I used to dread dinnertime. For me, around 4pm is the hour that I want to throw in the towel and just quit being a mom. Unfortunately, it’s also the time my kids start asking for dinner. Why do they want dinner every.single.night? So, like all good moms, I check Facebook and see all the great dinners that all those “other” moms are making for their families. And then, I feel inadequate. Can you relate?
Lucky for my family, I’ve become a huge fan of slow cooking. I use it all summer, too, for things like pulled pork and slow cooked mac-n-cheese. I’m not much for menu planning but I will say this: when I do it, I’m so glad! It makes my life so much easier! Menus really only take about half and hour to put together, and VOILA! Your brain is free to do other things, like remember to take the toddler to the bathroom on the hour.
So, here are my three top tips for organizing your meals:
- Have a plan.
- Use your slow cooker.
- Enlist your children to help. (See my chores post from yesterday.)
A few of my favorite recipes for slow cooked meals are:
Chalupa
Chicken Curry (Made Simple!)
15 Bean Soup (pressure cooker version)
Split Pea Soup
LUNCH:
If your kids are home for lunch like mine are, keep simple things around to make simple, healthy lunches. We almost always have leftover dinner for lunch, so I like to make sure we have extra at dinnertime. Here are some ideas for easy lunches:
- Quesadillas
- Sandwiches
- Grilled cheese and canned tomato soup
- Leftovers!
- Mini-pizzas on english muffins (a favorite at our house)
- Anything pre-made from Costco (our kids like corn-dogs, which are not very healthy but great in a hurry)
Try making a menu and see if it makes a difference in your stress level. Need a menu planner? Download mine if you’d like and remember, keep it simple! Find a few meals that you enjoy making and use them frequently if you’d like. If you can make it and the family enjoys it, who cares if every Tuesday is TACO TUESDAY?
Download your free printable menu below—be patient, it might take a minute to load 🙂
Read all of the posts “Organizing Your Spiritual Life Posts” on these blogs! And read all about the Blog Hop going on HERE!
Lynette Carr thought of you
I use google calendar for my meals as well as traditional events. I just made another section in ‘my calendar’ and it helps me plan meals when I know what craziness my day holds. That and I can check my calendar from my computer, tablet, or phone so I can see if I need to pick up any thing from the store while I am already out and about.
To much work! Lol I would much rather mix together random concoctions. Never eat the same meal twice! Hahaha
Yay! New slow cooker recipes!
Oh my gosh. The beginning of that story sounds just like me. 4:00 and I want to cry. Also mon-wed we (me and my 2 sons) leave at 4:00 and get home at 7:30. Which leaves my daughter and my hubby to fend for themselves and we end up eating Taco Bell or Wendy’s those nights. It’s making me a tad crazy. I don’t know the perfect solution. The boys and I can’t eat at 7:30 every night. Especially because they are doing Tkd and are starving…. Well constabtly starving 😉 teen age boys wow!! And sandwhiches and chips gets old real fast!!! Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THANK YOU for posting this. I’m glad to know that I’m not the only mom whose kids eat pbj, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, and frozen foods for lunch! I was feeling crappy about our lunch menu, but it makes me feel better seeing my same menu written out by someone else lol.
I read it and love how you keep it real!! Even the corndog comment it was amazing! I love my kids and my family soooooo much but some days are just corndog days lol not all perfect health meals ♥ it! Thanks girl!
you must have a chart for everything 🙂
that’s awesome.
I have around 70 recipes that I alternate. About a year ago I made a menu board – very simple and makes a cute kitchen decoration. It makes dinner so much easier – I know what I have to buy each week from the grocery store and I don’t have to “figure out” what’s for dinner each night.
I’ll read it when I can get the link to like me 😀 Technology is not my friend today LOL. I make a list of meals to plan the grocery list, but not necessarily ‘this is what we’re eating this day’.
Here is an easy recipe for mini calzones/pizzas that take literally no time. Buy the Pilsbury pre-made pizza dough or non-prefer-rated dough. Cut it into single serving sized rectangles.
For Calzones: fill one have of the rectangle with your favorite fillings, fold over the other half, seal the edges with a fork and cut a steam hole at the top.
For Pizzas: Just lay your toppings on the rectangle, being careful no to go all the way to the edge of the dough.
Pop in the oven at 350F for 20 minutes or until golden brown and delicious! For my older kids, this is a great way for them to make their own lunches, learn a bit of cooking and be creative.
I love this idea. I want to try to do it. I have a 8 week old and things are almost always never planned!
I printed out of bunch! Thanks, Heidi!
Love knowing I’m not the only one who has an imaginary quitting time. 4:00 is about my wear-out time, too. 🙂
Oy, I need this. It’s nearly 5pm. I’m hungry, don’t feel like cooking and I hear the troops coming through the door.
I got turned onto Plan to Eat last year and it has revolutionized my meal planning- check it out, using technology big time, and it syncs to my calendar, outputs a shopping list, used to dread (and not do) meal plans, now it is almost fun. Plus you can schedule the corn dogs 🙂
Thank. You.
Mia Nettrouer – thought you might find this blog hop interesting