Just joking but you never know...maybe one day I will get around to doing it. I actually do have a goal for 2013 to write my first children's book. And I am sure you will be the first to hear about it if I do make that goal.
However, today's post is about another kind of book...a cook book...or in my case The UN-Cook Book.
Over the last few years, I have often been asked how I am able to feed a large family...organize meals...and shop...along with all the other things we do throughout the day. It is very simple... I organize! If you have not figured me out yet...I LOVE to organize!
So, I was asked to give an idea of how I plan meals and shop for food. Now...this is why I would call my book The UN-Cook Book. I would never put a recipe in the book...my book would be more about taking what you like in recipes and helping you set it up to help you plan and shop for food. This is a brief explanation of how I make it work. Feel free to ask if you want more explanation. This has been in the works for about 30 years but I have never put any of this in writing.
Take the recipes that you like and organize them in a way that works for you. Personally, I do not like to have the same meal more than once a month, but there some people who like to have Taco Tuesdays or Pizza Fridays...do what works for your family in this regard. In actuality we have come to this ourselves due to a ministry we are a part of at the local university...we serve spaghetti every Wednesday so it has become a part of our meal planning.
If you are like us, you probably have certain activities that happen on a regular basis, and since food is often attached to these activities, we plan meals around these activities as well. For instance, we have a monthly meeting for our 4H club...it is a busy day and goes into the night so we have made this our Subway night...I never have to wonder what we are eating that night...just a quick run into the store to pick them up...It is so regular I don't know why our Subway does not have them ready for us when I walk into the door! Oh...how nice that would be, right!?!
I also have a leftovers nigh at our house...once a week we look into the frig and take our chances on what is left over from past meals to eat. Sometimes we do conversion meals but often it is first come first serve starting with the youngest and working our way up the line. If by some chance, we do not have any leftovers, I have a few back up meals in the freezer (I will talk about that in a bit.) on stand by for such an occasion. IF those don't exist, we eat a breakfast dinner or go hungry (just joking but it is not a bad idea to fast occasionally!)
Now for the planning...I have done this in many ways over the years but the best plan is usually a two week menu...sometimes I stretch it to three weeks if I am really busy and I know I will not have the time to go to the store (Have I mentioned that I HATE going to the store?). I have a menu planner already created in a Word document and I fill in my dinner meals. Our breakfast and lunch menus have not changed in over ten years (although sometimes a little manipulated if need be)! My children know what they are waking up to each morning and we could do it in our sleep...and probably have over the years! Lunch is too busy of a transition time in our house to fuss over what we are going to have and we are often rushing out the door for afternoon activities to have to think about what is going into our bodies...it is quick and easy.
I think I will stop here for the day...a long post is hard to understand and I don't want to be so overwhelming that it does not help those who are interested. So, I will finish up with a second blog tomorrow. I will also try to give an example of a two week menu in tomorrow's post.
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