Even before I began homeschooling, we had way too many books around this house. I’ve been buying children’s books since the conception of my first daughter. Book fairs, school book orders, book mail clubs. Actually, I started my collection years before Coco was born. I still have my original Babysitter’s Club books that I saved for my future children. Why wouldn’t I? My fantasy home always had a fully-stocked library complete with plush chairs and wide windows.

Now fast forward twenty or so years. No, no library. Yes, I still have the books. I have drastically simplified our home in the last few years…removing knick knacks and cluttered shelves. The only thing I could not bear to get rid of was our books. I routinely give away novels that I’ve read but I find it impossible to part with my children’s books.

When the girls started sharing a room, there was just not enough room for all their books in one bedroom. Finally, I parted with some chewed up baby board books. Thirteen of them in fact. It felt so good that the next day I boxed up quite a few more and gave them away.

Still, though we had so many! Now that we’re homeschooling, we have even more and I am saving many of Coco’s books for when Soleil gets older. Soleil’s bookshelf was perpetually overflowing and she read the same books over and over. I think too many choices was just overwhelming.

So what did I decide to do with all those books?

In our garage, we have several large filing drawers. Soleil has about 25 books on her bedroom bookshelf at all times. The rest are in the drawers in the garage. (you can easily have used a large storage bin or shelf for this idea.) Every couple of weeks, I will take her “book shopping.”

First, she picks all the books she’d like to exchange from her shelf (usually leaving one or two behind).

Then, she trades those books for books in the garage.

I had the idea to sort the books by season and subject, but I said no to my inner control freak. Soleil can pick whatever books she wants, whether she’s reading about valentines in the summer or not.

Often, I will have a particular idea for a book that goes with something we’re studying. If that’s the case, I’ll just grab it and add it to her pile as a bonus.

Now, her shelves are pretty tidy most of the time and she is reading a variety of books. On a side note, we still use the library frequently. These books are stored in a basket in our living room.

I have to say, book shopping has become a pretty popular activity around here! I plan to keep this in action until my girls grow up and start their own collections.

Unless, of course I move into a house with a library.

Last week, I posted about saving money on groceries.  While many of us are having to tighten our grocery budgets as costs rise and incomes drop…that doesn’t mean we can’t still share the blessing of cooking for others.

I love to cook and bake for others!  Preparing a meal for someone is such a basic way of sharing love.  Whether we’re dropping a dinner off, making someone some cookies, or having people over for dinner, we’re sharing love!

All this food has to come out of our grocery money, though, and sometimes that can be difficult.  Here’s some ways I’ve managed to keep blessing others when we can sometimes barely make our budget work as it is.

First:  Keep it simple.  Sometimes I think we get overwhelmed because when we cook for others, we want it to be perfect, and kind of amazing.  By keeping it simple, you can afford to bless more often and special touches like a sweet note or pretty flowers from your backyard can make someone feel special and are free for you.

Tithe your grocery money.  Take 10% of your grocery budget and plan a meal for a hurting family, or bless them with some groceries.  Ask God to bless you and believe me, He will lead you to some awesome deals and multiply that gift!

Cook Double.  Cooking double is an easy way to bless someone.  All your ingredients are already out, you’ve only got one mess to clean, and you kill two birds with one stone!  As long as you’re doing this…

Look for sales.  Keep your eye out for sales on ingredients to make someone a casserole, baked goods, or other recipe.  If you find a great deal on something you use often, buy in bulk and keep it on hand so you’re ready for your next blessing! 

Have a couple go-to recipes for hurting souls.  If you know you make killer chocolate chip cookies or chicken pot pie, use that!  You might become known for comforting with a batch of cookies, and that’s okay. When you’ve perfected a recipe, you can cook it with almost no thought and have it on the ready for a friend in need.  So stock up on those chocolate chips and start your own ministry!

Share a meal.  Often times, a recipe will serve more than just your family.  Instead of waiting for a special occasion, invite a lonely friend over to share a casual dinner with your family.  Food mixed with friends is a sure-fire way to cheer someone. 

Pretty-fy your gift.  Even half a dozen brownies can make someone feel special, and you can stack them and tie a pretty ribbon around the packaging.  An extra-large single serving of a dish for a single friend or elderly neighbor is more appealing when delivered on a beautiful plate with a cloth napkin.  If you find you just don’t have much to share, start small, and over time you will find ways to do more.

In the last few months, I have been working on making healthier meals.  Switching to eating more organic, less processed foods has been an ongoing learning experience.  Much of that is learning how to afford all these changes. 

Coupons don’t really work for me.  Every once in a while I’ll catch one that is actually something I am going to use that week, but it isn’t often.  That is just about the only drawback to planning weeks of menus ahead of time.

Here’s some basic ways we are saving on groceries:

Mac and Cheese once a week.  For just $2.50 I can feed all four of us one night a week.  That really makes a difference in our weekly food budget.  It’s quick, easy, and I’ve found a version at my favorite store that doesn’t have any of the really bad ingredients I try to avoid.

Stretching meat.  By only adding half a pound where I would usually add a pound and bulking up with veggies, we save money.  Also, we are eating meat less and less as I find recipes for vegetarians that are perfectly filling!  We still love our meat, though.  No plans to become vegetarians anytime soon, I just like to borrow their ideas to save some cash.

Watching  portion sizes of our main dish.  If I divide a dish into 8 servings and have seconds on the side dishes only, we can eat that main dish the next night.  This doesn’t always work with a hungry hubby and two hungry girls, but I find that if I have fruits and veggies on the side, we have more of our main dish left.  Fortunately, my husband loves leftovers.

Menu plans and shopping lists!  Any sort of plan will help you to save money.  I am partial to my shopping system, but there are so many available. When you shop with a list, you save money.  Period.

When your budget is really cut short – some more ideas

Be boring.  That’s right.  Variety is the spice of life and all that, but when times get tough, it pays to be boring!  Buy a favorite cereal in bulk and have it daily for breakfast.  Or get some peanut butter and jelly at a warehouse club store and eat it every day for lunch.  This is not ideal, but if you’re really strapped for groceries, it helps.  

Buy a week’s worth of groceries for $30!  Check out Angel Food Ministries.  There’s no applications, no income requirements, and no obligations.  You just order a box and pick it up at a local site.  Check into this ministry that serves over 500,000 families a month!  I have not used this service yet, but friends have and they say it is awesome! 

Ways to save on produce

I’ve found a few ways to save money on organic produce and now am spending no more than I did before!  We are blessed to have many options where we live…maybe you have some of these, too:

• An organic booth at our local farmer’s market.
• An organic produce buying co-op.
• Organic farms that sell direct to the public.
• A local store that sells health food items and has a great organic produce section that is reasonable priced.
•  A CSA farm (Community Supported Agriculture) where you can purchase a share in the farm and get weekly deliveries. 

Check out Local Harvest to find some of these opportunities near you!

Don’t think that just because you have to tighten your budget, you can’t bless others with food!  Next week, I’ll post about creative ways to share food with others.

What ideas do you have for saving money at the grocery store?

A few years ago, Eric bought me a palm pilot.  He was sick of my post-it notes all over the house, as well as me forgetting things.  Everything was entered into this beautiful little silver box called Palm and the post-its were gone.  We were both happy.

For a while.  Then, I realized that I was not in the habit of checking my little silver box.  I would enter things in, but then fail to follow up and actually do them.  So, I gave myself one little post-it to remind me to check Palm.  It wasn’t long before one post-it turned into ten and we were right back where we started.

Eventually, Palm’s battery died and he sat, dead weight in my purse, for a year.  Finally, I moved him to a drawer and had a brief moment of silence in his honor.  Days later, the post-its were back in full force, now joined by to-do lists, my calorie tracker, and my ever-endearing notebooks.

I went through a clutter-removal process (read about it here) and got rid of many of my notebooks, but I still had a few slips of paper I needed each day.  In spite of being able to track my food, to do lists, and more online, I prefer to have it written down so I can get to it anytime of day. 

Finally, I found a solution.  A clipboard bought at the dollar store holds all of my daily papers and a pen.  Clipped on to it I have:

·         Daily priorities and tasks

·         Chore sheet

·         Food tracker and Points slider (from weight watchers)

·         Index card with a memory verse

·         A pen

I have things arranged so that at a glance, I can see every paper.  My food tracker and daily priorities sheet are small, and the chore list is a full sheet in the back. 

The best thing about this is that I can move it anywhere around the house and it doesn’t look too messy.  I always know where my lists are and I can add to them all day long if needed.

I also like having my priorities listed right there.  These are things I decide to do during my quiet time every day for each responsibility area in my life.  Often times, things I decide on in the early morning and maybe even write down in my journal are forgotten by noon.  Having them listed on my clipboard that I reference all day long really helps.

Another plus is that I am no longer searching under piles of school books (like a mad woman with low blood sugar) looking for my food tracker before I can eat lunch.  I also spy my memory verse quite a few times a day this way, and let me tell you it is hard to ignore!

I still miss Palm, especially when I am out and need to check my calendar, but this system actually works better for someone like me. 

What works for you?  Share any ideas for keeping your thoughts and tasks organized!

Each week, I set aside a couple of hours to intentionally teach the girls some aspect of homemaking.  While they learn from many tasks during the day, we all look forward to these times together that are especially fun.

Some “lessons” we’ve had include cooking, organizing, cleaning, table settings, menu planning, scrapbooking, and hospitality.  Perhaps someday I will learn to sew and teach them that as well!

So that I don’t forget to include these fun lessons, I will note on Coco’s weekly assignment sheet which day we are having one.  I usually take a short amount of time to prepare (even if only in my mind) and I always work it in with something we already have going on.

For instance, a couple weeks ago, we had friends coming over so I did a class on hospitality that day.  Last week, we had banana bread on our menu, so I planned for this recipe to be their project.  Then, I had the girls give two of their loaves away.   That was a simple class on preparing food gifts for others.

Every once in a while, I will share some of our ideas for these little classes, and I will post them in the HomeKeeping category.  Today, I want to share my basic, very loose outline.

First, I introduce our subject and talk about why it is important.  I usually have a verse that goes along with our subject.

Then, I brainstorm with the girls.  That is, I take the ideas they already have and add a few of my own.  Sometimes we are just chatting in the kitchen while we get ingredients out, like who we could give a food gift to, or sometimes we’re sitting at the table, writing ideas on the whiteboard.   I like this because we are all contributing ideas and the girls have lots of good ones!  I also get to see what they’ve already learned over the years just by living life in our home, and that can be encouraging as a mom. 

Next, we might do some research.  Of course we don’t call it research!  We look through books and magazines to find samples, ideas, and instructions and add them to Coco’s HomeKeeping book.  She often works on this on her own time because she enjoys it so much.  When Soleil gets older, I’ll have her keep one as well.

Finally, we put our skills to work.  The most fun, by far, is the hands-on application of what we’ve just learned.  We’ll cook, prepare a food basket, set a fancy table for dinner, go grocery shopping, or even clean their closet. 

Lastly, we clean up!  Following through with this step is important, and teaches responsibility.  It’s also fun and goes faster when we’re all helping, while of course lightening the load for me. 

All of these skills are things the girls will learn over time by being part of the family and household.   Yet, by deciding to NOT multitask for a couple hours each week and dedicating that time to enrich their homemaking skills, we not only learn and have fun, we grow closer and bond over these projects.

Isn’t that what keeping a happy home is all about?

Do you have any ideas or requests for ideas on a particular homekeeping subject?  Please share!

Okay, if you’ve been reading my blog the last few days then you’ve heard all about my homekeeping book.  Today, I’ll conclude this series with ideas for your daughters.  Tomorrow, I’ll be back to my MamaMusings, Devotions for moms, and tales of our School at Home. 

If you’ve made a book for yourself, maybe you’d like to make one for your daughter as well.  Or maybe you don’t need a book at all but you’d like your daughter to make some new habits.

Getting Started:

I used a 1” binder with a clear view cover for Coco’s book.  It is small, so it’s not intimidating, and she can decorate it, so it’s fun.

Instead of planning several weeks, give her just one sheet per day. 

On this sheet, you’ll list any chores you want her to do that day. 

Don’t forget her schedule when planning out chores.  If she has regular lessons or sports, you may want to assign easier chores on those days.

Some things, like making her bed, may be on the list every day.

Put the sheets in plastic page protectors, and she can use a dry erase marker to check things off each day. 

Here’s an example of a couple days out of Coco’s book:  (All in her bedroom*)

Monday:

Make Bed

Pick up toys/trash/laundry

Dust

Clean blinds/windowsill

Vacuum

Tuesday:

Make Bed

Pick up toys/trash/laundry

Straighten bookshelves and headboard

*Coco helps out daily around the house, on an as-needed basis, but the chores in her homekeeping book focus on her bedroom.  I want her to think of it as her own little home that she is responsible for.

Ideas for other sections in your book:

Decorating ideas:  Have her collect ideas for decorating out of magazines, etc. to make her room a home.

Cleaning directions.  Either your own, or copied out of books and magazines. 

Table Setting: Directions and ideas.  Many cookbooks have diagrams, or you can find one online.

Fun Snacks:  Many girls’ magazines, like American Girl and Family Fun, have fun snack ideas.  She can collect them here in her book.

Menu plan:  For an older girl, you can help her make a sample menu plan for the family.

Entertaining:  Find ideas for parties and gatherings and file them here. 

Hospitality:  Here, she can store tips and verses on hospitality and can practice them when her friends visit. 

Other how-to areas you might cover, depending on your household might be:  Sewing, cooking, laundry, ironing, gardening, organizing, crafts, etc. 

Again, there’s many websites with lots of information and ideas.  Take what you can use from these ideas and make them your own, to fit your family and your household.

Happy homemaking!

The last couple days, I’ve shared about my homekeeping book, filled with menu plans, recipes, grocery lists, and cleaning schedules. 

I said I would share my cleaning plan, and I will.  First, though, I should say that there are lots of great systems out there, I am only sharing mine because maybe somewhere there is another mom who has the same kind of brain as me and will find this useful.

Also, a confession:  I am great at coming up with systems, not so great at keeping up with them. Some weeks, my cleaning plan sits collecting dust while I attend to other things.  However, when I do buckle down, this is the easiest way I’ve found of doing things.  I’ve taken suggestions from several books and websites and made a plan that works for me. 

It is slightly embarrassing to admit that I need this list!  I am just not a natural housekeeper, which seems so unladylike!  Yet, it is better to just face it already and do what I have to do to keep up.  This is what I have to do to keep up.

My cleaning schedule has three sections, Daily (things I need to do each morning and evening), Weekly, and Declutter.

Here’s a week’s sample. 

Daily:

Morning:

Laundry

Make bed (Yes, I need a reminder still)

Empty dishwasher

Go over priorities for day

Any evening chores not done

Evening:

Wipe down counters/toilets in bathrooms

Dishes/Counters/Kitchen table/Stove

Vacuum kitchen

Put away toys, mail, etc.

Dining room table cleared and cleaned

Go over lesson plans for next day

Weekly: 

Monday: Living room

Tuesday:  Kitchen

Wednesday:  Bathroom/Bedroom/Closet

Thursday:  Errands

Fridays:  School area/Clean out purse and car/Plan school week

Saturday:  Catch up on any chores not done

I try to spend an hour or so every day on weekly chores.  It hardly ever happens, so oftentimes I am doing all my catching up on Saturdays.  For each weekly area, I actually have a checklist with details for each room.  (Such as, vacuum, dust, scrub shower, etc.) You would think after ten years in the same house I wouldn’t need it, but I actually still use this list. 

Declutter:

Monday:  Video cabinet

Tuesday:    Pantry

Wednesday:  Bathroom cabinet

Friday:  Binders

When making my schedules, I added all the little areas that need regular de-cluttering.  They repeat about every two months.  I have 18 cleaning weeks, to coincide with my menu plans.  This way, whatever week I am on, it is all there in my little binder:  Menus, grocery lists, and cleaning schedules. 

Tomorrow or Monday, I’ll share about making a homekeeping book for your daughters. 

The last couple of days, I’ve shared about making a homekeeping book filled with menu plans, recipes, shopping lists, and cleaning schedules. 

Once you have your 13 weeks of meal plans, making a keyed shopping list will save even more time.  I am going to share how I made my lists, then you can make the idea your own.

First, I made my lists in a spreadsheet, using excel.  I also have my menus on spreadsheets. 

Because we get paid every two weeks, I made our shopping lists for two weeks at a time. 

The first spreadsheet I made was a basic list of things I would need to buy every two weeks, regardless of our menu.  I separate my list into sections of the grocery store, which saves time once I’m at the store.

Things on my basic list include: milk, bread, cereal, eggs, etc.  I include every staple I might need. 

I save the basic list, and then copy it onto another worksheet.  I label it weeks 1 and 2.  At the top of the list, I list each dinner I have planned for the two week period.  I assign each meal a letter, from A-J.  Now comes the fun part.  I go through each recipe and list every ingredient or side I’ll need.  I actually list the amount right on the shopping list if it’s not something I have memorized.  That way, I won’t be stuck wondering which size can of evaporated milk I need.

As I am listing ingredients on the list, I put the letter of the meal it corresponds with in front of the ingredient.  For example, if I were making tacos and green beans and had assigned that meal to the letter A, my list might look like this:

A  taco shells

A  1 lb. ground beef

A  Cheddar cheese

A  Lettuce

A  Tomatoes

A  Green beans

And so on.

If an ingredient is used for more than one meal, I list both letters.  If I was also making meatloaf that week and it was meal letter F, I would do this:

        A/F  2 lb. ground beef.

I label breakfast foods Bf, lunch is L and snacks are S.  I have blank spots for notes or last minute things I need.  I also have a section where I list foods I purchase from Costco on a regular basis.

Although I do the bulk of my shopping for 2 weeks at a time, I do a second trip on the next Monday for fresh foods that can’t be frozen.  So, when making my list, I put an asterisk next to the foods that should be purchased on that second trip.  Fruits and veggies, a second gallon of milk, etc. 

Some of my items are general, such as fruit.  I will decide at the store which fruits to get based on what’s in season and on sale.

Once I have my list done, I save it as that week.  Then I go back to my basic list, copy it, and start again.

Warning:  On about week three, you may get really bored.  I took a week to make my shopping lists and another week to revise them all when I realized I’d left things out.  Now, though, I am so glad I took the time!

Once your lists are done, you’re ready to shop! 

You can leave your list for the next week on the fridge so you can add things during the week.  Or, you can check your cupboards quickly before you go.  Either way, you can cross out any staples that are on the list that you don’t need. 

Before you go to the store, take a look at your calendar.  Oftentimes we’ll get paid on an odd day and I won’t need 10 dinners.  Or, I’ll know we’re going to someone’s house for dinner that week.  I just take my pen and eliminate a dinner for that week. 

I usually eliminate the most expensive meal, unless I know my family was really looking forward to it.  Now, I’m glad I took all that time to key my list.  Because everything associated with that dinner can be easily crossed off my list.

Another reason a key helps is during your shopping trip.  If, like me, you shop with your kids, it can be hard to focus!  So if I’m at the store and they’re out of a key ingredient for a meal, or something is much more costly than I thought it would be, I can make a quick substitution. 

I like to shop with a calculator so I don’t go over my budget.  This helps me make the best choices in the heat of the moment. 

Take notes right on your lists and save them, as you may find that you need to revise them a couple times.  I ended up with a container of ricotta once and no meal that included it.  You may also want to note how much that trip cost you, so you can revise weeks later if you need to.

Once you get home and start making meals, take notes on those as well.  Cross out any that your husband does not like! Make notes on any changes you made, or would like to make.  Put a star next to favorites that you might want to repeat in future weeks you’ll plan next year.

To make your book even more useful, considering copying all your recipes and adding them to your weeks.  It takes time, but again, saves time. 

Once you start cooking, you’ll probably find new recipes you want to try.  I stick these in a section of my binder to add later when I revise my book. 

This sounds ridiculously detailed, but I have found over the years that I work better this way.  You might not need such detail, so make this idea your own.

Tomorrow, I’ll share my cleaning plan for my fellow moms that are not natural housekeepers.  It’ll help you make the best use of your time and simplify your days. 

Until then, let me know if any of you are trying this idea!

Yesterday, I shared how I keep a homekeeping book to organize the domestic side of my life.  We covered gathering ideas to plan meals for 13 weeks, or one fourth of the year. 

Now, you’ve gotten all your ideas.  Or maybe not.  Maybe you will take a couple weeks to gather ideas.  That is fine!  Just come back to this when you’re ready for the next step.

Next, you will begin to plan out weeks of meals.  I did this by printing out a blank 7×5 grid that I made on a spreadsheet.  You could easily draw one out.  Label the days of the weeks and each meal you’ll plan.

You’ll need 1 grid for each week, so 13 grids if you’re planning 13 weeks.   First, fill in your repeating items, like cereal for breakfasts or sandwiches for lunch. 

Then, using your idea sheets, begin to fill in your empty spaces.  Remember a few key things:

 Your schedule.  Plan easier meals on nights you know are usually busy.

Variety of tastes.  When planning weeks, be sure to have a variety of meals.   You don’t want to have a different chicken casserole each night of the week, or a bunch of high-fat meals!  If your family eats meat regularly, try to vary the kinds of meats.  This may get harder as you get to the end of your lists, and you may need to switch some things around.

Prep time.  In general, I try to spread out the dinners that take longer than an hour to make so that there are only a couple each week.   

Cost.  If you have a group of meals that all take lots of ingredients, you may want to spread those out as well so your grocery bill isn’t abnormally high one week.  I found this out the hard way!

Weather or hectic times.  I have a go-to week full of easy-to-prepare foods in case we are super busy. I also have a week that is great for cold weather and one for when it’s sizzling hot outside.  Not necessary, by any means, but nice to have. 

Leftovers.  I put an asterisk by the meals that will make good leftovers.   I plan at least 2 per week.  Then, we can have a leftover buffet on Fridays.

Produce. I try to plan meals toward the end of the week with frozen veggies if possible.  This doesn’t always work, but it’s good to keep in mind.

Okay!  Now that you’ve filled in 13 weeks of meals, sit back and reflect on how awesome you are.  Label each week 1-13 and put the papers away for now. 

 Tomorrow, I’ll talk about making keyed-grocery lists for each week so you’ll never be wandering around the store aimlessly again.

 Later, I’ll share my cleaning plan and how to make a homekeeping book for your daughters.

As you may be able to tell by now, I am a big fan of notebooks.  I use them to store ideas and to organize different areas of my life.  One of my most useful notebooks is also the one that took the longest to put together.

It’s my Homekeeping book, and it was well worth the time it took to make.  There are all kinds of books and systems you can purchase, but none fit my family or my picky tastes just so, so of course I made my own.

Right now, my book, a large, 3 ring binder, contains 18 weeks of menus, shopping lists, recipes, and cleaning plans.  I plan to revise the book each summer and add a few weeks until I have half a year, or 26 weeks. 

For those of you to whom cleaning comes naturally, you might not need a cleaning plan.  I have learned that having a plan helps my easily distracted brain, which would overlook many, many things. Especially if there’s a good book that needs reading. 

Anyway.   The process gets a little tiresome, but I promise if you stick with it, you will save yourself loads of time in the end.  When your book is complete, you will be able to grab a shopping list and head out the door without having to think.  Save that brain energy for more important things.

Today and tomorrow I am going to cover menu planning.  Over the next few days, I’ll share how I add keyed shopping lists and cleaning schedules to make my life even easier.  Then, I’ll talk about making a mini-homekeeping book for your daughters.  So much fun to have and so little time!

Menus: Part 1

Getting started: 

• First, decide how many meals a day you’d like to plan.  I originally left out snacks, and then started over when I realized I hadn’t bought snacks at the store. My plan includes: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner.  We’re big snackers.
• Once you have your meals set, decide how many days per week you’ll plan for.  I did seven days, but our weekend lunches, snacks, and Sunday breakfast are TBD (To be decided).  That means whatever we have left in the fridge if we’re not out, which we often are on weekends.
• If it is possible, plan leftovers one night a week. We have leftovers on Fridays.
• If you eat out regularly, plan these times as well. We eat out on Saturdays.  This comes from our grocery money, and fortunately for us our favorite food comes from a burrito place and is under twenty bucks.  We usually bring food home for a family night, which ends up being even less expensive. 

Gathering ideas:

Decide how many weeks you will plan.  If you plan 13 weeks, you’ll repeat your menus just 4 times per year.  Let’s say you’ll plan 13 weeks.  

Now, start a blank sheet of lined paper for each meal you have selected.  Decide for each meal how many ideas you’ll need per week. 

For example, for breakfast, we have hot or cold cereal 3 days during the week, a hot breakfast once, and a bread like pancakes, muffins, or waffles once.  On Saturdays, I plan a big breakfast. 

So for my breakfast idea sheet, I only need to come up with 13 cheap and easy hot breakfasts for school days, 13 breads, and 13 bigger breakfasts for weekends.  Only I don’t actually worry about coming up with 13 because I can repeat things.  In fact, in my menus I have 9 hot breakfasts and breads for during the week.  I do have 18 Saturday breakfasts, though, because there are so many recipes I love.

For Snacks, we will typically have one morning and one afternoon snack all week long.  It’s cheaper that way, and easy.  Mornings always include a fruit and afternoons a veggie.  I don’t plan which fruits and veggies, I just buy what’s in season.  So I only need 26 ideas for snacks: One morning and one afternoon.  Of course, snacks are easily repeated, so if you can only think of 13 ideas, no problem!

Every lunch includes a veggie and a fruit.   We have sandwiches 3 days during the week and one “hot lunch” a week.  On Fridays, we have a “snack lunch,” which means I cut up a protein, a grain, and some fruits and veggies and put them on a plate.  It’s just more fun that way.

My idea sheet for lunch will need 13 hot lunches only.  On weekends, I don’t plan out lunches, we eat whatever’s around.  For our snack lunch, I use little bits of leftovers.  

Planning Dinners.  Every dinner has a main dish, a side if needed and at least one veggie.  I lead a Bible study every Monday evening, so our dinner has to be something easy.  Every Sunday, we have a family dinner that takes a little longer to prepare and encourages sitting around the table for a while longer than usual. 

For dinner, I actually put my ideas into categories, such as healthy fare, quick and cheap (for Mondays!), Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc.  Think about what is important to your family and how you want to eat.  This will help you later in planning menus.

So, for my idea sheet for dinner, I will plan 13 cheap and fast meals, 13 super-healthy meals, 13 ethnic meals, 13 chicken based dinners, and 13 Sunday family dinners that include a dessert and a couple yummy sides. 

Where to find ideas?  Get out all your cookbooks and magazines, look online, and ask your family for ideas.  Especially consider family favorites!  This may take a few days to complete.  Finding 5 dinners a week for 13 weeks that meets your criteria is no small task. 

 One of my favorite sites is Kraft foods.  They have lots of kid-friendly meals that take under 30 minutes.  Another is Cooking Light. 

 Consider these things when filling in ideas:

        Your budget

        Your family’s likes and dislikes

        Your health

        The time you have for preparation

 Now it’s time to spend some time gathering lots of ideas. Fill in all your blanks for each meal.  Tomorrow, I will share how I plan each week out.