Meal Planning

Hello Ladies!

Mondays are always rough, but Monday after the Super Bowl is especially rough....they really need to start the game earlier!  Anyway, hope you all had a great weekend!  Today I am linking up with The Blended Blog for their Nuggets Link Up...and today it is all about Meal Planning, which is one of my favorite things!

Years ago I was a boss at meal planning.  I would sit every week, without fail, and have our entire week planned out, all the grocery shopping done, and every night we had exactly what I had planned for that night, I was organized, and dinner time was always smooth.  It also helped that I only had 2 kids, who weren't in school, and had no activities, and I was able to stay home all day and make awesome nightly meals...HA!  As I had more kids, and life got hectic with activities and homework, I found our nights to be crazy, I wasn't meal planning, and most nights I was scrambling at 4:30 wondering what the heck I was going to cook for dinner, and I found my self running to the grocery store multiple times a week, and I found that we were spending way too much money eating and ordering out.  I realized that on super busy nights with the kids having activities, that the crockpot would be our best friend.  I am a huge fan of the crock pot...I love being able to throw everything in there in the morning, and having dinner ready at night, and I don't have to think about it all day.  I also love the crockpot, because it will keep the food warm and everyone can eat when it's convenient for them, before practice, after practice, after work, whatever the case may be, and it's all in one pot so clean up is a breeze.

If I am not using the crockpot, I try and get as much of the meal as I can prepared during the day while the kids are at a school.  After school time is so hectic, and I like being able to sit with Olivia and help with homework and not have to worry about cooking dinner.  I also prefer cooking in a quiet  and calm kitchen, so doing it while they are all at school is best for me.  Most days I am able to have dinner prepared, and have the dishes done, and the kitchen cleaned up prior to dinnertime, which is a huge help.  So after dinner, the clean up is minimal!  

Being organized is key for me.  Every Sunday morning I sit at my desk, have my cookbooks out, and I plan out our meals Monday-Friday, and as I plan each meal, I write out my shopping list, then Mark and I hit up the grocery store and get everything we need for the week.  During the holidays, I ordered this weekly meal planner with shopping list, and it has been awesome!

I love that it has a detachable shopping list, so it makes it so easy to write out my list as I plan out the week's meals.  It also has magnets on the back, so I leave it on the fridge during the week, and I no longer get that dreaded question....."Mom...what's for dinner?"....now my kids know to just look on the pad.  

Meal planning is definitely a game changer.  If you are organized, and have everything you need on hand, making dinner is no longer the dreaded task of the day.  

I usually only meal plan Monday-Friday.  Usually on the weekends we will grill out.  We don't grill out much during the week, so we look forward to doing it on the weekends.  And during football season on Sundays, we don't really eat a meal, rather just kind of snack all day!  

So for me, meal planning is a MUST.  When I meal plan, the stress of "what's for dinner" is gone.  I am not a fan of the grocery store, so just going once each week makes me happy, and it is so much more economical planning out meals and eating home!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

xoxo,

Kimm