Skip to main content

Menu Planning

Wow, I've really bee slacking on updating here.  Along with the regular family stuff and household duties I am honestly finding that menu planning is taking up a great deal of my time.  I used to just plan dinner for the week.  Now I am planning breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks for the entire week.  I am constantly searching for ideas online, flipping through cookbooks and magazines and putting together meals that I think that the whole family will enjoy with a new "test ingredient" thrown in here and there to make things interesting.  Something else I have to consider these days is that my hubby is now on a carb-counting diet to help control his diabetes.  I am onboard with his carb diet and it is great for the entire family yet it adds that much more stress to managing the menu just right.  It all takes up a lot of time!  But I know that his health... our family's health... is so worth the effort!!  So as I was prepping lunch for the kids today I thought "There has got to be a better way!".  I need a game plan.

The solution is quite simple.  I reflected back to my years of running an in-home childcare when I created rotating weekly menus for the kids.  I will adopt that method and create a 4-week menu for my family that can be rotated.  This way things won't get boring and I can always have the option to substitute a different side dish... perhaps something that's in season.  So this will be my new plan to work on these next few days.  Wish me luck!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is a healthy breakfast?

Ok so I have to admit that breakfast at our household during school days had been very rushed and not so healthy. I would always let Christian pick out the oh so common cereal box that we all see advertised on TV. I'd pour a heap of sugary cereal with 2% milk into a bowl and set it on the table. I've obviously been slacking and taking the easy, unhealthy way out. Breakfast is referred to as the most important meal of the day, but somehow I don't think that a bowl full of sugar is what they are talking about. Breakfast is supposed to refuel my child and help boost his brain power for a busy day at school. Recently I've been making a better attempt to start Christian's day out with a healthier meal. I am keeping on my track of incorporating more fruits and because we have a super-sized box of cornflakes in the pantry I figured we'd have to use them up first. At a closer look at the labeling though I realized that the cornflakes aren't so bad compared to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tortellini, Tortellini

Christian and his dad are both fans of soup. Me, not so much. I have decided to start making soup because it can be a low-cal meal and to feed my family what they like. Although I am nearing my mid-30's I only consider myself a beginner cook and made my first pot of soup just a few weeks ago. I used to think that soup was difficult, but learned quickly that chicken stock is my new best friend. Yesterday I made a tortellini soup with my trusty chicken stock, minced garlic, onion, spinach, a little potato, can of tomatoes, and tortellini with a side of mini crab balls stuffed with mixed veggies. The tortellini were Christian's favorite part of the soup, of course. Christian has always had an afterschool snack, but it was never something planned. He'd just raid the pantry when he'd get home. More lately I'm preparing snacks to be ready & waiting for him. Last night I pulled some tortellini from the remaining soup, rinsed them & put them in a container wi...
2 comments
Read more

Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken

Made the below recipe for chicken tonight. It was yummy! It has been a long day and I totally forgot to take pictures of the chicken, but I wanted to post the recipe so that I wouldn't loose it. Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken Ingredients 1/4 c Dijon mustard 1/3 c Honey 2 tbs Light Mayo 1 tbs Steak Sauce 4 Chicken Breasts (4oz ea) Directions 1. Preheat the grill for medium heat. 2. In a shallow bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayonnaise, and steak sauce. Set aside a small amount of the honey mustard sauce for basting, and dip the chicken into the remaining sauce to coat. 3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill chicken over indirect heat for 18 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally, or until juices run clear. Baste occasionally with the reserved sauce during the last 10 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent burning! Nutritional Info: Servings Per Recipe: 4 Amount per serving: Calories: 253.5, Total Fat: 3.9 g, Cholesterol: 68.4 mg, Sodium: 564.6 mg, Total Carbs: 24.4 g, Dietary F...
2 comments
Read more