For quite some time, my husband has been encouraging to me to make a set dinner plan (for a week, or two weeks, or even a month) and just repeat it over and over. I've been resistant. Even though I know it would simplify life not to be planning unique meals each week or month, I really enjoy browsing recipes and keeping variety in my meal plans.
I'm beginning to cave, however. In the busy-ness of working Sundays and the laziness of Friday afternoons, I rarely get dinner planned (and, subsequently, made) sufficiently on those two days. And so we've instituted Spaghetti Sundays and Fajita Fridays. Each one has its specific perks:
Spaghetti Sundays: meatless and therefore cheap, quick and reliable. The boys both eat spaghetti without complaint. I've tried making my own sauce a few times, but I'm never happy with the taste or consistency, so I've given myself permission to buy the Ragu I love. The jar claims to provide a full serving of veggies in every half-cup, so I don't feel obligated to serve a vegetable side. When I'm really on top of things, we have some sort of bread out of the freezer. It's not fancy, but nobody goes hungry.
Fajita Fridays: One random Friday evening I threw together some steak I'd gotten on sale with some yellow and green peppers and some onion. As I sauteed everything together with some spices (chili powder, cumin, garlic pepper, and cilantro), I realized how rarely we eat yellow vegetables, and at that moment determined to serve them more often. On my next grocery trip, I picked up a family-size package of steak strips and a few peppers. I divided the steak into half-pound portions, sliced up peppers and onions into meal-sized portions, and froze everything. Today was our third Fajita Friday, and each week I've intended to thaw the steak early to marinate, but I've yet to remember to get it out of the freezer in time. Fajitas are quick -- just a few minutes to saute everything, plus some minute brown rice -- and, like spaghetti, an all-in-one meal. The boys don't eat them in tortillas yet, but they're happy to consume a bowl full of rice, cheese, and diced beef and peppers.
So, while I'm not repeating whole plans yet, I always know what's for dinner twice a week. And I do repeat (for the most part) breakfasts and about half of our lunches on the same day each week. Levi loves the predictability, and I'm happy to have simplified at least one thing a little bit!
I'm beginning to cave, however. In the busy-ness of working Sundays and the laziness of Friday afternoons, I rarely get dinner planned (and, subsequently, made) sufficiently on those two days. And so we've instituted Spaghetti Sundays and Fajita Fridays. Each one has its specific perks:
Spaghetti Sundays: meatless and therefore cheap, quick and reliable. The boys both eat spaghetti without complaint. I've tried making my own sauce a few times, but I'm never happy with the taste or consistency, so I've given myself permission to buy the Ragu I love. The jar claims to provide a full serving of veggies in every half-cup, so I don't feel obligated to serve a vegetable side. When I'm really on top of things, we have some sort of bread out of the freezer. It's not fancy, but nobody goes hungry.
Fajita Fridays: One random Friday evening I threw together some steak I'd gotten on sale with some yellow and green peppers and some onion. As I sauteed everything together with some spices (chili powder, cumin, garlic pepper, and cilantro), I realized how rarely we eat yellow vegetables, and at that moment determined to serve them more often. On my next grocery trip, I picked up a family-size package of steak strips and a few peppers. I divided the steak into half-pound portions, sliced up peppers and onions into meal-sized portions, and froze everything. Today was our third Fajita Friday, and each week I've intended to thaw the steak early to marinate, but I've yet to remember to get it out of the freezer in time. Fajitas are quick -- just a few minutes to saute everything, plus some minute brown rice -- and, like spaghetti, an all-in-one meal. The boys don't eat them in tortillas yet, but they're happy to consume a bowl full of rice, cheese, and diced beef and peppers.
So, while I'm not repeating whole plans yet, I always know what's for dinner twice a week. And I do repeat (for the most part) breakfasts and about half of our lunches on the same day each week. Levi loves the predictability, and I'm happy to have simplified at least one thing a little bit!
I didn't want to do a weekly dinner plan either, but things got soooo bad with my lack of planning that I finally did. I gave myself permission to change a day if I felt like it. I never did :) It made things much easier and my groceries less expensive...not to mention we ended up eating out way less.
ReplyDeleteI really should go back to that...
I do a plan every week, just not the SAME plan every week like Isaac suggests. Well, actually, he suggests a repeating monthly plan, not weekly. I'm getting about four days a week planned in advance. With leftovers and spontaneous trips out, I'm usually only scrambling for ideas.once a week. Usually. :)
ReplyDeleteIt seems like so much of housewifery is finding the balance of spontaneity and structure that fits ones personality. It takes a while to find the balance too (at least it is for me). That's one reason I think I should keep having babies. Once I exit the baby/toddler stage I will have nothing to do with all that I am finding out about myself as a mother of babies. :)
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