Works for Me Wednesday

I am trying a new weekly blog this week-thanks to Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer who hosts the weekly blog carnival. It has a huge following of great tips and helps for all us moms who are in desperate need of any kind of help we can get-organization, time, homeschool, housekeeping, health, etc, etc!!!
I have discovered a new tool in my kitchen that has, in a short time, become absolutely essential in my hectic, days -filled -to -overflowing life. I have tried unsuccessfully for several years to have a menu set up that allows my days and nights to be easier. But, the huge stumbling block for me appeared to be the TIME to actually sit down each week and do it. Life on this busy farm has continued at a break-neck pace for the entire 3 years we have lived here, and the addition of a 3 1/2 yr old last spring only made it more interesting, and meant much less time to actually sit down and "THINK" about anything.
Early in the year, I discoverd a chart for a Five Week Menu-over at Betsy's Notebooking Nook that really intrigued me-but still, did not know if it would work for me. After looking at her sample menu, which really gave me the nudge to try it, I created my own Five-Week Menu, and boy, has it made a remarkable difference in my stressful, busy life.
After pondering her nightly categories, I came up with categories for our own week's menus, based on a list of our family favorites that I took the time to compile before trying the menu. After asking each of my family what favorites they wanted to see on a regular basis (once every 5 weeks) we had a huge list of foods that we could incorporate into the new menu.

Sundays are my super easy nights-usually frozen pizza.

Mondays are Italian night

Tuesdays are meat and potatoes night

Wednesdays are leftovers

Thursdays are casseroles

Fridays are leftovers

Saturdays are family favorites

Now, another problem for me was the fact that we are a farm family, and we homeschool, and that means that I am in the kitchen THREE times a day, and 3 meals a day was very difficult to come up with on a moment's notice.

Therefore, Breakfasts became a huge burden for me, even though it is my favorite meal of the day. But with the new menu, I have something different on the menu each day, and IF I have time, that is what we can have, but if life gets in the way of creativity, we have the old stand-by of cereal and toast.

Mondays are muffins

Tuesdays are eggs and toast

Wednesdays are pancakes/waffles or french toast

Thursdays are oatmeal and toast

Fridays are cereal and toast

Saturdays are egg casserole or coffeecake

Sundays are cereal and toast

That leaves us with the most stressful meal of the day, lunches. Because our farm is a 3x a day milking operation, and we are small enough that a lot of the labor is family, that means one or all of us is back outside at 1 pm to do the second set of chores for the day-and with homeschooling, that means I have to be in the kitchen by 12:00 sharp to begin lunch, or we are running late. So, lunches are now super-simple, but we do not have to rely on the old standby of COLD SANDWICHES for every lunch any more.

Mondays are Ramen noodles and sandwiches

Tuesdays are Tuna melts

Wednesdays are soup and crackers

Thursdays are grilled cheese

Fridays are BBQ's

Saturdays are bologna or hotdogs

Sundays are leftovers or cold sandwiches

I now have a schedule that WORKS FOR ME!! and life is mucy easier and the kids really enjoy looking to see what is supposed to be coming each week-remember, it is only a suggestion, not a slave-master-if something does not fit for the week, it can be replaced with something that does work, but, overall, it is a huge success, and we are all thrilled with our stream-lined meal times.

Why not hop on over to Shannon's place, and see what else works for other busy moms???

Blessings

Chris