My Loving Home

Working on a December menu

{ 07:42, Tuesday, November 25, 2008 } { Posted in Meal Planning } { 3 comments } { Link }

I spent quite a bit of time over the weekend working on a month-long menu for December. I took Morning Sunshine's suggestion of making a menu for the entire month rather than a week or two, which is how I have been planning.

I followed my simplified plan of a specific main dish for each day of the week. This simple step helped me so much. Here is my December menu plan, charted in a calendar format. I planned all three meals since my hubby comes home for lunch each day.

Here is my finished December menu, in a vinyl page protector:

After planning the menu, I collected all main dish recipes and also put those in page protectors according to type: spaghetti, rice/beans, etc.

My final step will be planning my grocery list from the menu. I have usually shopped and cooked the other way 'round--buy the groceries, then plan the meals. I'm hoping that being more organized before shopping will make my life a bit easier and reduce my grocery bill, too!

Off to watch a little t.v. with Hubby; we like the political shows on Fox News. We are proud to be conservatives, and pray for the best for our country.

Blessings,
~Jennie

My Meal Simplification Plan - Part 2

{ 08:50, Thursday, November 13, 2008 } { Posted in Meal Planning } { 3 comments } { Link }

Yesterday I described my Meal Simplification Plan, and covered breakfast and lunch. Now I would like to give a description of my dinner planning ideas.

• The final step of my meal simplification plan is to follow a rotation schedule for dinners.

My rotation schedule for dinners:
Monday – spaghetti
Tuesday – beans or rice
Wednesday – homemade or frozen pizza
Thursday – beef
Friday – chicken
Saturday – leftovers or scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast
Sunday – sandwiches or pancakes

Some dinner ideas, based on this rotation schedule:
Mon./spaghetti
    Spaghetti salad
    Lasagna
    Skillet Macaroni Pizza
    Special Macaroni and Cheese
    Baked Noodle and Cheese Casserole

Tues./beans or rice
    Rice with diced meat and vegetables
    Quick beef and rice
    Hamburger Rice Casserole
    Baked Rice and Cheese
    Rice and Broccoli Casserole

Wed./frozen or homemade pizza

Thurs./beef
    Meatloaf w/au gratin potatoes
    Sloppy joes
    Hamburger patties on buns
    Tacos
    Ground beef layered casserole
    Beef and rice

Fri./chicken
    Chicken and Bowtie pasta
    No Peeky Chicken
    Chicken and green bean Bake
    Chicken Casserole
    Chicken Enchiladas

Sat./leftovers or scrambled eggs and toast

Sun./sandwiches or pancakes

Additional items to make regularly: these items are either a portion of a meal or the basis for the meal.

Bread in machine
Tortillas
Pizza crusts
Muffins
Cookies
Cakes

Some of the meal planning challenges I face are: a large family and a somewhat limited grocery budget; a wide variety of ages ranging from my almost-fifty-year-old Hubby to my youngest child who is two years old; and a small-ish kitchen which puts food storage and meal preparation space at a premium.

Some of the meal planning blessings that I have are: no picky eaters; I love to cook and bake; we are near several grocery stores that run excellent sales; and we have an Aldi and Super Walmart for reasonably good food values on non-sale items.

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What are your meal planning and preparation challenges and blessings? I hope you will leave a comment and share your thoughts with me!

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Tomorrow I hope to talk a bit about sewing and some projects that could be made for Christmas gifts.

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Blessings to you today as you serve the Lord and your family!
~Jennie

My Meal Simplification Plan

{ 01:53, Wednesday, November 12, 2008 } { Posted in Meal Planning } { 1 comments } { Link }

Still thinking ‘bout menu planning….

I don’t know why I struggle with this area of homemaking so much…. The Lord is giving me some insights and ideas that will, hopefully, help me be more diligent and successful in meal planning. I am thinking of following a Meal Simplification Plan that will provide the framework for three meals per day, seven days per week. Based on the plan’s framework, I can “plug in” menu items from a list of choices.

Here is a brief description of my Meal Simplification Plan:

• Keep breakfast simple and quick, so that the children can begin their schoolwork by 8:30 a.m.

Some breakfast ideas include:
Crock-pot oatmeal prepared the previous evening before bedtime
Toast w/butter
Peanut butter toast
Scrambled egg burritos; these could be prepared ahead of time and frozen.

To simplify lunchtime, which can be hectic at my home because Hubby comes home for lunch (what a blessing!!!), I worked out a plan some time ago to have soup/stew/chili and fresh, homemade bread for lunch every day. This is particularly delicious in the fall and winter months. So my plan looks something like this:

• I would arise early and Set up the bread machine and put soup in crock-pot before breakfast. This would have to be done by 7:30 a.m. at the latest in order for the fresh bread to be ready and the soup to be fully cooked when my dearest husband comes home for lunch at noon.

Some lunch ideas for soups prepared in the crock-pot:
Ground beef (or beef stew) noodle in a broth base
Tomato vegetable
Chicken and vegetable with rice in broth base
Beef and Barley in a broth base
Chicken Barley in a broth base
Split Pea and ham or smoked sausage
Turkey vegetable in tomato and broth base
Bean with ham or smoked sausage
Chili—beef chili, vegetarian chili, tomato-less chili

Following these ideas will ensure that breakfast and lunch are hassle-free. I will post the remainder of my meal plan tomorrow.

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Bible Reading with Toddlers and Small Children

I was reading an article from the internet last night regarding child rearing and child training. It was written by a Primitive Baptist author, and had some noteworthy points. I was convicted that I don't read the Scriptures aloud to my little ones enough. Too often I give them "tokenism" in the form of a Christian video or a Christian storybook, but not frequently enough do I read to them directly from the King James Bible.

So, this morning while the little ones were still in their highchairs after breakfast, I began in Genesis chapter 1 and read ten verses or so. I had them repeat after me, in their childlike way, "The Bible is God's Word." It is a blessing and a privilege to teach and train these little ones for the Lord.

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Blessings to you as you serve the Lord today!
~Jennie