Meal planning and other fun stuff

Every week I dread planning a menu, making a grocery list, and going grocery shopping. I have been known to stare at a piece of paper for up to an hour (or three) just trying to figure out what to cook; trying to figure out what to fill all those twenty one spaces with! You're probably thinking, "It isn't that hard, woman! Just pick something!" But I just can't. Is it all the differing degrees of picky of the lovelies that I cook for? Is it my love of food and cooking? Is it my desire to try new things and make people smile? I don't know! It isn't just food, though, I tend to have a hard time making decisions in general. I get all worked up about the simplest things and food choices are a very common, shall I say, conundrum I find myself in.

I hate the word conundrum by the way. My hatred for it goes way back. Several years ago I lost an argument concerning that word. Nick, my English teacher husband, used it in sentence and I laughed at him thinking he made it up. I probably should have known better because he is an English teacher after all. Anyway, to this day he loves to rub it in whenever we hear it and I never have used it, until now. I guess I can't really blame him for making such a big deal out of the one argument he has won in over twenty years though! (Nick, if you're reading this, you know I love you, babe.)

So, since meal planning is a major headache for me and it doesn't look like I'll be hiring a personal chef any time soon, I have decided to simplify it. My first thought was to do theme nights like "Meatless Monday" or "Taco Tuesday." I categorized all the things I could think of that I cook and the plan was to make a generic menu of themes then go to the lists and choose meals each week. I still like that idea, but I decided it isn't for this season. 

This season of motherhood is one of little sleep and much messes. It is one that can very easily bring about feelings of, well, drowning. In this season, I just don't have the brain space for that many choices and fighting picky eaters at every.single.meal. zaps the strength right out of me. Another thing that I constantly struggle with is how I want my children to learn how to cook, but I'm such a control freak that it is hard to take my hands off and just let them make a mess or a mistake. (I'm working on that one.The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?) Well, my new plan is not only super simple for my little brain, but it's sure to quiet the mealtime whiney-butts while hopefully encouraging some participation in the kitchen. Oh, and bonus! Eating at home keeps the budget in check too. Have you ever added up what you spend eating out in a month? I did! And I was shocked at how much we spent! Now I budget in a certain amount of money for eating out because as much as I love to cook, I hate cleaning up and washing the dishes. (Who doesn't?)

What I decided to do is a combination of theme nights and just simply eating the same thing every week. I ended up choosing my family's favorite meals, which probably won't be a surprise to you. Monday is spaghetti (or Italian night), followed by Taco Tuesday, then on Wednesdays we eat at church (or the picky ones eat get a sandwich), Thursday is a sheet pan meal or a new Trim Healthy Mama recipe, and Friday is pizza night so mama can look forward to not cooking on purpose! To have a planned meal to eat out and not feel guilty about spending the money is a win in my book, and who doesn't love pizza? (Seth, that's who. So he eats cheese breadsticks.)

Here's my menu in case you also need some inspiration:


Saturday (Grocery shopping/ Grocery pick-up day)
B-Cereal or whatever you can find because mama ain't cookin'
L-Sandwiches (or soup in the winter)
D-Brinner (aka breakfast for dinner)

Sunday- (Sabbath rest)
B-Donuts @ church
L-Crock Pot Meal
D-Cereal and fruit (Childhood memory from Granny's house)

Monday- (Italian)
B-Biscuits and sausage (because certain picky people don't like sausage biscuits)
L-Leftovers
D-Spaghetti and Meatballs, salad, garlic toast

Tuesday- (Mexican/Taco Tuesday)
B-Sausage scramble (potatoes, sausage, eggs, and cheese)
L-Meatball subs and salad or other leftovers
D-Tacos

Wednesday-
B-Waffles and bacon or ham and cheese omelettes
L-Taco salad (or other leftovers)
D-@ Church

Thursday- (THM/Sheet Pan)
B-Toast and eggs
L-Salmon patties, ranch style beans
D-Sheet Pan with chicken, broccoli, and sweet potatoes

Friday-
B-Cinnamon toast and boiled eggs
L-Catalina or Cobb salad (or soup in the winter)
D-Pizza

Some of these meals will be switched out periodically, like spaghetti and meatballs might get switched out for lasagna, cheese raviolis, chicken spaghetti, or baked ziti. You'll notice that I use leftovers a lot for lunch. I also plan my menu to purposely use the same ingredients like when we have ham and cheese omelettes, we'll have cobb salad later in the week to use up the diced ham.

 As much as I like the simplicity of eating the same exact thing every week, I know that I would actually get tired of it so I did leave a lot of room for change. Using this same menu with its themes greatly decreases the amount of thought I have to put into this each week. Grocery shopping is made simple as well because my ingredients won't vary much. I can easily stock up on certain things that I know I will use a lot. 

Theme night ideas and more:

Mexican- tacos (beef, chicken, fish, hard, or soft), chalupas or tostadas, enchiladas (chicken, beef, green chile, or red sauce), chimichitos, taco soup, fiesta chicken soup, stuffed bell peppers, quesadillas (beef or chicken), burrito bowls, fajitas (chicken or steak), fideo, mexican stew, beanie burritos, nachos, fish taco bowl, mexican pizzas, pork carnitas

Italian/Pasta- meatball subs, spaghetti (with meat sauce or meatballs), chicken spaghetti, french bread pizza, lasagna, baked ziti, cheese ravioli, tortilla pizzas, zuppa tuscana, stromboli, chicken parmesan, garlic bread pizzas, goulash

Other- sliders, sloppy joes, hot dogs, sausage wraps, corn dogs, pizza rolls, taquitos, tater tot casserole, salisbury steaks, lentils, chicken salad, tuna fish salad, Italian BMT sub, hawaiian roll sandwiches, BLTs, Oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, pigs in a blanket, chicken pot pie

Crock Pot Meals- pinto beans (and sausage), ranch chicken with potatoes and carrots, italian chicken, pork chops, roast, chili