Sunday, November 15, 2009

controlling the chaos at dinnertime

All heck breaks loose at our house right around 4'o clock. The last school child walks in the door back pack in hand and asks the million dollar question, "Hey mom, what's for dinner?"

Monday's are dedicated to tennis, voice, dance, homework, family night, etc ....and so the week goes...

If I haven't planned ahead or at least made a trip to the grocery store well before 4pm, it's good old Papa Murphy's Pizza to the rescue yet again.

In an effort to tame my stress level and provide a little more nutrition than cold cereal, I designed a menu template and stuck it in a cheap IKEA frame that hangs in the kitchen. On Sundays when things are relatively calm I pull out my cookbooks and jot down dinner ideas with a dry erase marker directly onto the glass. I then make a grocery list according to the weekly menu and voila, a plan is set in motion. The kids like knowing what's in store for the week and occasionally add their own requests. It wipes off in a jiffy with a damp cloth providing a fresh slate for the following week.



I'd love to hear any ideas out there of things that work for you. I have recently become a huge fan of allrecipes.com and have enjoyed getting e-mails of nutritious things my kids will actually eat. Bon appetit!

6 comments:

Carrie said...

Love that Menu planner! Throwing something in a crockpot is always a help on crazy days and even throwing ingredients into the bread machine for a hot loaf of bread with dinner is such a treat.

Blue said...

can you print me out your cute paper (i'll cover up your name with mine!) this looks like a wonderful way to plan. i have the issue of leftovers though. doc only eats PB&J for lunches, and the kids eat school lunch. most dinners=leftovers, so i get sort of tired of being the only one who eats them. i don't imagine with your family that's too much of a problem. it's hard to cook for 2 or three (depending on what i'm making, gator almost never eats what i make for dinner)

a couple weeks ago i asked everyone to write down four different entrees that they want to eat, so i am not the only one deciding what to make. and i may enlist them in making their meal, which has added bonus of getting them into the kitchen...something they're both averse to.

but i love your week-at-a-glance system! and man, if this is the coming week's menu, i want to eat at YOUR house! ;-)

The Stanley's said...

Claudia, it must be nice to be gorgeous and perfect in every way!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Haha! So are you coming over on Sunday? Are you bringing a salad. :)

We would love it!

Claudia said...

Carrie- My crockpot has a permanent spot on my kitchen counter:) Allrecipes has a special section dedicated for cp cooking. It's yummy! They even send e-mails of favorite recipes once a week.

Blue- Costco is a busy mom's bestfriend! The salmon burgers and orange chicken are some of the best hidden secrets in their freezer section. Hope the attachment worked. Your family at my house for dinner soon!

Anita- Haha. You are to kind! We ♥ the Stanleys!

Moni- As you can see by the leaves on the trees in the photo, that is an old pic. But dinner at your house on Sunday is a done deal! Thanks for the invite;) We should have a pre-Thanksgiving feast. I'll call you later.

Hugs to you all!!!

Daisie said...

What a great idea!! I just might use this idea for Christmas gifts to all my sister-in-laws! If I can just find the right frames... (our Ikea is too far!)