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Monday's Mission ...

FEED MY FAMILY BETTER!

I will admit that this is a big weakness on my part.  I love eating good food, but I don't necessarily like being the one to prepare it.  Most of the time it is because I am not well organized in this department.  My family doesn't eat all that much junk food, but the variety and creativity is just not happening.  To be creative means that I have to search for good recipes, menu plan, make detailed grocery store lists, and actually COOK.  

The usual routine in our house ...
  • Big grocery shop on the weekend (although since I no longer homeschool, I am trying to avoid weekend BIG trips) with one or two short stops in the week.
  • Plan 3 dinners (I know that there are 7 days in a week ... I need to plan more)
  • "Think" about what dinner will be sometime in the day, but not really decide until minutes before I need to feed my family
  • Cook that dinner within 45 minutes (on a good slow day) of sitting down to eat it.

THIS PLAN REALLY DOES STINK! The witching hours (late afternoon, early evening), the faces, and the grumbles from my children are really stressing me out. If people out there would like to share how they handle this part of their job ... I would love to hear it.

For now I am looking through some of my old Rachael Ray cooking magazines to see if I can grab a few recipes.  Then I may make a stop at the grocery store so that I at least start off my week feeling this part of my planning is tackled.

*Okay, I am definitely making this one.  My {m} loves this recipe


And this one looks good too ... 
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Comments

Colleen said…
Embrace your crockpot. The recipes that call for a little prep time in the morning (ex. browning the meat first, sauteing the onions, etc.) are usually MUCH better than the recipes that just tell you to dump everything in and let it cook. It takes a little work in the morning, but it's worth it at dinnertime when everything is done :-) I will post one of my favorites on my site today...enjoy!
11:18 AM
Sarah said…
The slow-cooker is a God send, I agree. Especially on "sport" nights. Preparing meals, cooking, shopping etc., is not my favorite thing to do most of the time either. But you will spend less time on it all if you do come up with a routine. On Saturday, I write down the meals for the week, and make my grocery list. I get up early on Sunday and shop at the almost empty grocery store. I look at my menu in the morning each day and do as much preparation as I can get done...even cooking the whole meal to heat up later if I can. That way I avoid the whole "witching hours" after-school time.
I have a list of about 50 "favorite" meals my kids and I came up with and use that with some new things. (All-Recipes is an awesome site with easy, good meals.) Good Luck!
1:52 PM
Christine said…
I have been cooking with one of my kids each week. Sunday night I prepare my menu for the week. If I do not then it will be mac and cheese all the time. So I must find time to do this.

Every week I pick one child to help me plan a meal and they help with cooking it. Works and it is fun!
1:55 PM
Unknown said…
I need help here too. Ugh. I feel like my kids are eating lots of healthy foods but the pizazz factor is totally missing from our meals. This is probably because I am doing the cooking and planning at the last minute which really only allows for a steamed vegetable(boring), plain rice, pasta, or potatoes(boring), and whatever meat I can find to cook quickly(marinade for flavor? rarely. That requires planning ahead).

I am definately all for avoiding the grocery store on the weekend. I happened to pop in there on Saturday and good grief, it would take me twice as long to shop if I was trying to get around all of those people.

{W}
4:01 PM
Shelly said…
www.allrecipes.com and a slow-cooker!!
11:21 PM
Anonymous said…
I clip coupons on Sunday night and then peruse my magazines or allrecipes.com for some recipes. I make a menu plan for Mon-Sun of the following week. Tuesdays and Thursdays are usually easy things as those are busy nights for us. I shop Mondays and have gotton to where I only go back maybe once for milk. If you plan you can be smart. Last week one night we had a turkey, a few nights later a new recipe of a Turkey Taco Soup. Tonight is pasta for the kids and the addition of Szechuan Shrimp (none of my kids eat shrimp) for the adults. Meal planning takes some time but is so worth it I think.
3:11 PM
christine M said…
As others have said - I make a menu for the week (usually on Monday morning) and then do my big food shopping. I hate planning meals - so doing it all at once at least means I'm done for the week.

Something I'm working on doing is making a master list of meals I make - based on season. So when cooler weather comes and all I've been cooking is burgers and chicken on the grill and cold salads I remember what other stuff we like to eat.

Hope this helps
3:50 PM
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