The first part of our plan is our menu. When we got married my aunt gave us a cook book with her family recipes. In the cookbook was a letter from her. She explained how it was easier for her to have a themed menu. Her themes were Mexican Mondays, Soup Tuesdays, Chicken Wednesdays, etc. I have used many of the recipes in this book over the last three and a half years, but I had yet to make it my own. Last week a friend sent me a link on Pinterest that had the same basic idea. I took this opportunity to revamp my cookbook to reflect our chosen themes.
Sunday is crock-pot or casserole dinner night. This works well if it is a potluck Sunday or if we have Sunday company. I can prep the meal Saturday and no cooking is required for Sunday. If it is just us eating, we are sure to have excellent leftovers for lunch that week!
Monday is international dinner night. This allows us to enjoy our favorite Mexican, Italian, Thai, etc. menus without having to devote a different night each week. I borrowed this idea from the above link!
Tuesday is pantry or freezer dinner night. This can also be interpreted as left-over night or whatever is on hand night. Tuesdays we will be hosting FPU starting April and we wanted an easy dinner night. We do have family dinner with my parents and sister every other Tuesday, until FPU begins. To accommodate this I will likely trade meal nights for something more exciting when it is our turn to host.
Wednesday is soup, salad and/or sandwich night. Another easy night so that we can eat quickly and enjoy Bible class.
Thursday is BBQ night. This is my one night off!! It is Albert's night to cook burgers, brats, steak or anything else delicious on the grill. I LOVE this night! I have also chosen Thursday to be my grocery shopping day. It is the one day I don't have to rush home to cook. I prefer to grocery shop on a week night so that it doesn't interfere with family weekends.
Friday is pizza dinner night. I am starting this week off with pepperoni and pineapple calzones and homemade dough.
Saturday is new recipe night. This will encourage me to find yummy and healthy recipes to add to the mix. If we love a new recipe it will get a place in my revamped recipe book.
I used a sharpie on my kitchen whiteboard to outline our weekly menu. I know a teacher trick to remove it if I ever decide to try something else. Meal planning done!
What about the rest of my life? How do I get everything else done that needs to get done? When I try to schedule all of the chores every week I lose most of my family time and my sanity. So I decided to apply the themed idea we used with our meal planning.
Sunday is relaxing night. This can be interpreted in whatever way we want as long as it is relaxing. If Sunday night is hectic chores then I don't feel like I got a weekend. This makes for a rough Monday.
Monday is chore night. I have to do laundry and dishes everyday to keep up with diapers and bottles. All other chores are reserved for Monday. I know the whole house wont get cleaned every Monday. My family is more important. Instead, we will complete only the most needed chores on any given Monday. I am hopeful that all chores will get done at least once every two to three weeks.
Tuesday is catch up day. On Tuesdays that we are not teaching FPU or having family dinner night, we will play catch up. This is our opportunity to work on any unfinished projects from the weekend.
Wednesday is Bible class and fellowship night.
Thursday is reading night. This is our chance to catch up on Bible reading, personal development reading and of course fun reading!
Friday is game night. It pairs well with pizza! We can play games with Harli after dinner and then play cards or backgammon after she heads to bed. We used to play games several nights a week before kids. We are ready to reclaim this time!
Saturday is of course movie night. It is a great way to end the weekend and a Saturday that was surely full of projects and photo sessions!
I feel accomplished just by making a plan. This week is implementation week so that we have some what of a routine established before I head to work next Monday. What strategies are you using this year?
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