Photo by Verity Cridland
You'll either love me or hate me after this post. In fact, if cooking is your passion, you may even want to stop reading now and come back tomorrow. (Just kidding....I hope!!)
You see, cooking has never been and will never be what excites me. Through the years I've wrestled with a little guilt, as I felt didn't quite measure up in this homemaking skill. But over time I've learned to accept myself and play to my strengths.
Although meal planning isn't where my talent lies, it's an absolute must to me that our family eats healthy food. Especially since I had an eating disorder years ago, this is now a top priority in our home. I feel one of the best gifts I can give my young children is to raise them as healthy eaters. I hope eating well becomes natural to them - a habit they will take along when they leave home.
My two criteria for meals are therefore - quick and healthy. I call our dinners "23-minute meals." Why? Because I can complete one start to finish while the children watch one episode (23 min) of a show from a DVD. We rarely cook meat, so this time limit is possible and reasonable.
Photo by Pet
My dinner philosophy mirrors what I've shared earlier about making lunches. Since much of the world's population have the same foods daily, I don't feel the need to plan a new meal for each dinner. Instead, we typically eat our favorites every week.
Here's our Weekly Meal Plan:
Mondays - Whole Wheat Pasta with a Vegetarian Pasta Sauce
Tuesdays - Vegetarian Chili with Couscous or Black Bean Burritos
Wednesdays - Leftovers
Thursdays - Vegetable Stir Fry with Brown Rice
Fridays - Veggie Burgers and Oven Fries
Saturdays - Leftovers
Sundays - Homemade (or sometimes frozen) Pizza
Sometimes on the weekends we'll make a meal that requires more preparation. (But to be honest, this is because my husband enjoys cooking - I married wisely!) We also vary our menu when we have dinner guests and on holidays. But typically we follow our regular meal plan. And I love it. It's both simple and healthy.
Clearly not everyone needs a menu like ours. If you have extra time in this season of your life, you may want to spend longer in the kitchen. Or if cooking is your passion, enjoy it, develop it, and pass it on to your little people!
But if food prep isn't one of your talents, that's okay, too. Sometimes it's helpful to know what others do - and that, as busy mothers, we don't have to put on dinner spreads that rival Chef Emeril Lagasse's every night.
Lowered expectations - so beautiful & freeing!
Share your wisdom with us - how do you plan meals in your home?
