Meal Planning Gone Astray…

Every Sunday night I try to sit down and search the Internet for meal ideas that will fit into my weekly grocery budget and will feed my family of picky eaters.  I’m 100% sure I’m not the only one.

I thought meal planning was just writing out your menu for the week so you wouldn’t have to think about it later when you’re too exhausted to know what to make for dinner.  I was wrong. I’m sure I’m still not the only one.

Meal planning is not just planning your three meals per day, but snacks, and also planning your budget fits your desired meals. I have tried to make dinners that could be converted to a new meal the next night with leftovers, but I have failed with my picky eaters.  I do however make meals that are delicious leftovers because I do eat them for lunch the next day now that I am a stay-at-home mom.  I found that being out and about during meal time leads to me eating out more and spending more money.

I did find a document online that allows you to edit the meals you do know how to cook.  It’s a great Exce spreadsheet that instead of trying to remember what you actually know how to make- you just look.  It’s all listed there. With a fine drop down button, you select which meal with which sides and you go about your day. It’s really great. If you’d like it, email me and I’ll send it to you!

Well, I didn’t wait for tonight.  This week is not my normal type of week and so I need to get a head start on it.  Hubby was away working on some errands so I escaped to the grocery store to see what was on sale and went ahead and made my purchases before really knowing what I’d make.  I’m living dangerous here.

Once I got home I checked the weather for the week to determine which nights I would could use soap or a stew and saw that the Houston area was going to get hit with a winter storm: ice and snow.  We aren’t use to that kind of cold.  So,  I had to drive to the deer camp to weatherize it from the storm.  The storm hit before I was done and Bailey and I are stuck at the camp until the world around us thaws out.  We aren’t exactly suffering here.  Bailey is watching a movie, eating breakfast, and I’m enjoying my coffee.

So much for meal planning this week!  I grabbed a few pieces of chicken for dinner tonight and some salad fixings…sandwich meat for lunches…Hopefully, I can get back tomorrow and finish getting the rest of Bailey’s birthday party ready.

There’s always next week!  What’s on your meal planner?