Monday, June 6, 2011

Home(school) improvement week 3: Feeding the family better

Where we are now:

I grew up eating home-cooked meals but never got into the joy of cooking. Only now am I truly starting to become interested in it. Meals at our house frequently begin with a sigh and Jordan and I asking one another "so... what are we going to eat?" I will bust my butt cleaning and be so pleased with what I've accomplished at the end of the day, but totally forget about dinner! Not good!

This week's goals:

1) Plan. I think my biggest problem is the lack of a plan. I am usually busy with other things and don't make it a priority. I'd like to think two or three days in advance, go through my kitchen to see what we need to use, and plan what to cook around that. We are also doing the Waldorf grain of the day when it's convenient, and I love it. I'm discovering some of these grains for the first time. It's so nice to have them to inspire me and give me a little direction! I want to post more on the grains later, but for now here is a wonderful post on them which helped me get started.

2) Shop. I am pretty scared of going to the store alone with all three kids. It's hard with two, and could definitely go horribly awry with three. But Jordan gets home at 5:00 and that's a terrible time to take the kids shopping. They are ready to spend time with Daddy, eat and wind down for bed at that time, not shop and then wait around for dinner to be prepared after we get home. So I'm going to try to take them all shopping. Pray for me. No, seriously.

3) Cook dinner as a family. I'd like to make dinner preparation a happy, fun family time and instill a love of cooking in my children at a young age. Most meals can wait until Jordan gets home for preparation to begin. Sometimes I'll let the girls help me before he gets home, but other times it would be better to wait than to start something that would end up stressing us all out.


Jordan's parents just brought us a bunch of vegetables from their farm, and it couldn't have come at a better time! I'm going to look up recipes online and see what I can make with squash, corn, potatoes, peaches, etc. My first shopping trip alone with the three kids will be today or tomorrow.

Update coming Friday!

3 comments:

Megan said...

Good luck, Jenny! I know you will be absolutely fine.

Kristin said...

I stopped doing the grocery shopping after my second child was born. My husband likes to shop for food so he took over the job and I didn't complain. Taking little kids to the store stressed me out because I didn't know what I would do if they had a meltdown and I needed to leave the store midway through. About 2 months ago, we realized that we needed a change again. My husband was entering an extremely busy time at work and we were preparing to move so I NEEDED to do the shopping for the week. I took all 5 kids and I was so scared, but it all went just fine! I've even volunteered to continue the shopping at least until the summer is over.

All that to say, do what works for you in this season!! Simplify. De-stress. Pray!

princess granola said...

I usually do our major weekly shopping once a week- either one night after the kids are asleep or on the weekend when my husband is home.

and i meal plan a week at a time, including breakfasts and lunches and post it on the refrigerator. it helps me so much to see it throughout the day so i don't forget produce in the fridge drawer and so i when all else is going nuts i at least know i have a plan for eating! :)

some other things that work for me:
having pizza or spaghetti every friday- one day i don't have to think too much.

at least one leftovers day per week. and on that night i usually plan on cleaning up the kitchen really well.

having a list of meals we all like written out and placed in my calendar to make planning easier.

only trying to cook one new thing per week.

meal planning with my calendar next to me so i don't plan to make something that takes 2 hours on a day when we won't be home until 5.


i'd like to look into freezer cooking too..haven't done it yet but some of my friends have and they love it.