2 Month Dinner Schedule

     The other day one of my daughter's best friends posted that she goes to the grocery store several times a week. I sent a comment telling her about a two month dinner calendar that we used to go by.
      Arielle said, "Mom that's what you need to put in your blog." So I started looking through my tubs of things to one day put in scrap books. Ha! I found it. Here's a picture of that dinner schedule.

2 Month Dinner Schedule

       When Arielle was little, I would pick her up from her sitter and meet her dad at a fast food restaurant. He would go off to a meeting and we would go grocery shopping. She had a little pink plastic grocery cart. I would tell her something on the list that was near the floor and let her put it in her cart. When her cart would get full I would take something out and put it in my cart to make more room in her cart. You are probably thinking that will take a lot more time! You are right it took a lot more time. We had fun and she wasn't fighting to go, the whole time I was shopping. Remember I had worked all day and she had been at the sitters all day. We were both tired and anything to make shopping fun took a little stress off both of us. If you plan on grocery shopping being fun it will be. If you are stressed and in a hurry when you go in, why are you surprised when you come out more stressed. Add a child to that mix and you have a nightmare. Make it fun! Plan it. Don't go when you are tired and frustrated. And if you are, tell your child, "Mom (or dad) is tired, we are only going to get what we need and then I will let you pick out the fruit. So you be thinking of the fruit you want." During the trip through the isles ask them if they can find the "whatever" before you do. (Let them win sometimes. Not always because you don't want them to think they will always win at everything.)

 

     When Arielle was in the first grade we moved to King William, VA. I used to say we lived in Egypt. There were no chain grocery stores nearby. The closest was about 20 miles away. At first I wasn't working outside the home so I would go shopping while Arielle was in school. After I got a job, grocery shopping was a nightmare. I couldn't seem to schedule it every week at the same time. Bless his heart, Kev married a lady that likes routine and lists.  And if you are married to a minister you know routine isn't always a given.  Kev would pick up things on his way home from the hospital or his minister's meeting on Mondays.  That was great help. I started to notice every time one of us would make a trip to the store we'd buy something we hadn't planned on. If you are on a budget you know those little things add up.

     That's when I came up with the dinner schedule. We went grocery shopping as a family on a Friday night. (The week of an away game) We would have coupons in hand and a grocery list for everything for a month. He had a buggy and so did I. When Arielle was with me, I taught her to read the labels. I would hand her two items and she would have to tell me which one had less calories and then we would decide which one costs the lest. Kev would get the meat and cold stuff.  When Arielle was with her dad they would pick out the breakfast items. He loves oatmeal and so does Arielle, her mom not so much. So they did that isle.

     When we got home we would all help putting the groceries away. I'm not saying this was without stress but it was a two day process instead of a once or twice a week process. 

     Saturday morning, Kev put the ground beef in a crock pot and we would start cooking. Kev grilled whatever he could. And then it went to the freezer. When the ground beef was done, we would put it in a metal colluder in the sink and rinse it. Kev was on a diet from the time he was 4 years old. We cut the fat when we could. My dinner plan may not say diet plan to you but we did what we could with the money we had. Some of the recipes are from the Duke Diet and Fitness or other diet recipe book. When the ground beef had cooled off we packaged it in 1 pound packages and labeled them. 

    The roast was venison roast. We had hunters in the church and they would bring us venison (deer meat). It was free and low in fat. Can't beat that! I added beef bouillon, beef stock or beef gravy mix when cooking. We would substitute it for the meat in any recipe we could. We still have people give us venison and we still love it.

    I tried to mix the meals up venison, chicken, beef, pork, etc. Left overs were our lunches unless there was enough left to use for another dinner. Spaghetti sauce turned into sloppy joes, etc.

   Our church had Family night dinners, $3.00 a person and children free. Can't beat that. If your church has Wednesday night dinners consider going. No cooking, one meal you don't have to think up something to eat, or shop for, no clean up and a mid week praise, prayer and study time. Love it!

    Friday night was called Family night in our house. It started out being Queen's night before Arielle was born. Family night when we had kids, now it's called Date night, it's just Kev and I again. It goes on the calendar in ink. It is like any other scheduled meeting!  

    Every other Friday night, Kev would make homemade pizza and we would play a board game together or watch a video. The other Friday we went out.

     I do hope this helps someone. Take my calendar and exchange the meals for meals your family likes. Make a grocery list.

     I have some other thoughts on the subject but this blog is long enough. So until next time start to look at grocery shopping not as a have to but as a get to.

Have a Great Day,

Mama D

Proverbs 22:6 (NIRV) Train a child in the way he should go. When he is old, he will not turn away from it.