Meal Planning--2010 Goal

One of my goals for 2010 is to be better prepared with meal planning. My family likes to eat--imagine that. All too often I hear, "What's for lunch,? What's for breakfast?(you get the idea)when I have NO idea what I'm going to make. This leads to many problems: like more trips to the store, me being frustrated with them (how dare they ask me what I'm planning--you mean you really need me to cook something) them not liking what I scrap together. Anyway to combat that bad habit, I have made it a goal this year to be more prepared not just with evening meals, but with breakfast and lunch as well. When you homeschool you are not only the teacher, but the lunch lady as well.

A few weeks ago I foung the most helpful website: Kid Approved Meals. I now have it listed in my links as one of my favorites. For a small amount of $, you are sent 13 weeks of breakfast and lunch recipes---including the shopping list for each week. I have tried it fore 3 weeks and I love it.
Now when my guys as me the age old question, "What's for breakfast?" I can smile and say, "The menu is on the fridge." Wow--it has also cut down on the complaining that they don't like what I'm cooking. For some reason when it is writen down and they see the plan--less complaints. I love that too.

So now on Sunday afternoons, I get my list ready and go shopping for the week ahead. It is starting to become a habit. I'm even going to branch out this week and make my own menu in order to use some of the food we already have. We'll see how it goes.