Menu Plan Monday - Daddy is back to work issue!

Brian started a new job last Wednesday and won't be home until dinner time or a little after, so I really need to be on my menu plan game!  I have started a new weekly schedule that looks like this (subject to change):
Monday - Laundry
Tuesday - Garden and Crafts (Now it is more garden, this winter it will be more crafts.)
Wednesday - Office Day (That is when I will try to do the majority of my blogging, menu planning, school planning, budget work, etc)
Thursday - Kitchen Day (Baking Bread, making broth, batch cooking for snacks and breakfasts, deep cleaning in the kitchen, etc)
Friday - Town Day (When I run errands)
Saturday - Cleaning Day (We pick up daily, but this is when we'll vacuum, dust, do a little deep cleaning)
Sunday - Family Worship Day (We try to do as little "work" as possible:-) )

Soooooo, all that to say I am trying to get more consistent on here!!  You will know if it helps if you see my posts get more frequent:-)

MENU PLAN July 30 - August 5

Monday: Macaroni and Cheese, Peas
Tuesday: Stuffed Eggs: Scrambled Eggs with sausage, ham, onion, green pepper, spinach, carrots
Wednesday: Chicken Pineapple Salad
Thursday: Hamburgers, Buns, Creamed Corn, Baby Carrots, Celery sticks
Friday: Fish Sticks, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes
Saturday: Hamburgers and Hot Dogs (Kids' Birthday Party!!) Cupcakes, Lots of fresh kid friendly fruits and veggies
Sunday: Crock Pot Chicken with potatoes, carrots, celery, onion

When everyone's sick

I've been reading a book called Large Family Logistics.  It is GREAT!  I will have to get my own copy.  I think the author left out one chapter though: What to do when everyone is sick.  It needs to keep track of who had what symptoms when, who had what medicine when, how to deal with grace when your kiddos are out of sorts.  Definitely need to add that chapter to this book!

Mommy's sick but has promises to keep

Don't those look yummy?  My mil brought home muffins from work, but didn't know what they were made with so we couldn't give them to our 3yo.  He was VERY disappointed, so mommy promised to make him some muffins.  Yesterday was town day so I bought the blueberries.  Then this morning I woke up feeling miserable.  I'm achy and stuffed up and tired and bleck, yup I caught what everyone else had last week:-P  However, I knew if I didn't make the muffins today I would never do it, the blueberries would go bad and I'd feel like a terrible mommy.  So I did a quick search and found this recipe.  I used regular sugar and brown sugar, but substituted all spice instead of cinnamon in the topping.  DELICIOUS!!  Normally I would look for a more whole food version or substitute Splenda instead of sugar, but I wasn't in the mood this morning and I needed to get started on it before I lost my resolve.  It was a good thing too.  I sat all morning after breakfast, made lunch, cleaned up lunch and slept all afternoon in the recliner.  

Another recipe I've been using while sick is this one for a cold remedy.  As a nursing mommy I get nervous about what medications I take and most of it doesn't work well for me anyway (knocks me out and renders me more useless to my family!)  I did not have any cayenne (we don't do spicy around here) and I just have the regular old supermarket kind of Cider Vinegar, but I think it cuts through the gunk in my throat and the honey definitely soothes my throat.  I will warn you...I didn't think it tasted that great.  My kids get a HUGE kick out of the faces I make when I down the stuff.  Though I think it still beats having to take Robitussin!

How do you cope when you are sick and the family still needs cared for?

 

Let's Get Organized!

I am trying to organize my life.  I am sure it will be a life long process:-)  I have read Managers of Their Homes and Large Family Logistics recently and I realize that everything I have read has the same basic ideas.  Fly Lady, Emilie Barnes, the Slob Sisters...They all have the same idea: Build a routine for your day, for your week, for the seasons.  WRITE IT DOWN somehow.  Then DO IT!  It doesn't matter if it is written on 3x5 cards, on color coded sticky notes, or on notebook paper in your Home Management Binder.

So that is my plan:-)  We actually have a few good routines in place.  Nap time is about 1pm.  Dinner is about 4:30.  Bedtime about 8pm.  We have recently started doing table chores with the boys after each meal.  So back to the drawing board for me!  I will be using MOTH to make a schedule for our family.  We need to have the basics in place (Up, dressed, breakfast, clean up, lunch, clean up, naps, dinner, clean up, and bed time) so that we can add in school the end of next month or the beginning of September!

Stay tuned as we get organized!

Menu Plan Monday 7/16

Let me start by apologizing!  I missed Menu Plan Monday last week.  I had my menu planned, just didn't get it posted on here.  It was one crazy week.  Last Monday was our once a month shopping and cooking day, plus Brian's younger brother and kiddos camped in our backyard!   So I was feeding 7 kiddos 5 and under, and 5 adults for several days last week.  Throw in a doctor's appointment and our kids coming down with some sort of virus or something and you get more chaos than usual!

So Here's this week's  dinner plan:

Monday - Sweet potato and Black Bean Burgers  I cooked mine in a pan instead of in the oven and they were worth trying again (unless you ask Brian, but he just doesn't like sweet potato!)

Tuesday - Ham, Mashed Potatoes, wilted Cabbage or coleslaw (Gotta use up some cabbage!)

Wednesday - Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Thursday - Goulash (made with garden fresh tomatoes!)

Friday - Fish Sticks (I may change this to tuna salad so that I don't have to turn the oven on!)

Saturday - Zesty Pizza Rolls (originally a gluten free dairy free recipe, but I just use half whole wheat and half  white flour for the flour in the recipe)

Sunday - Crock pot Chicken

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Menu Plan Monday

I have decided to do a Menu Plan Monday series on here to focus my posts a bit.  This week I am going to talk about my general weekly menu plan that I use to offer us a variety in our dinners and also to help me focus my grocery shopping.  I used to do a more specific weekly menu plan: The Monday is Spaghetti plan from one of FLY Lady's friends The Dinner Diva.  I have varied and expanded that a bit lately.  So here it is!

Mondays: Meatless
Tuesdays: Pork or Breakfast for dinner
Wednesdays: Chicken
Thursdays: Beef
Fridays: Fish
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Crock Pot (for the Noon meal after church)

The hardest recipes for me are the Meatless ones.  We need lots of protein in this house and beans do not agree with us:-)

Right now I am prepping for our mega monthly shopping trip.  I am filling in these menus so I don't forget to plan anything.  I try to rotate a few simple breakfasts and snacks too.  Lunch is usually Leftovers for the adults and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the kids unless I have a leftover that I know they really enjoyed.  This month I want to plan side dishes a little better so that we are sure to get our veggies eaten.

How do you plan your meals?  Do you have a system?