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Busy Mom Tips- Meal Planning!

Friday, August 03, 2012


If you are a mom, you are busy.  And I mean really busy.  Moms are on a totally different wave these days.  We juggle everything and then go above and beyond that.  We go all out in decorations for our kids birthday parties, some even make a home made birthday cake grand enough to make a reality show.  We volunteer for everything that comes up at church, school, fundraisers, and sports.  We run around all day like it's a marathon, running one errand after the other, trying to fit it all in, in 24 hours.
We are
the class mom
the team mom
the pick up the kids after school mom
the crafty mom
the taxi mom
the laundry mom
the house keeper mom
the personal chef mom
the "I can organize my entire life" mom
the meet with other moms for lunch mom
the savvy grocery shopper mom
the fashionista mom
the "I wish my legs looked like Heidi Klum's legs" mom
the scrapbooking mom
the I don't know how to sew but let me try and fix this button mom
the I never see my husband anymore mom
the I wish I could lock myself in the bathroom all day mom
the help with homework mom


Whew it gets exhausting.  Every night I climb into bed and let out a sigh.  Because I know the minute I shut my eyes I am done for that day.  Crossing off items on my todo list just makes me that much happier in hopes the next day will be a little easier for me.

Most know I am a little nutty when it comes to organizing.  I really am the "I want to organize my entire life" mom.  I live and dream and breathe organizing.  I am always making lists, schedules, you name it!  One of the biggest tips that has helped me with organizing my life and cutting down the schedule is my meal planning.  I think it used to stress me out that I would come home and not have any idea what to make for dinner.  So I would get frustrated and probably convince my hubby to take us out to eat.  Nights when the kids had practice which is quite often in the fall and spring would usually mean we would pull in a drive-thru and bring something home.  I know none of that is healthy but when you are on the go it's what you do. 
The other thing that was stressing me out is the amount of food we would toss for not using.  I would just buy things at the store with really no purpose and we would never use it.
So being the great organizer I am, I came up with a great shopping list I made on Excel that suits our family as well as a menu plan for the week that outlines everything we will have for breakfast, and dinner and what to pack in the school lunches.  Once the menu is complete for the week I mark the items on my list that I will need for those items and take that to store.  That way on Tuesday if I know we are having Tacos, then all the ingredients will be bought and nothing will be wasted. 
I also can pre-make items before that day such as cooking extra chicken, baking muffins, etc.

Here's a picture of my weekly menu:

 
 
 

Here's a picture of my shopping list on my adorable clipboard I made :)  I'll have a post coming up at how I made this adorable clipboard soon.

 
 

This might help a bit with your busy schedule.  Sometimes things come up and you may miss a day or two but you are on the right track to plan and not waste food.
My next goal is too tackle some good couponing and freezer meals... stay tuned!

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