Easy Meal Plan: How Spaghetti Saves my Sanity

Homemaking | 2 comments

I hate to cook.

 

Well, hate may be a bit strong….. or not. I truly don’t enjoy cooking. I try to like it, really I do! I don’t mind baking (perhaps because the end result is so much tastier!) but I don’t enjoy cooking dinner every night. Now that poses a problem because my husband works in the barn all day it wouldn’t be fair for him to make dinner every night and, in spite of the fact that I am very good at budgeting, we cannot afford a cook. So I suck it up and head to the kitchen every day between 5pm and 6pm to work through my super easy meal plan.
Most mothers will be able to relate when I say that, on a nearly daily basis, someone flicks the  “Crazy Switch” at my house at about 5pm. My kids seem to need a full-time mom (read “referee”) at this point which leave me very little time (read “sanity”) to be a good little Suzy Homemaker and have dinner on the table by the time Papa Bear gets in from work.


I am so blessed that my husband understands this and has no expectation of dinner on the table at 6pm every night. He’s just happy if there is enough food in the house for him to be able to eat at some point in the evening!

 

 

So to prepare myself for all of this, I meal plan. Sort of. I read a really amazing book (Sidetracked Home Executives) that helped me set up a simple quasi-meal plan. It works perfectly for my scatterbrained self. Here is the jist of it:

 

Pick a “theme” for the meal for every day then just build your meals around that. That way you can look at the day of the week and know instinctively that it is taco Tuesday or fish stick Friday and half of your meal is already planned.

Here’s how I worked my plan and some of the ways I made it work for my schedule (I grab the meat out of the freezer during our morning High 5 time so it is mostly thawed by supper.)

Mondays: 

This is my heavy housekeeping day and our day to begin pushing our daily rhythm again after a more relaxed weekend so I don’t usually feel like making a fancy meal (well, I never really feel like it but Mondays especially) so I make spaghetti every week.  It is simple and relatively healthy. Ground beef (scramble-fried and strained), spaghetti sauce, and whole wheat noodles. If I’m feeling really energetic, I chop up some carrots or zucchini to throw into it or sometimes even corn. Peas would taste good too. I’m not allowed to do peas. My hubby despises peas. To make Mondays even easier, last year I taught my 11yo to make this so he is often on dinner duty on Monday evenings.

Tuesdays:

I did all the housework yesterday (yeah right! At least I attempted to) so learning cards and daily rhythm go a little smoother than Mondays. This is pork chop night. Just seasoning salt or I put some premade pork rub seasoning on them and throw them in the oven on my baking stone. Add a simple salad and some steamed rice. (I always make rice in my rice cooker. Way easier than on the stove or in the microwave!) Sometimes I switch it up and put a pork loin in the crock pot with the pork rub. But pork, salad, and rice. My 8yo wanted to learn how to cook a meal to so he is working on perfect this. The chops are easy peasy but can I just say that salad is way yummier when someone else chops the lettuce?

Wednesday:

This is not usually a learning card day so I plan for a morning of margin. Once a month my older boys have a community class so I plan this morning to do errands with the younger 3. We also try to plan any play dates on this day. By the time we are home I want something brainless and quick. This is ground beef night. So simple meatballs (1lb ground beef, 1/4 cup chia seeds, sprinkling of seasoning salt, throw poorly shaped blobs onto baking stone at 375 until they’re done) with boiled potatoes and steamed veggie (with grated cheese), or burritos (scramblefry ground beef with some taco seasoning and grated carrot and/or bell pepper, put in a wrap with lettuce, cheese, cucumber and ranch dressing).

Thursdays: 

I’m in the office this morning so Adam is on Daddy duty and either helps the kids move through their learning cards or takes them to the shop to help fix or do maintenance on farm equipment. This is chicken night. This is one of my favorite nights. Usually just Italian chicken. (Frozen chicken breasts, sliced potatoes and frozen beans. Drizzle with melted butter and Italian seasoning. Cover and pop in the oven at 375 for an hourish.) When the kids get bored of that, I’ll make some chicken Parmesan in the crock pot (frozen chicken, jar of pasta sauce, a cup or so of Parmesan cheese on low for 5-6 hours) with steamed rice. Sometimes I throw in a salad but other times I figure the tomatoes in the sauce counts as a vegetable. 

Fridays:

Frozen dinner night. WOOT! Or hubby cooks, or we do leftovers. Pizza, premade meals (LOVE The Big Cook). Every Mama needs a weekly night out (of the kitchen).

Saturdays:

Usually a blitz clean of the house with hubby’s help. Somehow he manages to make the kids excited about helping out. Perhaps it is the reward of Minecraft time with Dad afterwards. Every once in a while we throw in a trip to the city. This is either leftovers or frozen fish sticks with rice and steamed veggies (with grated cheese on top of course. Cheese makes everything better).

 

Sundays:

French toast casserole, roast or take out. Often my husband wants to have a bigger meal for lunch after church so he helps cook or prep before church. If we have fresh buns then we may make sloppy joes. 

If any of these nights I feel like trying something new or have energy to work in the kitchen a bit longer, I’ll stick with the theme but give myself flexibility on exactly what I make. For example, some Wednesdays I make homemade honey garlic sauce for the meatballs. I usually make enough for 3-4 meals and freeze some because it is a family favorite but a more involved process. Or on chicken night I may make fettuccine alfredo sauce (from a bag) and mix the sauce and chopped chicken with pasta and steamed veggies. These things require more hands on time and result in more dishes so they are a special treat.

So there you have it. My super easy meal plan that allows me to be creative if I feel like it or means I don’t have to think about dinner when I don’t want to. If I didn’t cook spaghetti every week I would go crazy. Maybe one day Adam will be able to take over the cooking (he actually enjoys it! He’s a keeper!) but for now I keep things simple and predictable. Supper time is much easier if a plan is in place. Plus it helps you plan your grocery list too!

 

If you meal plan, how do you do it? Are you a month at a time kind of planner or week by week?
how to catch up on housework when you are overwhelmed with housework (7)

How to Catch Up On Housework When You’re Overwhelmed

Illness, depression, poor planning, whatever the reason, it if far to easy to get behind on housework. Getting behind...
easy meal plan for a non planner

Easy Meal Plan: How Spaghetti Saves my Sanity

I hate to cook.   Well, hate may be a bit strong..... or not. I truly don't enjoy cooking. I try to like it,...

How To Do It All As A Mom

I chatted with a mom of 8 recently and told her she must be a bit crazy to have that many kids. She laughed and...
motivation and resources for when you're not a good homemaker pin

Homemaking 101: Motivation For When You’re Not a Good Homemaker

So often we tell ourselves we are not a good homemaker. It is so easy to look around your home and see the piles of...

Get a Free Printable Positive Self Affirmations poster and card set sent right to your inbox!

Congratulations! Check your inbox for your download link

Pin It on Pinterest

%d bloggers like this: