1. Dice anything for hours.
2. Drive across town to obscure gourmet markets.
3. Read cookbooks instead of good books.
4. Spend time and money making something no one likes.
5. Be in kitchen during the witching hours of parenting (3-6 p.m.).
Here's how I do it:
1. A weekly menu is filled out right before my weekly grocery shop, and posted on the fridge. I sometimes switch around days, and consider who has what when.
2. I keep a sheet of paper on my cupboard door for my grocery list. I can jot down anything and everything we need that comes up during the week, and that way I don't have to make another trip.
3. When I'm making my weekly menu, I tear down my grocery list and write down what I need for the recipes I will be making. I shop at just one store and have memorized where everything is, so I write it down according to that...which make me able to high-tail it through the store.
4. I use AllRecipes for something new once or twice a week. I only own a couple of cookbooks.
5. We use a majority rules method, and if it's not a hit, I throw the recipe away. It's not worth it to me to have hungry kids an hour after dinner.
6. I try to prepare the entire dinner meal in the morning, when I have the most energy and it's relatively quiet. I will stick it in the fridge to heat up later.
*Healthy Eating:
1. Lots of fruits and salads.
2. Very little frozen, processed foods, only as an emergency back-up.
3. No bad boy juice. (one night a week)
4. No fast food.
5. I do allow sweets (only because I myself cannot resist) but try to make most of the cookies, etc. myself which helps avoid the chemicals and HFCS.
Posts
I love your philosophy! You are so 'in tune' with what you do as a mother!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I found this little blog of yours. Your family seems to eat a lot of the same foods that mine does. It gets old making chicken the same 3 or 4 ways every week. LOL. I am looking forward to trying some of your crock pot meals.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds a lot like me, however, I need to get better about cooking earlier.
ReplyDeleteYour recipes sound yummy!
Love it all. Seriously. I'm so over the gourmet cooking movement. I just want to eat stuff that tastes good. And what a good idea to cook in the morning and heat up at dinner--genius!
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with your menus of the week. It gives shopping at the grocery store a purpose and my time is spent much more effectively.
ReplyDeleteI love your simplicity and reality about it all. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou and I think alike--I can really tell from this post. Wish I was better at making supper earlier though.
ReplyDeleteI have a one page printable grocery list that follows the layout of the grocery store. I can email to you if you'd like to see it.
It goes around the outside edge of the store first (deli, bakery/breads, fresh foods, meats, dairy) then up and down the aisles.
It really helps avoid prepackaged convenience/junk food because our cart gets filled up first with all the fresh stuff. Sounds a lot like what you do.
I print off a bunch and pull one out a week and hang it up and circle what I need. When the flyers come I fill in the menu plan part and then circle what I need.
I'd love to see what makes the cut at your house. It's rare for all six of us to all love the same meal--majority rules here as well.
Love it. Same problem here. Everyone is eating more and more. Grocery bill is scary. I've gotten into the buying bulk when on sale an with coupons too and that has helped. I post our "menu" and "snack list" on the fridge for the week so I don't get asked a billion times "what are we eating?" I need to figure out how to not cook during the witching hours though.
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