Meal planning takes the guesswork out of dinner time, that's obvious. But I personally think that breakfast and lunch, especially when packing lunches for kids, is just as challenging on the fly. When I quit working 2 years ago, I committed to stop pouring cereal for breakfast and sending pb&j for lunch everyday. Not that some days don't just need a bowl of cereal or a pb&j, but reality is, I think kids will (mostly) eat more variety if you just give it to them. In fact, in the last year, I have started eating things like avocados, guacamole, hummus, salmon, zucchini. . .the list really could go on and on. My point is, as I have added these yummy foods into my diet, turns out, my kids also love them. I think Madison could live on salmon and guac. True story.
Starting with this school year, breakfasts consist of homemade pancakes, muffins, oatmeal, sometimes eggs and toast or an egg sandwich. The pancakes and muffins I make in double or triple batches and freeze, and then take out the 4 that I need for the day, and either toast or microwave to heat.
The kids pack their lunch 98% of the time, in fact, I think they've each only bought lunch once this year. I do pack leftovers in their thermos sometimes, but typically the "main dish" is a sandwich, bagel sandwich or wrap. I also always include a fruit, veggie and a dairy item- either a cheese stick or yogurt, and a treat.
Now, since we will be out of town for a few days starting Saturday, for dinners, I'll be using random things we have already. For lunches, I'll be sending leftovers with the kids as well as eating them myself- more than a normal week anyway.
A little key for our meal plan:
Red: breakfast (for kids during the week)
Yellow: mom breakfast
Purple: packed lunches
Grey: mom lunches
Brown: dinner
Teal: all lunch
Now, on to coupon clipping and grocery listing :)
No comments:
Post a Comment