I am wife to a magnificent man and mother to five wonderful children. Three of my children were born in the Northwest and two were born thousands of miles away in Liberia, West Africa. Birthplace is no matter, all of my children were born in my heart. This is our journey.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Motivated Monday: Menu Planning

One way I am working on being more organized this year is with meal planning. I have done it over the years but haven't been very consistent. Not only do you save money by doing it but there is less waste and it's easier to eat healthy.

(Corn cheese chowder)

Basketball is in full swing and with two kids on traveling teams (what were we thinking!) meal planning is a must. I start by looking at my calendar to see if there are evenings where we will be gone or need to eat late/early. Those days get skipped or are going to get crockpot meals so we can eat anytime no matter who is coming and going or when. Instead of coming up with a meal for each evening I come up with up to 14 meals for the next two weeks. This gives us freedom to move things around based on time or in the case of forgetting to get something out of the freezer. Does that ever happen to you?

Here is my list of meals for the next two weeks (13 meals):
Broccoli cheese soup and bread
Beans, cornbread and fried potatoes
Cheese tortellini with pesto and salad
Roasted chicken, potatoes and salad
Porketta roast, creamed peas and salad
Tacos
Homemade pizza
Crockpot chicken enchilada dip
Soup and grilled cheese
Corn cheese chowder
Hamburgers and home fries
Grilled chicken salad
Spaghetti, garlic bread and salad

There aren't really any make-ahead meals on this list, something I need to work on for the next 2 week stretch. The more I make ahead of time, the better. Delish!

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