I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, weekly meal planning keeps me sane during that daily evil-hour-before-dinner hour. And I ALWAYS kick myself when I don’t do it.
But lately just “planning” our meals isn’t working so well thanks to a sweet little girl. It seems like JUST when I figure something works, it doesn’t work anymore. hahaha. Lovin’ this season.
I used to be able to prep dinner while Serity munched on a snack or played with the other kids but she’s been SOOOO clingy lately (not that I always mind, it means extra cuddles for me!) so any meal plan I might have is often ditched for something quicker.
A few months ago I got together with a couple of friends and we spent several hours prepping meals for the freezer. It was our first time doing an “all day cooking” sort of venture, so we probably weren’t as efficient as we could have been, but we pretty proud to walk away with around 30 meals. (Sorry, pics weren’t really the priority that day. . . .)
Since then I’ve been doing a lot more freezer cooking. I don’t have a separate freezer (just the one attached to the fridge), so space has been a bit of a challenge, but the challenge is worth being able to grab something out of the freezer to throw into the oven or Crockpot. It’s definitely helping with the crazy dinnertime hour, so I can focus on other things (like some yummy baby snuggles, or readingANOTHER Magic Treehouse chapter!).
In case anyone’s in the same boat (or you just want to save yourselves a bit of time!!), Once a Month Mom (OAMM) is an amazingly helpful (AND FREE!) resource I found a while back. Each month the “once-a-month mom” plans a new menu with foods suitable for freezing and then gives step-by-step directions on achieving a successful cooking day. I have to admit, I’ve never tackled another “all day cooking day” since the get together with my friends, but I have been using bits of time to do extra cooking and thanks to OAMM have learned a lot about creating the freezer meals that are keeping my dinnertime sanity.
And as Martha would say, THAT’S a good thing.
oh, Serity is the adorable of all adorables!!!! i LOVE LOVE LOVER her hair!
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I can’t believe how Serity has grown. We miss you and hope to come visit this summer.
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HOLY COW, that canNOT be Serity!! What a little beauty! I can’t believe how big she is!! I find that meal planning helps me a ton as well. As well as doing most of the prep for dinner during the after-lunch “break” when the kids are occipied. Now if only I can remember that and plan ahead daily… lol.
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