Another helpful tip from the Lady of Redwoodshire

Aren't we all trying to find different devices to make the details of our lives easier and more efficient?  Sometimes regular day to day tasks like chores are the hardest to keep up with.  I often find myself stopping into the grocery store multiple times a week to get a few ingredients for a meal.  It would be nice to go once, and get everything I may possibly need for the week in that single trip.  And even with multiple trips to the store, I sometimes find myself looking around not knowing what to make for dinner.  Can anyone relate?

I have tried a few things over time to help with the lack of ideas for meals.  I have a friend who made a list of tried & loved meals for her family hanging from her refrigerator.  I thought that was a wonderful idea.  When all your family favorite meals are listed in one place, you have a resource for meal ideas at hand.  My list lives in my inbox- and if I ever think of something new I just add to it.  This was a helpful step, but I took it a little further earlier this year.  At the beginning of the year I decided I was going to have a 5-week meal rotation.  I use google calendars for just about everything, and started picking out 3 meals for each week; which is enough for our family, as we often have left overs.  I picked a different meal for Monday, Wednesday & Friday and put it in my google calendar, with a repeat every 5 weeks.  Then the Laird made a wonderful suggestion:  to make a Shopping List for each week of meals!  It was such a great idea, I made my shopping lists right away.

Our Meal Rotation looks like this:
Week 1:
Meatloaf w/ corn muffins & frozen veggies or Spaghetti & meatballs w/ salad
Green salad w/ meat topping & potato side
Pizza or Soup

Week 2:
Sweet Vidalia Onion Chicken w/ rice & frozen veggies
Quesadillas w/ rice, beans & plantains
Soup or Pizza

Week 3:
Macaroni & Cheese or Lasagna (homemade) w/frozen veggies & salad
Eggplant Parmesan & spinach Sandwiches w/ potato side
Pizza or Soup

Week 4:
Tacos w/ rice & plantains
Tuna Melt w/ potato side & salad
Soup or Pizza

Week 5:
Whole Chicken Roaster w/ quinoa & frozen veggies
Chicken wraps w/ french fries
Pizza or Soup

Obviously there is room for changes, but this is the general menu.  And when we get tired of these staples we'll change it up.  And for the off nights that we don't have left overs for, we can make what comes easily- pasta & veggies or breakfast for dinner.  I created a Shopping list of ingredients for each week based on the particular meals we'll be having.  This whole meal plan takes the "thinking" out of meal planning for each week, which is such a blessing.  It's so nice to just know what I need to buy for the week, and make a single trip.  We're 3 weeks into our meal planning and it's going great.  It's been such a weight lifted, and allows me to joyfully put meals on the table rather than throw something together last minute or just end up scrounging a meal together (like breakfast for dinner).  If meals tend to weigh you down or stress you out, you should do a little prep work and make a meal plan for your family!