Lesson 90: Introduction to "A Meal Plan Series"

This week on I Don't Have A Clue ... But I'm Finding Out, you, my friends, will be given an incredible resource, and by that, I simply mean ... a resource.

See. I removed the word incredible. Sometimes resources are incredible. Sometimes they are just resources. I do not want to give you a false impression about the quality of this resource.

Since becoming a full-time stay-at-home-mom, which basically means, since I've graduated seminary, I have been reading A TON OF BLOGS! This is what happens to a girl when Christian philosophy and Church history books are finally off the list of required reading. Her mind has so much breathing room that she goes crazy in the blogosphere!

Poor Mark will try to talk theology, and I almost immediately shut down the conversation. Learning to clean hardwood floors with all natural ingredients is just so much more interesting ... and important.

I've been reading blogs about minimalism, blogs about finance and investing, blogs about saving, blogs about organization, blogs about plant-based diets ... blogs, blogs, blogs. At any given time, I have at least twenty posts open across the top of my computer waiting to be read. When I finish reading an entire blog, I click on all that bloggers links and find more to read.

All this blog reading has encouraged a lot of thought and consideration to the way I am going to go about being a stay-at-home-mom, as in the specifics of running my household.

One aspect of home management that I have been working through (as a result of all this reading) is meal planning. Last year, I did the calendar thing, and it worked as far as it could. 

Goals for Last Year's Meal Planning:
- I wanted to plan dinners for four nights a week.
- I wanted to plan a soup for Sunday that could be reheated all week.
- I wanted to try new recipes.
- I wanted to plan a night out for pizza once a month. 

This year's meal plan has a few additional requirements.

Goals for This Year's Meal Planning:
- I want to plan meals with a budget in mind.
- I want most meals to meet vegan requirements (no meat / eggs / dairy).
- I have to pack lunch for Julia four times a week, so I don't want her eating the same thing for lunch and dinner.
- I want my family to eat energy providing breakfasts.

Taking all this into consideration, I have a new approach for this year's meal planning. Instead of creating a new calendar for every single month, I have developed a specific 4 week cycle of meals which I plan to simply work through over and over again. I'll add variety when we are sick of something, make easy substitutions, and keep weekly store sales (or garden produce) in mind.

This week, I'll be providing you with the general guidelines of my meal plans. Upcoming posts include:
- Dinner Week One
- Dinner Week Two
- Dinner Week Three
- Dinner Week Four
- Seven Days of Breakfast
- Lunch for School (must be nut free)
- Lunch at Home

Each meal plan will be accompanied by a comprehensive grocery list. Sometimes ingredients for breakfast, lunch, and dinner will overlap. Take that into account if you use the lists.

Though this blog is not predominantly a "how-to-have-an-awesome-household" blog, in all my blog reading, I really love blogs that give specifics. So, this week, I'm giving you specifics.

Y'all, this is just a resource. It's a different approach, and to be honest, I have not actually come across a similar one on the internet. That does not mean no one has done this, I just haven't read about it. Sorry if you've already posted this approach on your blog. Would you link yours up in the comments section, as I'm sure it's better than mine!

In fact, if you have a post about how you meal plan, definitely link it up in the comments section! That will make this series an even better resource. Perhaps even incredible?


Lesson Learned: A new approach to meal planning simplifies things even further! (At least I hope it will!)