photo credits: General store interior from Moundville Alabama from C Thomas Anderson on Flickr
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Great post! I LOVE the seasonal produce guide. That is so helpful to me since I an a beginner when it comes to understanding natural food cycles (but I’m learning). I will have to try a few of those recipes. I am sucker for a good curry 😉
The good news is you don’t have to learn too much. If it’s on sale in the produce section it’s probably in season. Grab all those things and cook them.
Hi Melissa,
Healthy and delicious food plans like this one make life so much easier for us! IYou put so much effort into this plan and itis an invaluable resource. am delighted that you shared your fabulous June Real Food Meal Plan with us on the Healthy Happy Green and Natural Party Blog Hop. I appreciate it. I’m pinning and sharing.
I am happy to come back to your hop, thanks for hosting!
Hi Melissa,
Great post. Thanks for all the valuable information you have provided. Looks like some great recipes and I love the seasonal produce guide. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & Twitted.
Thanks for visiting! I love seasonal veggies.
I love this post and followed the links to your old post and to theStoneSoup.com — love, love it!. I meal plan about a week at a time and it is flexible. We eat perishables first too and have to plan around kids’ activities in the evening. I used to plan a month at a time. When my husband first started having chronic GI problems we couldn’t plan more than a few days at a time so that broke me of the habit. He is doing better now so I might move in that direction again. It made shopping easier (and more cost effective).
Good news: this post has been selected by Family Fun Friday as a featured post! Stop by brittalafont.com (recipe hostess) later today to grab your “I was featured” button. Already pinned it!
Woo hoo! Thank you! Meal planning is really about doing what works best for your family, it is so individualized.
I appreciate it. I’m pinning and sharing.thanks so much!