I love cookbooks.  I love collecting recipes and I love trying new foods.  At least I thought I loved those things but now I’ve discovered I love something else more:  simplicity.  All that collecting and trying of new recipes meant that every week in the kitchen involved some new learning curve.  Even if a new recipe was simple I couldn’t just make it off the top of my head and if a recipe was complicated but only supposed to take an hour you could bet with 3 kids under foot it would take more than that.  Also, there were the inevitable failures.  Those nights when we had no choice but to pack everybody up and head out for pizza hoping that charred smell would be gone by the time we got back.  Enough was enough.  Now dinners are on a four week rotation, lunches on a one week rotation and breakfasts pretty much the same every day.  It seemed a little boring to me at first but I am surprised by how much my family (and myself) have come to enjoy the routine.  Here’s what it looks like. 

This master list I made in Excel because it was easier to see how all the meals worked together on a grid but I have since transferred the plan into my Outlook calendar giving each meal and snack its own “appointment”.  Seeing the meals right next to our activities helps me be realistic about what I can accomplish in a day.  For example, given how long it takes to prepare, I probably won’t be making Tika Masala and Naan on the day of field trip but I might do some preparation the day before or switch it out for a crockpot dish that month.

Other things might cause changes to the plan as well.  Someone might give me a bunch of tomatoes and I’ll adapt to that or we may be expecting company on hotdog day so I might do something a little more special.  Also, several blocks on the plan actually allow for choice (ie. pork chops OR chicken, nachos OR quesadillas) but having the skeleton has saved me so much time.  For one thing, since I order my groceries online I was able to create a master list of all the ingredients I would need in a given month and when it comes time to place my order each week I rarely go looking for anything.  I just skim through my list checking off items I need.

Other tips:

*If I find a meal that works really well then I either type the instructions or where to find them in the notes of that meal “appointment”.  I might also leave myself info like “works well with corn” or “1 pinch of cayenne is enough.” That way when the rotation comes back around that recipe (and any alteration) is right there waiting for me.  Conversely, if something doesn’t work at all then I make a note of that too.

*Knowing that most meals will swing back around within a month has also allowed me to do more freezing than I was before.  For example, Saving Dinner has a great Baked Ziti recipe which the whole family loves the first day but hates by the time we finally get through the leftovers.  No problem.  I now make half in a foil bake-n-take container to freeze and serve the other half.  The following month I set the container down in the fridge to thaw the night before and heat n eat that evening. 

On another note, lest you think I feed my family perfectly healthy food all the time, take a look at the lunches.  For dinners, I strive for well-balanced;  for lunches, when I’m alone with the kids, I strive for survival.  Just keepin’ it real, people.

Categories: homekeeping, sanity savers | 2 Comments »

I like to think we’re flexible around here and I try to go with the flow as much as possible (With 3 young children, how can you not?) but I am not a “fly by the seat of my pants” kind of gal.  I like to have a plan and however much we eventually deviate from that plan I find that simply having it gives me focus and sense of control over our day.  ~~ That’s sense of control not actual control.  Please know that I understand the difference   Anyway, for what it’s worth here’s how I plan my week.

All of my actual appointments and possible appointments are kept in MS Outlook (I could use any calendar I suppose but this is what we have around here.)  By possible appointments I mean all of the fun/educational/interesting events I hear about that I might want to go to but don’t know right now if I’ll be able to attend.  (ie every event for the library’s summer reading program went in my calendar but by the end of summer we only actually attended 3 or 4 activities.)  This keeps all the clutter of notices and flyers from accumulating in my inbox or in my mind but also insures I don’t miss something fun when it comes around.

Also, in my calendar are “appointments” for Today’s Laundry and Today’s Cleaning Zone as well as for every meal and snack.  (More on how I’ve streamlined my meal planning and house cleaning in separate posts.) This way when I print my schedule for the week everything is in one place.

So, it’s Sunday night.  The kids are asleep.  The house is quiet.  I pull up my calendar for the coming week. Adjust my menu as necessary (making out my shopping list as I go), note any special appointments, delete any “extras” I know we won’t be attending, and click the print button.  This process takes about 20 minutes.  It used to take over an hour and wasn’t nearly as neat or clear in the end.

Here’s what this coming week really looks like.

Even with all of that done, I still need something to keep me focused each day.  So I created my own Daily Docket.  Originally, I read about this idea here when I was working on a home management notebook.  I have since shelved my home management notebook (using Outlook instead) and adapted the Daily Docket to fit my needs.  Why? Because it “is a marriage of scheduled routine and flexibility. It provides the skeleton for me to hang my agenda, but it allows for wiggle room because I fill out a new sheet each day.”

Here’s what my docket looks like before I fill it out.  You are more than welcome to copy it for you own use if it would be helpful.

And here’s what it looks like after.

Both sheets go on my fridge in the morning though by evening time I often find my Daily Docket is in my pocket filled with notes and scribbles from the days activities.  But that’s okay because after the kids go to bed I move those notes wherever I need them and fill out a new, crisp and clean Docket for the morrow.

So that’s it.  All you ever wanted to know and more about how I maintain my sanity.  Planning and prayer, people.  Planning and prayer.

Categories: homekeeping, sanity savers | 1 Comment »