I try to keep our meals simple but even making sandwiches with store bought bread is a big mess, takes a lot of groceries, and plenty of time to put together. Clean up duty has to be figured out since it's not practical to have 9 people standing in line to use the sink and dishwasher.
We did several things that worked last year that we will continue and I have a couple of ideas for this year.
~My man gets paid every 2 weeks and payday is when I do the big grocery shopping involving 3 stores and half a day. We have a cash budget and I try to save out $100 for the week that I have to shop for meat and the week of Azure Standard. Then it's out of my purse and I don't consider it for normal shopping. This has helped budget wise.
~Now I used to buy as many things as I possibly could in bulk. I still do for most things. But Renee told me once that she never buys paper towels in bulk because it just might happen that she is low on grocery money that week and if she spent a bunch of money on something she could really do without (like paper towels) then she wouldn't have the cash for what she really needed. That made a ton of sense to me. So now I look carefully at things like cleaners or ketchup to decide if I will really have the money to buy a lot of it this time or if it'd be better to just buy enough to stretch it, or do without altogether.
~I pray before I shop asking God to give me wisdom to buy what we need and to be a good steward. I also pray while I'm shopping. Especially if I'm having trouble deciding on something. I learned this years ago from another lady's blog I used to follow.
~I'm making a menu every 2 weeks to match our pay period. I don't live in an area where I can take advantage of sales or couponing very well so that doesn't really matter. But it's easier to think of twice a month than to do it every week. I usually tell my kids when I'm working on a menu and ask them what they would like to have. I try to give that some consideration but you just can't eat macaroni and cheese every day.
~We drink water all the time except Saturday when I usually make juice in the morning and tea in the afternoon.
~We have the same thing for breakfast every day. Homemade granola cereal. There is no way I could do boxed cereal b/c of the expense of it plus they would eat 3 bowls each and that's a lot of milk. This cereal is filling and we don't go through too much milk. On Saturday we have a bigger breakfast since we have more time for prep and clean up.
~I used to do leftovers for lunch. But we've grown to the point of never having enough leftovers for everyone. So instead I rotate these 5 lunches and we eat all the saved up leftovers on the weekend.
1. Tuna and crackers with fruit
2. Bean burritos
3. Bagel sandwiches - cream cheese, spinach leaves, shredded carrots, pickles, and cheddar cheese. If we happen to have lunch meat we will add that. But we usually don't.
4. Rice cakes with peanut butter and honey w/veggies and dip
5. Nachos with beans or lentils.
~COW helps with dinner prep and clean up no matter how old they are. Sometimes COW will make the whole dinner.
~I try to save out a serving of dinner for Honey's lunch first. Otherwise it may be gone.
~I'm working on re-stocking my freezer. This week we made zucchini muffins, refried beans, and frozen bananas for the freezer.
~Sometimes we do a mid morning snack. Sometimes we don't. It's almost always popcorn with coconut oil served in coffee filters. And we don't stop for snack. They keep on working.
~Tea time is afternoon snack and that's usually a bigger deal. At 3pm we have something depending on how much time we've had to prepare that day. During the winter we do more homemade muffins and cookies. During the summer we do more PB crackers and fruit. Right now we have loads of cantaloupe that have to be eaten. This is also when I read aloud to them. Our current book is a Hank The Cow Dog. LOVE that head of ranch security!!
~We drink water all the time except Saturday when I usually make juice in the morning and tea in the afternoon.
~We have the same thing for breakfast every day. Homemade granola cereal. There is no way I could do boxed cereal b/c of the expense of it plus they would eat 3 bowls each and that's a lot of milk. This cereal is filling and we don't go through too much milk. On Saturday we have a bigger breakfast since we have more time for prep and clean up.
~I used to do leftovers for lunch. But we've grown to the point of never having enough leftovers for everyone. So instead I rotate these 5 lunches and we eat all the saved up leftovers on the weekend.
1. Tuna and crackers with fruit
2. Bean burritos
3. Bagel sandwiches - cream cheese, spinach leaves, shredded carrots, pickles, and cheddar cheese. If we happen to have lunch meat we will add that. But we usually don't.
4. Rice cakes with peanut butter and honey w/veggies and dip
5. Nachos with beans or lentils.
~COW helps with dinner prep and clean up no matter how old they are. Sometimes COW will make the whole dinner.
~I try to save out a serving of dinner for Honey's lunch first. Otherwise it may be gone.
~I'm working on re-stocking my freezer. This week we made zucchini muffins, refried beans, and frozen bananas for the freezer.
~Sometimes we do a mid morning snack. Sometimes we don't. It's almost always popcorn with coconut oil served in coffee filters. And we don't stop for snack. They keep on working.
~Tea time is afternoon snack and that's usually a bigger deal. At 3pm we have something depending on how much time we've had to prepare that day. During the winter we do more homemade muffins and cookies. During the summer we do more PB crackers and fruit. Right now we have loads of cantaloupe that have to be eaten. This is also when I read aloud to them. Our current book is a Hank The Cow Dog. LOVE that head of ranch security!!
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