Since declaring this upcoming school year to be The Year of No, I am really looking at every area of my life to find ways that I can simplify.
We have thirty-seven days until the first day of school (not that I’m counting or anything).
While my days are going to be more free now that all the kids will be in school, the afternoons are still going to be ridiculously crazy. We will have less than a half hour after Number 5, 6, and 7 get home from school before we have to leave to go to the pool, and we won’t get home until about 7:30.
I really, really, really want to streamline the afternoons and the evenings as much as possible.
So I have decided to seriously simplify the dinner plan.
I do like to cook. A lot.
But being gone every night from 4:00 – 7:30 makes cooking at night impossible. And I don’t want to spend a large part of my free time during the day figuring out what’s for dinner. I also don’t want to make multiple trips to the store.
I really just don’t want to occupy any brain space with thinking about what’s for dinner.
For at least the first two months of school, I need major simplicity.
I need a menu.
A menu that’s just like the school menu.
One where you know what’s for dinner on Monday and on Tuesday, and on Wednesday and on every other day of the week.
This makes me a little bit uncomfortable because I don’t want to fall into a food rut.
But kids don’t complain about every Tuesday being french toast sticks or every Wednesday being a chicken patty or every Friday being pizza day at school.
In fact, I think they like the predictability.
On the other hand, I don’t want to create unadventurous eaters either.
But I don’t know what I’m worrying about when my kids ate hot dogs for approximately 22 out of 30 days in June.
That might be a slight exaggeration.
But my kids ate a lot of fucking hot dogs in June.
I can change up the menu for the next two months. And If I feel like I really need to switch things up, I can always do a two week rotation.
But I’m coming up with seven meals that I know everyone loves, that I can prepare ahead of time and freeze, that require fairly little in the shop/prep/cook department, and I’m sticking with those for September and October.
When I come up with that plan, I’ll let you know what it is.
But having only seven meals to think about (actually, it will probably only be six because Friday night will most likely be Big Y pizza night) for two months means I can prepare a buttload of them at once.
I can quadruple a recipe, make it once, and have every Monday night for the month of September completely covered. I could take care of two months of dinners in less than a weekend that way.
So that’s my plan.
Dinner will be set for two months.
My husband will know what the deal is, and if he gets home before me, he can just pull out that night’s dinner, heat it up, and be good to go.
And the best part of this plan?
I won’t have to answer the question What’s for dinner? for at least two months.
Thrivinghomeblog.com I use their freezer meals and weekly menus to assist me. They’re great!
Suggestion to help with variety… Make giant (quadruple, etc.) of something like simple pulled pork. Then Tuesdays can be pulled pork, but one week in tacos, next in quesadillas, one on baked potatoes (you can do those in the crock pot too) one in BBQ sandwiches, burrito bowls, etc. So same basic meat, totally easy to throw together in a meal! Just a thought, love your blog!
Share your recipes with us! I am sure they are delicious! I struggle the most with finding recipes that all the kids love that don’t require half my day in the kitchen!!
I know you have a love/hate relationship with the library but at the library are cookbooks for freezer meals. I have found that if I go and check out the book and like it, I can purchase it on amazon.
I love The Six o’clock dcramble for this very reason. And i bet Ms. Goldfarb would love a reciprocal link or something from your popular blog. This meal plan does it all, IMHO. It has saved me countless hours and money. Check it out… http://Www.thescramble.com
Meal planning has helped me a lot! I started with a week at a time, but now I plan a month at a time. Usually no repeats within the month… although tacos or fajitas are still fall backs if we fall off “the plan” for whatever reason – and I usually try to get in at least a couple of new recipes per month. I’ve found that it saves me time (no worrying about what to make) and money (no quick trips to the store for one thing but end up spending $60 multiple times per week – I know you know what I mean!). I use an old fashioned paper calendar (been working on moving it over to my phone but can’t find a format I like). I fill in activities for the month and then add dinners in. Love it.! Good luck with your plan!
Working full time with three kids, I have been doing batch cooking for a while. I make the meats on Sunday evening and sides that take a while to cook like mashed potatoes or rice. I reheat the meats in the toaster oven(so they don’t dry out) and throw together some easy sides dishes, like canned vegetables or salad. Keep the meats in sealed containers in the fridge and they will last until Thursday. Good luck! Can’t wait to hear your ideas.