This week I wanted to hit the ground running with a PLAN in HAND – even if it took me until 3AM to make it (oops). I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed with our new school year schedule, and finding that being so busy has caused us to eat out more than we should. Meal planning needs to take center stage again… because a homeschool family needs to eat, and in this economy – we also need to save our pennies!
Donna Young Kitchen Planners are a real help when planning your weekly menu out. I’ve been praying hard about keeping on top of the food situation in my house — because with 6 people (2 teens, 2 tots, and 2 incredibly busy parents) — we are constantly on the go.
Take for instance, this week:
To Do This Week
Clean kids rooms, closets & put away all the winter clothes that are still in boxes (we got the 15yo’s room and the 3 & 1 yo’s rooms clean, and the 3 & 1 yo’s and my closet done… next week we’ll tackle the 13yo’s room and the 15yo’s closet)
Go through books to sell back to Half-Price Books for cash & bring in Morgan’s new book case
Finish making the menu for the week, no eating out for 2 weeks
Pack sack lunches on days when we are out ahead of time (we did end up eating out some, but also took sack lunches)
Cancel lost kid phone
Call and pay bills tomorrow
Clip coupons and clean out coupon folder
File papers and clean off “desk” (dining room table) (now to clean off the real desk upstairs… and bring the filing cabinets back in from the garage – where they have been since we got the carpet installed)
Clean out workboxes and book baskets
Vacuum upstairs & down (doing this for a second time tomorrow morning)
Therapy apt. Monday
All day one-day classes Thursday
2 Orthodontist apts. Friday
House guests Saturday and Sunday (they get here in the morning)
Do PR work for the Homeschool Blog Awards (read: a gazillion emails)
Post the Field Trip Linkup for the HSBA Friday (I love Gidget, who did this for me)
Give away 1,000$ *not of my own money (groovy contest/check here for details)
Yeah. That’s one week for you. That’s the norm around here, minus the house guests. Something always going on. I bet your life is busy like that, too. Not much you can do about it when there are 12 little feet making tracks on the floor and 12 little hands shoveling food at the table. Which reminds me… the kitchen table has shrunk.
OK, so… back to menu planning. Now that we know what there is to do this week and where we have to go… and how many mouths there will be to feed, let’s make a plan!
This Week’s Menu
MONDAY
B: Waffles and Turkey Sausage
L: Roast* actually ate this for dinner (spent 13$ on Taco Bell because of not having sandwich meat for our sack lunches. Man!)
D: Beef Stew and Crackers, apple sauce * the cabbage we had planned was rotten, so we improvised – ate this Tuesday for lunch
TUESDAY
B: Cereal
L: Tuna Salad
D: Bada-Bing Chicken & Salad
OOPS: Chipotle for dinner…
WEDNESDAY
B: Eggs & Blueberries for breakfast
L: Uncured Beef Corndogs, Baked Cauliflower and Mac N Cheese
D: Tacos – Rice – Beans w/ chips and guacamole
OOPS: ice cream at Sonic…
THURSDAY
B: Yogurt and Bananas
L: Salami & Cheese sandwiches w/ apples and chips (brown bag)
D: Rotisserie, rice and corn on the cobb
FRIDAY
B: Cereal or Eggs & Turkey Bacon
L: Atkin’s Shakes for lunch (braces tightened)
D: Baked Potato soup for dinner
OOPS: Jack N the Box & Mc Donald’s… (I felt sorry for the brace faces)
SATURDAY
B: Pancakes, turkey sausage and eggs with cheese
L: Sandwiches and chips
D: Cornbread Casserole – with chips and home made salsa de fuego
SUNDAY
B: Cereal or Yogurt with berries or granola (possibly some Turkey Bacon, too)
L: Lunch Out – Jason’s Deli – (ok, so we are eating ONE meal out next week)
D: Leftovers or “Musko” – everything ‘must go’ – dinner (whatever is left in the fridge by Sunday is fair game)
I don’t know about you, but I rarely go in order on a menu. Often we move the meals around to fit our cravings, but usually stick to what I have listed for the week because it is based on what we have in the pantry. Every now and then we add in something off-list, and usually we’ll eat out once and push a meal in to the next week. Not so this week, as I’m on a mission to cut our food budget to miniscule between now and Christmas. I’m no good at couponing, but I figure I’ll give it one more try.
As for School… I’m more of a homework manager this year than a teacher. I’m trying to figure out the best way to train the children to keep track of their assignments, take copious notes, order their supplies and schedule, spread out their work evenly between days, get their chores done without being reminded, and use their alarm clocks to wake up and get ready on their own.
We’re doing an “experiment” with Sunday mornings. The goal is to be sitting on the couch, fully dressed, curriculum and diaper bag in hand, ready to walk out the door (teeth brushed, hair combed, and in our Sunday best) before Daddy comes down the stairs after his shower — so we can start getting to church EARLY as a new habit. I’m hoping that our Sunday project spills over in to other days as well. It’s like herding cats sometimes around here, and I’m sure if we keep working hard on being punctual and understanding responsibility and timeliness, we can have a more relaxed and calm day – with less upsets (this lines up perfectly with my desire to be focused on PEACE this year).
Homework List
10 math assignments, graded – by Friday
5 days of Bible Study (Beth Moore) – by Friday
Morgan and Mom to finish “God’s, Graves & Scholars”
4 days worth of Spanish homework and memorization practice – by Thursday
Read through script for Drama production
2 Chapters “English Literature for Boys and Girls” – by Tuesday
2 Chapters “Bulfinch’s Mythology” – by Tuesday
Narration Assignment – Monday / Narration for this week due by Saturday
Find and read assigned chapters of Beowulf (here we go again, losing books! Grrr!)
4 days Biology assignments & reading – by Thursday
Procure pond water for microscope experiment & let fester in the garage (eewww) – Monday
Rewrite key word outline for writing class – by Thursday
Bring magazines for Altered Book/Mixed Media art teacher to use in class Thursday
Help mom organize workboxes/backpacks/books – by Friday
Get assignment schedule or student planner ready for classes Tues/Thurs & fill out
And for the little guys? Well, the 3 year old is almost finished potty training. He’s been waking up dry and wearing his Spider Man and Thomas undies to bed for weeks (months if you count daytime). The accidents are really rare. Now if we could just get the 18 month old to keep his diaper ON (he’s jealous, apparently, and strips naked all day – actually peed on my dining room chair tonight, the little streaker).
Goals for Tots
Working on picking up toys
Working on not fighting over toys
Working on better nap and bedtime routines
Working on weaning from morning nursing
Working on expanding the foods that the 1 yo eats (he has a cracker and “tootie”/cookie fetish)
Flash Cards, Reading Together & mom to implement more preschool ideas soon (researching)
So there you have my week in a listy nutshell.
Say a little prayer for me to have peace in the crazy and to ROCK MY GOALS this week.
{ Here’s hoping that you can rock yours, too! }
looks like a terrific line-up this week! praying you rock on through your week with flying colors!
Thanks!