Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday everyone! Well, the holidays are done and it's time to start out this New Year. I always look on new years as a chance for a fresh start. Since it fell on a Friday this year, I decided to wait until Monday to get going on everything. Ok, the truth is that this was my last weekend with the boys (for their school break) and I spent the time with them and planning for what changes I wanted to make around here.

The big change is that I have a whole new schedule/routine that I'm working on. I decided enough was enough with the being lazy and procrastinating. If I had a job outside of the home, I would have a schedule so why shouldn't I have one for inside the home? So, over the past couple of days, I've thought about what it is I need to accomplish each day and I wrote all of that down and then figured out a flexible schedule for me to do those things. Today is the first day and I know that as it becomes habit and routine, my life will be so much easier, not to mention that the boxes are going to start flying out of this house.

Now, one of the things that I decided I was doing very right last year was my meal planning. I didn't always stick to it but it sure as heck saved on my grocery bills (going to continue to work on that this year) and it ended that panicy oh my gosh what am I going to do for dinner feeling. No more feeling like a bad mom because I didn't have any clue what we were having for dinner. Plus, when the boys are here with me, it's something we create together, which I love! It's a great lesson/learning tool for them and it's a great family time, as well.

Which brings me to this week's menu. I'm not grocery shopping (knock on wood) until next weekend when I pick up the boys so there may be some creativity involved for next week. This week ought to be fairly easy though.

Monday - Hamburgers (need to use up those 2 remaining patties)
Tuesday - Chicken w/ Rice
Wednesday - Pasta
Thursday - Beef Stroganoff
Friday - Chicken Taco Packets
Saturday - Chef Salad
Sunday - Crock Pot Chicken & Dumplings

And there we go, one week of menu planning and I think I only need to get some tatos and chicken broth from the store when I run into Lansing on Wednesday. Not bad at all.