Monday's Meal Plan- Week 2: The "Plan-it, Don't Panic" Meal Planning Challenge

Checking-in after Week 1...

 
We are now on our second week of Keeper of the Home's 6-Week "Plan-it, Don't Panic" Meal Planning Challenge! I have to admit, I am thoroughly enjoying the many aspects of this challenge. I love planning to eat well... which in our case, eating well on a tight budget definitely takes quite a bit of planning... however, I also have to admit that my week last week didn't exactly go according to plan. And, you know what? I'm ok with that. My plan is made to serve me and my family... not me and my family made to serve my plan. Had that been the case, my husband and I would have missed out on the opportunity this past week for a much-needed date night with some friends... my kids and I would not have benefited from some much-needed rest and relaxation after attempting to get back on track after a stressful couple of weeks... and we all wouldn't have been able to take advantage of an opportunity to celebrate a special person in our lives. 

Things don't always go according to plan. But you learn to work with it... to listen closely to God's voice and to work with His plan for your day, for your meals, for your family... day by day... moment by moment... to be flexible, yet focused, when facing unanticipated circumstances or challenges.

When I planned my meals for last week, I didn't for a moment consider that I still wouldn't have my range hooked back up until Thursday. However, instead of being stressed out and frustrated by my lack of ability to prepare our meals, I worked with the situation by shifting my meals around a bit. You can imagine how delighted I was when an impromptu opportunity arose to go out to dinner with some special friends who just had a new baby. Instead of pushing hard to keep to my plan, I was much more inclined to go with the natural flow for that particular day... because, I realized, maybe God thought that I needed to catch up with some dear friends and also catch a break from the chaos of the past couple of weeks ...That perhaps the break in routine was more of what I needed than going the extra mile to make things work to cook our dinner. Just maybe. Could I have planned any better for that to happen? Probably not. But a true 'planner' like myself isn't supposed to tell you that... so, shhh... that'll be our little secret.

Granted, there are times when you have to just buckle down and stick to your guns- after all, that's what overcoming challenges are all about sometimes. And then, there are other times when, to do so would basically mean shooting yourself in the foot... times when you have to be a bit more discerning in your decision-making... because sometimes things get overlooked, go unaccounted for, or just plain emerge unexpectedly... the kinds of things only God knows.

You see, when planning my 3 {Prep Projects} and 2 {Cooking With Kids} projects for last week, I also didn't happen to take into consideration whatsoever the emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion I would experience from trying to catch up with my household and homeschooling plans after my husband's return from a week-long trip for business which also happened to be a stressful week of anticipating our latest inspection in our housebuilding process (which we PASSED, by the way! YAY!). 

For some reason, I think I must have had some sort of identity crisis when I made my meal plan last week... I think I must have thought I was Wonder Woman or something. When I resigned myself from those ridiculous thoughts- both the ones about trying to squeeze myself into spandex AND the ones about trying to squeeze so much into our schedule while being stretched so thin- it became much easier to resign ourselves to what we truly needed instead. 

Instead of time spent making cultured butter and baking with my kiddos, we enjoyed time reading and napping together. And, you know what? I think that is perfectly fine. I accomplished my goal of spending time investing in the health of my kids- just in a different way. And, yes, butter and bread are definitely projects that can be worked in on another day... in fact, this week, I hope!

So, in this week's meal plan, you might notice quite a few repeats from last week. And honestly, I'm not ashamed of that. In fact, in my mind it means that I didn't skip a beat in my planning because I still have every intention to fulfill what I originally set out to do. I'm remaining flexible, yet still maintaining my focus on what I am trying to accomplish in our family meals. I haven't scrapped my plans and I'm definitely not going to let a few minor 'setbacks' stop me. In fact, because I don't believe in wasting anything, I refrain from planning any new meals and shopping for additional ingredients until after I use up what I already have. This mentality really helps alleviate stress when plans suddenly go awry, helps keep our budget as on-track as possible, and it helps build my faith too.

{My Notes For This Week's Meal Plan}

{Prep Projects}

For this week, I'll be catching up on projects I had planned to accomplish last week but didn't end up making it to. I'll be doubling my batch of Spanish Rice, tripling a batch of sourdough rolls, and making a double batch of Buttermilk Cornbread. My plan is to actually make the Cornbread at the same time I am making pancakes on Saturday morning, since they share some of the same ingredients. As usual, I'll also be assembling our meal for Sunday earlier in the week as much as possible- hopefully on Friday- so that I can spend Sunday afternoon relaxing with my family and not stressing about what we're going to eat when everyone is starving after church.

{Special Breakfast}

Since we didn't end up making our buttermilk last week to use in our recipes for the weekend, I'll be having a go at it this week instead. I'll be measuring out ingredients for Whole Grain Pancakes at the same time I measure out ingredients for my batch of Buttermilk Cornbread. I'll then pop the pan in the oven and bake it ahead of time for Sunday's meal while I am flipping flapjacks. My hubby, son and daughter will be in charge of making scrambled eggs as well as washing and slicing our fresh fruit to accompany this week's breakfast.

{Cooking with Kids}

We still have gobs of zucchini we picked last week from the garden (if you're local, please come and get some from me!) and will hopefully make it to our project we didn't make it to last week: baking LOTS of homemade zucchini bread for breakfast and snacks. My kids will help measure and mix ingredients. Our other project we didn't make it to last week which I was really bummed about is making our own cultured butter from scratch. We'll be enjoying the fresh better as well as the buttermilk in our recipes for Whole Grain Pancakes and Buttermilk Cornbread.

{Friday Family Fun}
It's finally time for {Friday Family Fun} nights! I can't wait! On Fridays, my family and I will be preparing and eating our meals together... all centered around a fun theme. This week's theme features a film about a furry French rodent who can cook... you guessed it, it's none other than the fabulous, French-cuisine-infused Disney/Pixar film, Ratatouille. In a post later this week, I'll be including some ideas to help inspire you to plan some fun with your family.

{What's On The Menu?}

October 3-9, 2011

BREAKFAST CHOICES

• Cereal with Milk
• Plain Yogurt with Honey or Unsweetened Applesauce
• Whole Grain Toast (topped with either butter & honey, apple butter, or jam)
• Steel Cut Oats (w/chopped apples, organic brown sugar & cinnamon)
• Fresh Fruit (Apples, Grapes, Oranges) and/or Nuts

LUNCH CHOICES

• Peanut Butter & Jelly (or Honey) Sandwich
• Reheated beans
• Garden Salad with various toppings
• Fresh Fruit (Apples, Grapes) with whole grain crackers and/or sliced cheddar cheese
• Unsweetened Applesauce (may be sprinkled with cinnamon)
• Veggie Dippers (Carrot, Celery, Summer Squash, or Zucchini Sticks) with Ranch
• Leftovers

SNACK CHOICES

• Celery Sticks with Peanut Butter (& Raisins)
• Carrot & Celery Sticks with Ranch
• Sliced Apples & Peanut Butter
• Whole Grain Crackers, Sliced Cheddar Cheese, & Raisins
• Unsweetened Applesauce (may be sprinkled with cinnamon)
• Fresh Fruit (Apples, Grapes)

MONDAY

• Leftover Smorgasbord- Clean out the fridge!
• Use leftovers to assemble Chicken & Pinto Bean Soft Tacos
• {PREP PROJECTS} Set out Sourdough Starter from the fridge and feed

TUESDAY

• Creamed Ground Beef
• Skillet {Homegrown} Potatoes
• Steamed Broccoli
• Fresh Fruit or Garden Salad
• {PREP PROJECTS} Make Honey Mustard Dressing, Feed Sourdough Starter

WEDNESDAY

• Cream of {Homegrown} Potato Soup
• Garden Salad
• Fresh-Baked Sourdough Rolls
• {PREP PROJECT} Triple Batch- Freeze 1 extra batch, reserve other batch

• {PREP PROJECT} Pull Out Pinto Beans from Freezer for tomorrow
• {PREP PROJECT}  Roast chicken for recipes

THURSDAY  

• {COOKING WITH KIDS} Zucchini Bread
• {COOKING WITH KIDS} Cultured Butter
• Chicken Enchiladas
• Spanish Rice
• {PREP PROJECT} Double Batch- Freeze extra batch
• Pinto Beans
• From Freezer Supply
• Garden Salad

FRIDAY :: {Friday Family Fun}

Theme: Ratatouille

What’s Cooking? A Cookbook for Kids

By Thomas Keller

Gusteau’s Ratatouille –Pg. 41 

Steamed Brown Rice

A Classic Baguette – Pg. 30 

Lemony Caesar Salad

Dessert: Chocolate Bouchons – Pg. 59

 SATURDAY

• {SPECIAL BREAKFAST} Whole Grain Pancakes
• Scrambled Eggs
• Fresh Fruit
• {PREP PROJECT} Make Buttermilk Cornbread; freeze one batch, reserve remaining batch 
• Yellow Squash Casserole
• Garden Salad
• Buttermilk Cornbread
• Fresh Fruit

SUNDAY

• Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
• Using homemade cream of chicken soup
• Garden Salad
• Sourdough Rolls (Already Reserved from Wednesday)
• Fresh Fruit

Happy cooking! Have a great week!