It Works!
Meal plans. Some people love 'em. Others hate 'em. Me? I'm not a lover or a hater of meal planning. Rather I'm on the side of they work, they save money and food, so...they get to stay in the household rhythm. Truth be told, I really don't like doing them because I rarely, if ever, follow them exactly perxactly. For someone who is trying not to be perfectionistic, that is an extremely challenging reality. Through the years I have tried many different plans. Few, if any, have worked well. Finally, I quit trying to use someone else's plan and quietly observed myself to create a plan/method that works for me in the current season.
Money, food, and time seem to stretch much further when meal planning is used, and I definitely need to stretch all three, especially time. A quick search through Google or Pinterest reveal many different ideas about meal planning. We have shared about a few of them here on the blog throughout the years. While every method worked somewhat, none worked well. I needed something that would work well. I simply don't have time for anything that doesn't work well in my current season of homemaking. There are too many new things going on for a breakdown in the daily household rhythm.
After watching myself and paying attention to how I think and move, I finally started experimenting with a few different meal planning lists. Once I quit being overwhelmed by all of the "rules" and "tips" of others, I was able to settle down and move into my own natural flow. For me, I do two weeks at a time and try to stick with simple favorites for the majority of meals and a couple new or more expensive ones for a few. Our family is home for all three meals most every day so my planning is a 3 meal, 7 day a week, two week spread. I also quit criticizing myself for failing to use cute printouts and embraced the old-school method of paper and pen, doodles included.
As I jot down possible meals, I keep a look out for ways to cook once and eat twice. For instance, if we are having loaded baked potatoes, I will cook double amounts of toppings and use the leftovers in a soup or casserole later on in the week. Chili meat, cheese, and beans make a warming soup with the addition of tomato juice and extra spices. It also provides a quick, delicious supper following a full day of schooling and work.
This week, the leftover chicken meat from Monday's chicken and rice was tossed in with the cheese and beans in a chicken tortilla soup. Yesterday's chili meat can be used in tacos, nachos, quesadillas, or enchiladas sometime in the next few days. When baking potatoes for yesterday's supper, extras were tossed in the oven so we could have fried potatoes this morning for breakfast. Polish sausages leftover from an earlier lunch will become a simple yet hearty soup for supper tomorrow when roasted with red potatoes, red peppers, and basil in the oven before being stirred into cream and baked a little bit longer.
Leftovers from lunch and supper can be turned into breakfast dishes that help get us out of the ham or bacon and eggs rut we tend to fall in. Leftover meats can be diced up and used in hash, scrambles, burritos, or quesadillas with scrambled eggs and cheese for breakfasts. For those eaters who don't care to eat certain foods, there is usually one extra pizza leftover on pizza night. It is so convenient to toss the extra pizza on the pizza oven, and more selective eaters don't have to eat things they don't enjoy. It's a true win-win!
Whether I follow the plan perfectly or not at all, having the plan in place saves us the hassle of figuring out what to have at the last minute. Whatever plan gets used is the one that is best, and whatever plan is used is a successful plan. Meal planning our way. Finally, it works
Money, food, and time seem to stretch much further when meal planning is used, and I definitely need to stretch all three, especially time. A quick search through Google or Pinterest reveal many different ideas about meal planning. We have shared about a few of them here on the blog throughout the years. While every method worked somewhat, none worked well. I needed something that would work well. I simply don't have time for anything that doesn't work well in my current season of homemaking. There are too many new things going on for a breakdown in the daily household rhythm.
After watching myself and paying attention to how I think and move, I finally started experimenting with a few different meal planning lists. Once I quit being overwhelmed by all of the "rules" and "tips" of others, I was able to settle down and move into my own natural flow. For me, I do two weeks at a time and try to stick with simple favorites for the majority of meals and a couple new or more expensive ones for a few. Our family is home for all three meals most every day so my planning is a 3 meal, 7 day a week, two week spread. I also quit criticizing myself for failing to use cute printouts and embraced the old-school method of paper and pen, doodles included.
As I jot down possible meals, I keep a look out for ways to cook once and eat twice. For instance, if we are having loaded baked potatoes, I will cook double amounts of toppings and use the leftovers in a soup or casserole later on in the week. Chili meat, cheese, and beans make a warming soup with the addition of tomato juice and extra spices. It also provides a quick, delicious supper following a full day of schooling and work.
This week, the leftover chicken meat from Monday's chicken and rice was tossed in with the cheese and beans in a chicken tortilla soup. Yesterday's chili meat can be used in tacos, nachos, quesadillas, or enchiladas sometime in the next few days. When baking potatoes for yesterday's supper, extras were tossed in the oven so we could have fried potatoes this morning for breakfast. Polish sausages leftover from an earlier lunch will become a simple yet hearty soup for supper tomorrow when roasted with red potatoes, red peppers, and basil in the oven before being stirred into cream and baked a little bit longer.
Leftovers from lunch and supper can be turned into breakfast dishes that help get us out of the ham or bacon and eggs rut we tend to fall in. Leftover meats can be diced up and used in hash, scrambles, burritos, or quesadillas with scrambled eggs and cheese for breakfasts. For those eaters who don't care to eat certain foods, there is usually one extra pizza leftover on pizza night. It is so convenient to toss the extra pizza on the pizza oven, and more selective eaters don't have to eat things they don't enjoy. It's a true win-win!
Whether I follow the plan perfectly or not at all, having the plan in place saves us the hassle of figuring out what to have at the last minute. Whatever plan gets used is the one that is best, and whatever plan is used is a successful plan. Meal planning our way. Finally, it works