Remember the big boxes we got in our Amazon order last week? Malachi has made very good use of them. We’ve cut flaps for doors and secret hide-outs, and we’ve gone through way too much packing tape. Malachi keeps watching for the UPS man to come back and bring more boxes. Sorry, Buddy. Mama got a big order, but I don’t think Mr. UPS is coming back this week. :)
In other news, I’m finding that my current menu planning system isn’t working very well right now. This school year is trying to knock me flat. We added a few different (and good!) academic endeavors this year. I’m amazed at the extra time it takes away from my blog work and house work. In addition, I’ve been doing a lot of canning, and need to do more during the next few weeks.
So, in an effort to simplify my kitchen work even more (and I already feel that it has been pretty basic), I’m going to try a different menu planning system this week. The idea is that I will list food ideas for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Fruits/Veggies based on the ingredients I have on hand. For each day, I’ll just look at the list and figure out what I have time to work on. We always have 1-4 fruits or veggies with each meal, so we can pull those out quickly to put with each meal.
Make sense? I think the crock pot is going to get a work-out. :) Here’s what we’ll be working with this week:
Breakfasts
- Blueberry Streusel Muffins
- Fried Eggs with Turkey Sausage
- Warm Pumpkin Custard
- Peanut Butter Pancakes
- Pumpkin donuts
- Scrambled Eggs
- Pancake and Sausage Muffins
Lunches
- Bacon, Egg, and Avocado Salad
- Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot with ham and cheese
- Healthier Cheese Dip with tortilla chips
- Crustless Pizza
- Easy Noodle Stir Fry
- Homemade Tomato Soup with grilled cheese sandwiches
- Salmon Patties
Dinners
- Calico Beans
- Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken Breasts
- Chicken Tacos
- Cheeseburger Soup
- Cheesy Beef and Rice
- Sweet Pepper Fritata
- Potato Soup
Fruit and Veggie Side Dishes
- Applesauce
- Clementines
- Pears
- Peas
- Green Beans from the Garden
- Fruit Salad
- Mixed Greens
- Fresh Spinach
- Apples
- Pineapple
- Canned Peaches
- Nectarine Cream Cups
- Honey Glazed Carrots
- Raw Carrots and Cucumber Slices
- Sweet Peppers from the garden
- Home canned dill pickles
- Roasted Asparagus
We’ll see how this works, and I’ll report back next week! I may find that it works better for me to have everything planned specifically like I’ve done for years. But what if this is a change for the better? We’ll see!
This is how I do my menu planning all the time. I find it is difficult for me to stick to a “complete” menu and this gives myself and my family options to choose from. Hope it works for you as well. Blessings!
This is how I meal plan, too. It gives me some flexibility while I am trying to homeschool our 7 and 5 year old with our 10 month old “helping”. :)
I only plan dinner meals, but I do as you did this week–I put together a list of dinner options that I have the ingredients for (or will be purchasing). I then update the list each week, adding new meals and carrying over some that I didn’t make the previous week. I also have a list of meals (or meal ingredients, e.g., sloppy joe’s topping) in my freezer with dates. I typically decide what I’m going to make the day before, but often not more in advance than that. It just works better for me to have some flexibility.