Mess Busters: Meal Planning
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We are entering into week three. By now most of you should be starting to feel just a little pressure (as many are behind and still trying to get week one completed). This is okay. Relax, don't worry about that, just keep at it bit by bit.

I would like everyone to try and tackle their own menu design. Although some of you may think this task is a bit tedious, it alone can be one of the greatest time saving techniques there is. Also it will require little thought and choices on a daily basis. Until you have tried this project, seen it in action, you will not fully recognise what a time saver it is not to mention the energy savings. It's amazing how much energy we spend on this one area. And saves money too as we never forget about the salad stuff in the bottom of the fridge and find out that we bought it just to make more garbage as it had to get thrown out as its now gone rotten. Rechannel this energy into other things and it is almost like having a spare hand or two.

So give it a try. I am going to try and attach the original posting I did about Messies ( the long one) and I recommend that you print it out as we will use it over the next few weeks as we tackle the layouts. Before we can get into serious clean mode we really need to get our menu's and cleaning schedules worked out.

Week # 3 - Meal Planning

Try and spend time working out and naming your theme nights for your menu plan. Then plug in different meal plans that apply under each heading. If you have a calander program ( I use Calander creator plus for this) use it. Otherwise use the old pen and paper. Remember the O.H.I.O. rule. When you are finished writing it up, file the info. I file my written copies with my cookbooks. If any of you are the really organized types and have this area under control it will leave you a bit of spare time to finish up last week.

Plan Themes for your menu:

• Casserole night
• Finger foods
• Pasta
• TV dinner night (This is a favorite with the kids. We don't eat TV dinners, but this is the only meal where the kids are allowed to eat in front of the TV).
• Kids choice
• Dad's night
• Saturday night special

Be creative. Once you have recorded your themes, then input meal ideas under each theme. For example, Pasta night in our house is either macaroni, spaghetti, or lasagna. Casserole night is a combo of any of the meals that can be made in one dish. I have a list of about 40+ ideas. Dad's cook night has the list of all the things Dad can cook, sloppy joes, pizza, chili, BBQ. Once you have come up with 7 pretty concrete themes then you need to allocate each theme to each day. To do this you need to look at your commitment schedule.

Here is an example. On Mondays oldest boy has cubs. This means that we do not have much time to eat and get out the door. Therefore, Monday night is cassarole night. Tthis also works because Sunday is Dining Room Dinner Night where we have roast beef, roast chicken, etc., and usually results in leftovers. This way a casserole can be made, cooked in oven, ready early with no extra prep, dishes are easy to clean up, then out the door on time.

Once you have themed each night the rest falls into place quite easily. Plan your dinner menu, then add in lunch and breakfast. I list everything, type of sandwhiches, soup, vegs, etc. This way it can be balanced by the Canada food guide, and it also provides me with an instant grocery list.

Extra hint: Saturday mornings is always brunch, usually pancakes at 10:30-ish. Plan for a snack lunch that kids can prepare themselves and we always have Saturday night Special. We eat late. This gives us a little extra time in getting everything layed out for Sunday. This prevents a crazy Sunday morning before church. Sunday, we have bagels, muffins, or donuts. Special treat only on this day! Also, it is Hot dogs for lunch. Fast, easy, everyone (except me) loves them, and doesn't create a lot of work or dishes.

Keep these menu plans in a binder with your cookbooks so that they may be reused some other week down the road when maybe you ran short of time writing out the exact menu. Post both the menu plan and chore list for the week on your fridge for everyone to see. Refer to it as much as possible.

Remember...

Remember to try and stay on top of the daily stuff, maintenance stuff not major cleaning/organizing projects, so we don't take too many steps backwards. With the menu out of the way we will be ready the following week to tackle the big stuff.

Don't have the scriptures ready for you but will pass on some food for thought!

God had to be organized to create the earth in six days. If He wasn't organized we would really live in a mixed up world. He must have had some preplan time. The task was undertaken one step at a time. And remember, He did not go to the next task without completing the previous one. Amen! This is a good example for us to follow. All we need to learn is good time management to complete our tasks and we need to undertake them one step at a time.

Last but not least, we need rest. Large corporations adopt and recognize this instruction to rest. They recognize that failure to have adequate rest results in fatigue, decreased work productivity, and sickness hence the development of "Wellness leave." All we need to do is learn how to manage our time effectively as it applies to our individual responsibilities. The rest will be easy.

Many times over the past few years many people who know me are amazed that I can have so much going on at the same time. They are wonderful and give me much ego boosting praise. But truth be told, it is really only a result of good time management and using the gifts God has given me. One nice side benefit of using good TM is that you have such variety, which is really the spice of life. God invented variety for our enjoyment. I have found that one of the greatest defenses against depression is lots of variety. I really don't have any time to get bored. My life's garden just doesn't grow roses. I have carnations, lily of the valley, daisies, ferns, and gardenia. Occassionally, I don't watch for weeds starting, and by the time I see them it requires a major weeding job, but then the flowers florish again. The key is that I watch for the weeds and try to pull them at an infant stage. I also allow my garden some rest time. If it was in the sun all of the time it to would burn out.

Happy Meal Planning this week. Johann DeWolfe.

©Copyright 2006 by ADHD of the Christian Kind.