Yes, I plan the menu.
I own three calendars. Wait, make that 4. Obsessive? No. Remember, the title of this blog is cluttered genius. That means I have a LOT going on up there in my brain. I have to keep it straight, and having a calendar in various places around the house keeps me moderately organized. It also means I’ve written items three or four times. I’m a visual learner. I remember better that way.
My love for lists and calendars led me to adding another – but handy – calendar to my collection: the weekly menu.
Once I officially began working at home (and broke out of the new baby haze that is those first few months), I settled into a pretty good routine of planning our weekly dinners. This has had three benefits:
- I knew what I needed to buy at the store each week.
- There would be no question about what was for dinner (I could just point at the board), and I couldn’t say that I had no plan and thus needed to go through a drive-thru.
- It was a way to involve the entire family in decision making. Miss Sassy Pants has enjoyed this the most because she really feels like she has a say (we’ll let her keep believing that).
Some people roll their eyes at menu planning. It’s really not that hard. All we do is decide on the basic entree, and then I have some frozen vegetables or canned fruits to throw on the side. I make sure that our meals are pretty balanced, and the rest falls in to place.
We have a handy-dandy chalkboard by the back door (made by one of my favorite people in the world). Each week, we erase and fill in the daily meals. Mondays and Thursdays are typically something easy because Miss SP has dance, and the world is nutso as we get ready for her departure.
I will say that I didn’t come up with this idea on my own. Have you ever heard of The Flylady? She’s awesome and has wonderful ideas for getting de-cluttered and keeping the house in check. Of course, I can’t de-clutter TOO much. Then, what would I call this blog?
