Plans Make My World Go Round (and Round)

I’m a planner.

I like to write things down.

Check them off.

I need to know what I’m doing.

Granted things don’t always go according to plan but I feel better knowing there is a plan in place.

One of the places my plan doesn’t work is with keeping our home clean.

Joey is out of town – ALL THE TIME. If not, He’s working late. We have a dog and two cats in the house.

And this kid.

He can make a mess. Much quicker then I am capable of cleaning it up.

My house is also full of STUFF. Stuff we are supposed to sort through and purge. This hasn’t happened because of the reasons listed above. Especially that kid. J

I also do not have a dishwasher.

You can shed a tear over that one. There are days that I do.

So, there are days where my house does indeed resemble an episode of Hoarders. Often, here lately. I’ve just been so dang tired I can’t keep up.

The one place I do a good job though – meal planning.

We recently got a BJ’s membership and I went a little crazy. As in I went three weeks ago and my freezer is still full.

OOPS.

I also always freeze leftovers so I can use them again later. I may have to change it up a little to get Joey to eat them but meal planning helps me keep my sanity.

I use to subscribe to emeals but I found that as Jellybean started eating more meals with us they just weren’t very toddler friendly. Plus they seemed to recycle the same meals quite often.

Now I do it mainly on my own. I know our favorites. I check with $5 Dollar Dinners to see what their plan has and I use Pinterest.

It literally makes me happy to know that my meals are at least thought out. I try to do prep work on the weekends when Joey is home. Slicing veggies. Precooking ground beef. Things like that.

Then during the week I try to either get the next nights dinner ready the night before or I let it cook in the crock pot overnight and reheat when I get home. I found I was gone to long during the day to keep my meals from burning in the crock pot even on low.

If I deviate from my plan the goal is to do it without buying anything so I can cook something else but I need to use things we already have. That usually translates to grilled cheese, sandwiches, or hot dogs.

Jellybean likes it when Mom is feeling lazy!

So knowing what a lifesaver meal planning has been for me I figured I’d share my plan with you for the next week! I’ll let you know how well I did sticking to it next Friday!

Jellybean also usually gets yogurt, fruit and healthy snacks sent to day care too.

Friday

Breakfast – Jellybean - Daycare serves

                  Me - McDonald's :) (I deserve a treat too!)

Lunch – Leftover Tortellini - Jellybean

             Soup and Sandwich - Me

Dinner – Cheesesteak, Mashed Cauliflower

Saturday

Breakfast – Waffles with Cream Cheese and Strawberries

Lunch/Dinner – At my Mom’s

Sunday

Breakfast – Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Biscuits

Lunch – Hot Dogs, Chips, Pickles, Fruit

Dinner – Homemade Fish Sticks, Fries, Homemade Cole Slaw

Monday

Breakfast – Sunday Breakfast Leftovers

Lunch – Diana – Tuna Sandwich, Chips, Salad

                Jellybean – Cheese Quesadilla, Peas

Dinner – Chicken Cutlets w/marinara sauce, Pasta with Pesto, Salad

Tuesday

Breakfast – Cream Cheese Filled Muffins

Lunch – Leftovers!

Dinner – Beef Stroganoff

Wednesday

Breakfast – Hardboiled Eggs, Cheese Toast, Fruit

Lunch – Pizza, Carrot sticks

Dinner – Tomato Bacon Pie or Spinach and Cream Cheese Quiche ( I just add a block of cream cheese to this)

Thursday

Breakfast – Oatmeal with fresh fruit

Lunch – Leftovers

Dinner – Ziti and Broccoli

Then I freeze any leftovers and we have a base for the next two weeks or so!