operation get organized: monthly meal plans

The past couple months, I have been blessed to meet with a very dear lady from our church on a regular basis. She raised six children and has something like nineteen grandchildren. Needless to say, she has so much wisdom to share with me and I am gladly taking in as much as I can. 

One thing she said to me about having a large family was "I realized I had to get organized." 

This stuck with me. Although we only have two and one on the way, I realized I also need to get organized. 

The first task: organize meals.

I am generally a very good meal planner. I plan out a week or two of meals, make a list, shop smart, and by the end of the meal plan, we are out of food and I repeat the cycle. However, when I had morning sickness I couldn't even think about food, let alone meal plan. 

But! Now that I am feeling much better (except coffee, sniff), I have been meal planning like nobody's business. In fact, I went a little overboard:

I put a lot of thought into every little detail. For example, Wednesdays are easy meals because James has Awanas that night, so we have to eat early. I also tried not to repeat foods in one day; for example, we don't eat quesadillas for lunch on days we are having south-of-the-border type food for dinner. 

It may seem weird that I shared this with you, but I was inspired by a meal plan I had seen online*, so I thought this may inspire someone also. I can honestly say that I feel slightly more calm going into the day (and week, and month!) knowing exactly what I am going to feed my family for each meal. It also makes grocery trips fewer and further between, and writing out my shopping list is a breeze. 

I know the image is a little difficult to see, but if you are interested in obtaining a copy (it's not weird, a friend on mine saw it on our fridge and asked for a copy), I would be more than happy to email it to you. Just email me at fromcuptocup@gmail.com

Happy Planning!

Ashley

*The meal plan I found online was from Erica, the gal behind the blog Confessions of a Homeschooler. I found her blog while searching for free printables to use at home with James. It is chock-full of useful resources.