Menu Planning

I know that there are those of you who plan your weekly meals like a boss.  I have always envied them and felt like it was a great idea but my day to day is so full I was just sure there was no way to fit in another thing.  Let alone planning meals for 2 weeks to a month.

Wellllll, when you have 5 kids they sure do seem to want to eat all the time.  Every day even, multiple times a day and they are all super curious about what that food may be.  So curious in fact, that they ask....a lot...   When you have 5 (6 when it's dinner time) asking what we are eating multiple times each...well you can imagine it makes mommy a bit stabby.  Meal planning started to sound more like a sanity saver than a time taker. 

I decided to do a pay period at a time.  My first meal plan is for two weeks and we started Monday.  I wrote out a ridiculous list of grocery items and collected it all from Wal-Mart, Sams, and Aldi.  I am hoping that menu planning will not only remove the constant badgering of what is for lunch/dinner, but will also save us from multiple trips to the store and eating out due to frustration or lack of planning.

Week 1:
Monday    Grilled Cheese       Homemade Pizza
Tuesday    Totinos Pizzas       Chicken and Dumplings
Wednesday  Mac&Cheese      Wednesday Church
Thursday    Sandwiches          Beef Enchiladas
Friday        Hot dogs                teriyaki chicken
Saturday    waffles                   Chicken tacos
Sunday       out to eat               Bierocks

Week 2:
Monday   Pigs in a Blanket    Chicken tacos
Tuesday   Mac & Cheese       Spaghetti meatballs
Wednesday  Sandwiches       Wednesday Church
Thursday   hot dogs                homemade pizza
Friday       grilled cheese       BBQ meatballs &fried potatoes
Saturday   Totinos pizzas      Hamburger helper
Sunday     out to lunch           waffles


We have already learned sometimes switching one day or one meal for another helps.  For example Monday I went to Savers for their 50% off sale and Jared was home with the kids.  He decided to let them make the Totinos pizzas (Tuesdays Meal) vs grilled cheese.  Since they had little frozen pizzas for lunch they didn't want homemade pizza for dinner so we just switched the whole day.  It worked out great.

I haven't been to the store since Saturday (when I was getting groceries for the pay period).  That is huge!  I even made sure I had all I needed for upcoming baking orders.  That alone will save us money.  I'm hopeful this will get easier and we'll come up with better meals and new recipes as we go but for a first time experience it's a success!