A 1950s Meal Plan for October

September killed my meal planning y’all. I mean it happens every year, so you’d think I’d get used to it, but I never do. Every back-to-school, my Betty Crocker Good and Easy Cookbook gets way more use than it should in a month. Anyway, in an effort to get back on track, I am making a month of vintage menus to use as a 1950s meal plan for October. Very 50s housewife, all this planning ahead for a whole month!

This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive, at no additional cost to you, a small commission. Find out more on my Disclosures page, and thank you so much for your support!

50s Dinner Menus for October 1st to 4th

This first week is a short week, so I only have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday dinners. It’s a bit chilly but warm during the day, so we aren’t into full-on cold-weather meals yet.

For my 1950s meal plan for October, the menus are coming from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book — mostly. Pizza night, though, is my husband’s specialty and his request.

As a 50s housewife, I like to try to pay special attention to his requests and honor them as often as possible. It’s one way of showing that I listen to him and respect his wishes. And by trying to listen for what he wants, I can try to pay special attention to those things as a way of showing how much I adore him.

October 1

• Cranberry juice
• Liver with bacon
• Creamed potatoes
• Fried onions
• Golden corn bread
• Frozen pear salad
• Walnut gingerbread

October 2

• Tomato juice
• Stewed chicken and dumplings
• Buttered beets
• Whole-wheat bread and butter
• Jellied vegetable salad
• Pineapple slice with chocolate chip cookies

October 3

• Relish tray
• Pizza (husband’s pizza night, every Saturday)
• Tossed salad
• Plain gelatin with custard sauce

October 4 (Sunday Dinner)

• Chilled fruit juice
• Pot roast
• Mashed potatoes
• Brussels sprouts, celery, and radishes
• Hot rolls
• Peach and cream cheese salad
• Chocolate cream pie

50s Dinner Menus for October 5th to 11th

Mostly, my 1950s meal plan comes from my taste heritage, which is California Mid-Century Modern Cusine meets white-bread Americana. However, our “Taco Tuesday” is actually all traditional New Mexican recipes from a vintage cookbook that belonged to my grandmother. My husband grew up with this food, and I make sure that our children eat it regularly, to remind them of their roots. It’s another of those 50s housewife husband-pleasing things.

October 5

• Tomato and sauerkraut juice
• Pork chops with celery curls
• Stuffed baked potatoes
• Corn oysters
• Hard rolls
• Frozen pear salad
• Crumb cake

October 6

• Chips and salsa
• Carne adovada with sour cream
• Frijoles
• Quelites con cebolla
• Tortillas
• Relish tray
• Flan

October 7

• Onion soup
• Meatballs in gravy
• Cottage potatoes
• Baked squash
• Bread and butter
• Tomato aspic
• Coconut cake

October 8

• Cranberry juice
• Roast pork with spiced peaches
• Savory rice
• Asparagus a la king
• Corn bread
• Coleslaw
• Pumpkin pie

October 9

• Chilled fruit juice
• Chicken pot pie with potatoes, carrots, and peas
• Hot biscuits with strawberry jam
• Pineapple salad
• Chocolate pudding and cookies

October 10

• Relish tray
• Pizza (husband’s pizza night, every Saturday)
• Tossed salad
• Plain gelatin with custard sauce

October 11 (Sunday Dinner)

• Clear soup
• Corned beef with mustard sauce
• Boiled potatoes
• Boiled carrots and cabbage wedges
• Poppyseed rolls
• Black cherry salad
• Cheesecake with raspberry sauce

50s Dinner Menus for October 12th to 18th

October 12th is Columbus Day. Other than that, you’ll notice that Taco Tuesday and Pizza Night reoccur every week in the 1950s meal plan. Mostly, that’s because as a 50s housewife, I am essentially planning for my kids to have food nostalgia about eating a couple of home-cooked favorite meals every week. It’s a good kind of memory.

October 12 (Columbus Day)

• Relish tray
• Italian spaghetti with meatballs
• Garlic-butter bread
• Tossed salad
• Neapolitan ice cream with wafer cookies

October 13

• Chips and salsa
• Carne adovada with sour cream
• Frijoles
• Quelites con cebolla
• Tortillas
• Relish tray
• Flan

October 14

• Apricot juice
• Meat loaf with beet pickles
• Mashed potatoes
• Green beans
• Bread and butter
• Green salad bowl
• Strawberry bavarian

October 15

• French onion soup
• Roast chicken with giblet gravy
• Mashed potatoes
• Carrots and peas
• Cornmeal rolls
• Sunshine salad
• Boston cream pie

October 16

• Fruit cocktail
• Swiss steak with mushrooms
• Potatoes au gratin
• Green beans almondine
• Parker house rolls with peach jam
• Cottage cheese salad
• Apple pie

October 17

• Relish tray
• Pizza (husband’s pizza night, every Saturday)
• Tossed salad
• Plain gelatin with custard sauce

October 18 (Sunday Dinner)

• Pineapple juice
• Baked ham
• Au gratin potatoes
• Asparagus
• Stuffed onions
• Hot rolls
• Cinnamon apple salad
• Lady Baltimore cake

50s Dinner Menus for October 19th to 25th

This week, there is a small boy’s birthday, so the menu for Thursday is a simple child’s birthday party menu. Otherwise, my 1950s meal plan stays about the same from week to week. Mostly because as a 50s housewife, I do need my meals to be easy, without requiring too much brainpower. So you will see that most of these meals follow very similar patterns. And most of the recipes I don’t even bother to look up anymore since I’ve made them so often.

October 19

• Grapefruit
• Beef stew with potatoes, carrots, onions, and green chile
• Hot biscuits
• Green salad bowl
• Peach cobbler

October 20

• Chips and salsa
• Carne adovada with sour cream
• Frijoles
• Quelites con cebolla
• Tortillas
• Relish tray
• Flan

October 21

• Fruit juice
• Heart with mushroom stuffing
• Mashed potatoes
• Swiss chard
• Hot rolls
• Carrot, raisin, and nut salad
• Butterscotch tarts

October 22 (Big Top Supper)

• Hot dogs with “the works”
• Baked beans in a circus pot
• Pink lemonade
• Carnival angel cake

October 23

• Corn soup
• Pork chops
• Creamed potatoes
• Buttered carrots
• Whole-wheat bread and butter
• Waldorf salad
• Cottage pudding

October 24

• Relish tray
• Pizza (husband’s pizza night, every Saturday)
• Tossed salad
• Plain gelatin with custard sauce

October 25

• Bouillon
• Roast beef au jus
• Baked potatoes
• Broccoli
• Baked squash
• Butterflake rolls
• 24-hour-salad
• Devil’s food cake

50s Dinner Menus for October 26th to 31st

Let’s get spooky! The last week of October is another short week: Monday to Saturdaay. And Saturday is Halloween! It goes without saying that in any 1950s meal plan for OCTOBER, I am, absolutely, going to include a vintage Halloween menu. After all, Halloween is my husband’s favorite holiday!

And, since I AM a modern-day 50s housewife, I am going to make sure that I decorate the house and have a few vintage party games ready for a 1950s Halloween party. After all, a ’50s housewife must keep up her hostess game. ’50s Halloween, here I come!

October 26

• Grapefruit
• Beef stew with potatoes, carrots, onions, and green chile
• Hot biscuits
• Green salad bowl
• Peach cobbler

October 27

• Chips and salsa
• Carne adovada with sour cream
• Frijoles
• Quelites con cebolla
• Tortillas
• Relish tray
• Flan

October 28

• Apricot juice
• Cheeseburger-stuffed zucchini
• Savory rice
• Whole kernel corn
• Hot rolls
• Triple tossup salad
• Cherry pie

October 29

• Cranberry juice
• Liver with bacon
• Creamed potatoes
• Fried onions
• Golden corn bread
• Frozen pear salad
• Walnut gingerbread

October 30

• Apricot juice
• Tuna casserole
• Swiss chard
• Butterhorn rolls and gherkins
• Tomato aspic
• Orange sponge cake

October 31st (Halloween)

Halloween Supper

• Witches’ cauldron soup (pumpkin)
• Goblin franks
• Relish tray
• Halloween punch
• Ice cream jack-o’-lanterns
• Halloween cookies (decorated by kids)

Halloween Treats

• Popcorn balls
• Cocoa marshmallow bars
• Doughnuts
• Hot cider with cinnamon stick stirrers
• Vintage treat boxes filled old-fashioned Halloween candy

1950s Meal Plan for October Breakfasts and Lunches

Breakfast and lunch are generally lighter meals during the week, and heavier on the weekends. Then, on Sunday, we have an early afternoon dinner, and eat pottage or nursery food for Sunday supper. The 50s breakfast and lunch menus that I am using in my October 1950s meal plan are in the resource library.