Dinner's On!

Meal planning has saved me so much time and frustration, I won't say it's saved me a ton of money.  Try as I might I'm not super good about couponing or only going to the store twice a month or planning meals based on what's on special.  I am good at putting together a well balanced dinner that looks and taste good. 

When I was 14 my job was to plan, shop for and prepare dinner on weeknights for my family.(Genius on my parents part, I learned about nutrition, budgeting, and timing a meal.)  I had a few rules I had to follow.  I couldn't just make chicken and everything on the plate had to be a different color.  Not only does it look nicer, but your getting a whole lot of different vitamins and minerals that way!

My family has it's favorites, things that cycle through more often.  They also have things they just don't like (or maybe that's me) and I either don't make them regularly or ever; it's not worth preparing food that people won't enjoy or eat.  It's a waste of your time and money, not to mention it stinks to spend time on something  only to have no one enjoy it.

Involving your family in meal planning is a great way to get your kiddos to try new things and just be more willing to eat what you've prepared.  I give my girls each a day to pick dinner, they help cook that night too and in picking what we eat, they are learning skills in meal planning too!

A sample weekly menu for our family would look like this:

Sunday; Late lunch out (after church), Steak salads with crusty bread
Monday; Salmon, brown rice, sauteed snap peas and pearl onions
Tuesday; Roasted chicken, sweet potato wedges, steamed green beans
Wednesday; Make your own Nacho bar, with all the fixings
Thursday; Soup and salad/sandwich  (this is our really busy night, so it's got to be easy)
Friday; Pot roast with carrots, potatoes and onions, green salad
Saturday; Pizza with salad or fresh veggies

Having a plan helps me shop or know what to defrost, it also helps me to use what I have in the pantry and fridge.   Some weeks I set a goal to use only what we have, I call it "Freezer Clean Out".  It's a great way to literally help make space in your freezer, pantry and fridge.  It also is a great way to stretch a budget or save a little money.  

Almost all of my meals can be made in 30 minutes or less, and I try to use as few dishes/pans as possible...I'm all about the speedy clean up.  Other challenges I throw in are; $5 dinners, a meal for 4 cannot cost more then 5 dollars,  vegetarian (meat free meals),  leftover round ups, your on your own (literally, every Man or Kid for themselves).
I know some Moms who just use the same schedule every week.  It works for their families and it simplifies their lives.  Which is exactly what meal planning should do.  (I'd get bored,  I love food and trying new things.)

Sunday; Roast of some sort
Monday; Meatless Meal
Tuesday; Taco Tuesday (something Mexican)
Wednesday; Left Overs
Thursday; Chicken
Friday; Fish Friday
Saturday; Pizza/Delivery

I generally do my planning on Monday; the girls are at school, I can go through the ads (I try to be good about it) and I can go shopping without helpers.  If you have all the ingredients on hand you can switch out days easily, just in case roast chicken sounds better then meatloaf one night.  I literally write it out (I have those Post It's that are like a weekly to do list) and I post it on the fridge...it helps me commit to the plan. The whole point is to get it down, try to stick to it and see if it doesn't just take the hassle out of 6 o'clock every night!  

Something's Fishy

I've got a couple sushi lovers in this house.  One would eat it every single day if I let her, and she likes the cheap sushi train sort of places, not the yummy high end restaurants.    I'm not complaining, I love sushi too.  Last nights dinner was a great combo of spaghetti and sushi (Daddy surprised us by bringing the sushi home), it was actually a really gross combination, I don't recommend it.  Ever.  Really.  I just had a shiver thinking about it.

But it makes for a great lunch!  This lunch has California Rolls, snap peas (we were out of edamame), a Little Cutie, and dessert sushi.  This stuff is really fun to make and your kids will get a kick out of it! I was out of Swedish Fish, because those things are amazing and I eat them.  All.  Normally, I would stick a swedish fish in the center of a very flat slice of rice crispy treat, then I roll it up, sushi roll style and finally roll a layer of fruit leather on the outside of all that.  These just have rice crispy treats and fruit leather, still a fun treat, minus the fish.



They both have lemonade to drink and a package of dried seaweed to round out the meal. 
For snack they have homemade granola bars and dried cherries.

Rainy Day Picnic

Lili requested pasta salad; something she never tires of; for lunch and dinner and breakfast.  (I'm not even sort of kidding.)  Which got me thinking about when I make pasta salads for other people; usually potlucks, picnics and family reunions.  I load it up with veggies and feta and it's really yummy and filling.
It didn't hurt that we had left over fried chicken, because what's a picnic without some cold, fried chicken?!  The only thing really missing was a three layer chocolate cake and I wasn't about to whip one of those up;)  And maybe deviled eggs.   Oh Yum! Now I want some.

Both girls got a couple pieces of chicken (they can heat it up at school if they want or just eat it cold), pasta salad with tomatoes, carrots, bell pepper, cucumber and feta, orange slices, string cheese and some crackers.  They both have lemonade to drink and some oatmeal cookies for dessert.

For snack they have dried mango and caramel rice cakes.

Superbowl Left Overs

There wasn't a lot left over because there wasn't a lot to start with.  We skipped the parties this year in favor of a quiet day at home and ordered in pizza.  It was sort of slim pickings, but it provided the makings for a really quick lunch that the girls adore!

Both of the girls have a slice of pizza and a bread stick, a clementine, baby carrots, a rice crispy treat, and a Stretch Island Fruit Leather, plus an organic milk box.  It's not fancy, but it'll do the trick!

For snack they have dried seaweed and a bag of grapes.

Mom, Where's Lunch?

Aghhhhhhh! I worked yesterday (hence the lack of pictures of yesterdays lunches) and totally spaced unpacking and repacking lunch for today.  Until, that is, when we were walking out the door and GiGi said, "Why don't we have a new lunch?".   I must have looked at her like she'd grown a second head because she gave a rather large sigh and showed me her half eaten lunch, that was in fact from yesterday. 

 Nothing motivates me to move fast then the fear of missing carpool.  Also, nothing helps like having a well stocked fridge and pantry.  (I'm working on making my lunch lists presentable) 

Today's lunches were packed in about 2 minutes, no joke!

The girls have snap peas, blueberries/cherry tomatoes, string cheese, crackers, ham roll ups, mandarin oranges, organic juice and a prepackaged rice crispy treat.  (Yes, store bought, totally processed, saved for moments just like this!)   They both got a bag of cheese nips and apple slices for snack.

Lunch is packed in our easylunchbox containers.

It's A Wrap!

Let's not get crazy here, only one of my kids will eat this wrap (LiLi), so GiGi got a deconstructed wrap, which didn't look nearly as yummy.

The girls both gave a lot of impute on this meal, we were stretching the boundaries of what they're used to.  Because we're a peanut free home we don't eat a ton of sandwiches, but we gotta be real, sandwiches are totally packable!  So this lunchlady is slowly and surely trying to introduce some sandwichy kinds of food into their diets.

 

This lunch has a wrap with ham, cheese, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce and onion.  On the side they both got a handful of grape tomatoes, blueberries, cucumber slices and 2 heart shaped peppermint patties.  I threw in an organic chocolate milk box and a banana and packed popcorn and carrot sticks for snack.  

 

The true test of this wrap will be what's left when they get home.  I'll keep you posted!

 

I packed these lunches in my favorite easylunchbox containers.

Finger Foods for Lunch

I know, I promised awesome lunches...they're coming, honestly.  I gotta ease myself back into the swing of things.   The girls were actually pretty excited about these lunches when they saw me packing them, they both said, "These look like normal kid lunches!"   You'd think I was packing them carob and gorp for lunch.

Both girls have the same lunch today!  Score one for Mom.  They each have mini corndogs; with mustard to dip in; dried blueberries, carrot sticks, a mandarin orange and a little pack of redvines (I love getting peanut free treats when Halloween and Valentines Day roll around, they're just the right size for a lunch treat.)   They also have organic milk, a homemade granola bar and some dried mango for snack.   It's not my most exciting lunch, but it'll do the trick!

As always, this lunch is packed in our easylunchbox containers.