Thanksgiving Tip: Tuesday

Remember to be thankful as you busily prepare for the "big feast".
When I was 17 I prepared my first Thanksgiving meal. My father told me on Tuesday that I would be the chief chef for our 30 guests.

I cried.

I begged.

I stomped my feet.

Nothing worked. 

I had to figure out what the heck to do. I asked my dad for help.

He sat me down, made me make a menu, and prepare a time line for my big day in the kitchen. In the end, I made a great meal. Almost everything was warm all at the same time, and I felt really proud of myself.

Tuesday is a great day to write out your plan of attack.

• Write down your checklist of meals. 
• Figure out when you need to begin cooking each item in order for it to hit the table just right. 
• Decide when you will do any preparation. (For example, I peel potatoes the day before and store them in the refrigerator in a bag or bowl of water).
• Create your master schedule. This piece of paper is magical for those who have never tackled such a complicated meal. It saves me every time!

They Still Want to Eat

Even though it's been one of those weeks where all seven of us came down with varying types of coughs and colds, the family still wants to eat.
While this may seem obvious to everyone else, it's weeks like these that make feeding an army challenging.

I relied heavily on my freezer meals and it brings me to my heart message for today.
I absolutely love taking care of my family. I get up with my husband in the morning to make sure he has coffee, vitamins, food, and freshly ironed clothes.
I prepare homeschool lessons for 4 of my 5 boys (the oldest is in college) and I happily shuttle my kids to and from their outside classes and clubs.
One of my most (and least) favorite things to do for my crew is to decide what they will eat each and every day.

As an at home wife and mom I hold an unnoticed, yet powerful grip over my men. What they eat impacts their health, stamina, and attitude. I do not know how things work in your home, but in my home just the smell of something cooking in the kitchen makes my crew happy.

This week as I wasn't feeling the best I realized that preparing meals can be a huge burden if my heart (and freezer) is not right. Its when I do not feel well that I get a glimpse into the deepest part of my heart. This week I caught sight of the fact that sometimes I grumble that my family is asking me "What's for dinner?" again. This part of my life is like laundry. It's fine if it's undercontrol, but if I don't plan regularly it will eat me alive.

Am I complaining? Nope. Just being real.
If I hadn't taken the time to prepare food in advance, if I had not frozen meals, if I had not purchased everything I needed for my menu my family would not have eaten home cooked meals this week.

My encouragement to you today is that it's worth it to double a recipe here, freeze a recipe there. Have a few meals nestled safely in your home so that even when it's one of "those weeks, or days" you have something to serve your family.

How about you? Do you ever find it overwhelming to feed your family 3 square meals a day?

Say Mmmm!

I stumbled upon an amazing site on-line for recipes, menu planning, and shopping lists that I simply must share.
Say Mmm is an online cooking organizer that allows you to type in your recipes and assign them into your menu planning calendar. It will help you create your shopping lists as well. For bloggers like me, it allows us to store our recipes on-line and enables us to share both the recipe and shopping lists easily.

Click on My Recipes and see what I mean.

While I only discovered this yesterday, I've already transferred the recipes I've shared with you to date.

For anyone serious about creating a menu and sticking to it, I highly recommend this site! I plan to add a few recipes a week, until I have stored all my personal favorites. This should really cut down on the time it takes me to plan out my family's meals. What a valuable resource!

Let me know if you love it!

(I love the fact that you can rate your recipes!)

Menu Planning and Shopping

Today is my bulk store shopping day. I have sketched out my next two weeks worth of meals: homemade pizza with anti-pasta (once a week), chicken stir fry, Spaghetti with meat sauce and salad, chicken quesadilla's, Chicken Chowder soup with rolls, beef tacos, , pork chops with beans, baked potatoes with all the fixings, lasagna, fajitas, tortilla soup, Sarah's Shepherd's Pie, and pork kabobs with veggies and rice.

I plan to at least double the Spaghetti Sauce and the tortilla Soup recipes. I plan to add one of each meal to my freezer.
The lasagna,  Shepherd's pie, and beans are sitting in my freezer right now. I use these meals on days where we will be home for dinner, but my days do not afford me time to cook.


First one to comment or email first wins:
What recipe do you want me to share next from my menu?

What's For Dinner?

With 5 hungry boys, I hear this question at least 5 times each day. I've learned that once the first son asks the question I need to have an answer and a directive ready simultaneously.
"We are having Spaghetti. Now please go tell all your brothers what's on the menu right now."
This only works if I have already figured out what dinner is of course.

I plan my families meals out a week to a month in advance. I am currently working off a How to Feed an Army: Themed Calendar to simplify the process of planning. This is essential for me because we now live in the mountains about an hour from my favorite bulk stores. If I do not want to spend a fortune on gas or over priced food, I need to be organized.

How about you? How do you plan out this weeks meals for your family?