I have found in my life as a mom to three li’l monsters that if I am not organized with the things that HAVE to get done, then things don’t get done well, and sometimes not at all. Take for instance my always absolutely clean and sparkling well-loved house! If I don’t make a concerted effort to do the must-do tasks every day, the house becomes almost unlivable.
The same goes for food.
Three li’l monsters can put down alot of grub! And they want to eat at least three times daily! If I don’t have some organization in place, they get hungry in a hurry, and have you ever met a hungry monster!? It isn’t a pretty sight!
So here is how our day usually goes. (This is a very flexible schedule… actually it tends to be more of a routine… we usually do things sort of in this order, but some days things might not get done until later in the day.)
First, the monsters very rudely awaken their very-exhausted-stayed-up-too-late-to-have-a-moment-to-herself momma, by jumping on her head. And she groggily drags her tired body to hte kitchen to pour a bowl of cereal into a bowl for the kiddos, and make a cuppa’joe with caramel creamer (for me), which will maybe help wake her up!
Once mommy is a little more awake, and has had a small gander at email and Facebook, we try to straighten up a bit, and unload the dishwasher.
Then we work on schoolwork (because they are homeschooled), which always prompts cries of "I’m hungry!"
So we then heat up some leftovers (because mommy planned it that way!), and enjoy some lunch.
After lunch, if we have finished our school work, the kiddos are off to play outside for a while, so Mommy doesn’t go completely crazy from the screaming and whining (mostly from Mom)!
Now it’s about right now that I begin thinking, "what is for dinner tonight?" And without a plan… I begin to panic! Oh man, everything is frozen and there is no way I can cook it that fast, etc. etc. So most days without a plan, I end up making spaghetti, or rice and gravy, or something really easy, or even fast food, because I can’t bear to think about a big dinner production. And then dinner ends up being less balanced, less healthy, and many times less tasty than it should be.
I have found that a menu plan for the week can save my sanity. No more deciding at 3 pm what I should have decided yesterday (or a week ago). It has already been decided, and I don’t have to worry about it anymore. And because I figured out my menu before I went grocery shopping, I have everything I need!
So I thought I would share my menu for the week with you here.
As I said before, breakfast and lunch are usually pretty simple, consisting of cereal, or oatmeal, or toast for breakfast most days, and leftovers or sandwiches for lunch.
So this menu is going to consist of only our dinner plans for the week.
These recipes are linked up to Allrecipes.com, which is my very favorite recipe site in the world. They are very similar to what I will be making, but I have made a few changes to some of them.
I am linking this post up over at Organization Junkie, where you will find lots of great menu planning ideas, and tips.
So what are you making for dinner this week? Do you plan your menus every week? Do you have any great menu-planning tips for this Monster Momma? I can always use a good tip that makes life easier.
