I need to get back into menu-planning. This is usually one of my "strengths" as a stay-at-home mom. Mealtime, I got it!
But not recently. Trying to do our regular activities with 5 kids instead of three (since the two new ones require MUCH hands-on work for me and lots of breaks) has really thrown my organizational system out of whack. It always cracks me up - the number one comment or question I get from people is always "You're so organized! You have to tell me how you do it all!"
Want to know my secret?
I don't "do it."
At all.
It's kind of a crazy chaotic mess over here. I am SO flaky, it is kind of comic-movie-entertaining. I guess maybe I fake it well? People don't get called back, bills get paid ON their due dates (thankfully not after), and most of the time I'm making my grocery list in bath crayons on the shower wall and (most of the time) then leave them there and end up sitting in the parking lot, frantically trying to remember everything and write it on whatever remnant of a napkin and whatever colour crayon that I can find in my car. Most of the time......I'm a mess.
I guess what I've come to realize is that I just can't do it all. I can't be on top of paperwork and returning phone calls and a clean house and homeschooling and food prep/meal planning and maintain my sanity. Something has to go. I guess, unfortunately for everyone else.....what I've let go has been more of the "social" stuff. (I'm sorry if you're one of the people that I haven't emailed back or called back or set up a playdate with!). It's taking all of my focus to stay on top of homeschooling, paying bills, and keeping a somewhat clean house.
This week, I'm setting a goal of getting back on top of the grocery shopping/meal planning game. I'm honestly tired of realizing - as I'm making something - that I've forgotten yet another ingredient for yet another meal. Or that, once again, it's lunchtime and I don't know what I'm going to feed the kids. Luckily, no one has gone hungry....but we have had to rely on more grains and quick trips to the grocery store (hahahahahahhaha QUICK TRIP with five kids hahahahahhaha I kill myself) than I would like.
So, tonight, I'm sitting down with cookbooks, paper and pencil and making a meal plan for this week. And a grocery list. And I will pack lunches for tomorrow later tonight, so that in the chaos that is tomorrow (let me give you a play-by-play: Theo has an audiology evaluation at 8:30. Then speech therapy at 9:30. Then we have church at 12:15. Then music lessons for Joseph and Graham at 2:30. Then gymnastics practice from 3:30-6. Oh, and at some point a glass company is coming by to check out a broken window to see if they can replace it for us. Fun, huh?), I don't have that deer-in-headlights look and end up scrambling for lunches again.
Right now, this is what our meal plan looks like:
Monday: slow cooker veggie stew
Tuesday: roasted sweet potato and hoisin lettuce wraps, egg drop soup
Wednesday: red beans and rice (New Orleans style, haha), salads
Thursday: "Southwest" salads (salads with beans, corn, tortilla strips and ranch dressing)
Friday: Golden split pea soup
Saturday: Lentil stew
Sunday: slow cooker Indian daal soup with mixed veggies
Some of these recipes are new to us, so after we try them out, I'll link up the good ones!
What's on your menu for this week?
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