If you are anything like me, figuring out what is for dinner that doesn’t involve rummaging through the refrigerator like a feral raccoon in a trashcan is hard enough.
But then it gets worse….
Diets change, we have more mouths to feed, and grocery shopping feels more like an Olympic sport and less like a quick getaway for fun. Add to that, my ongoing internal struggle to have flexibility, and I find that the kitchen is one of the more dreaded areas of life.
Progress is Progress
In an effort to reclaim my kitchen to be a place for having fun and enjoying the fellowship of my family, I am on a mission to create a little order in the chaos, and make it something that I can share with the kids.
So here’s the plan-
- Start making a list of the meals we LOVE!
- Create cards to have a quick access to the things we like (my brain needs to have something tangible to hang on to).
- Assign kitchen helpers so I can work on teaching kids to cook, and get some much needed one on one time with everyone!
- Put recipes we don’t “wing” in a binder so I can create a family cookbook for easy access! (Long-term goal)
Kids in the Kitchen
Now that all of my kids are readers, there are a few things that we are obsessed with in our home. One of them is the calendar that is permanently affixed to the refrigerator so my pickiest of eaters can make a plan for lunch every day.
So, of course, the kids want to know what is for dinner just as much as they want to know what is for lunch!
I’m not gonna lie, having these little cards might be the best trick to be held accountable. Every night, my kids want to have a card to look at, and if given the opportunity to fill it in (gasp) they would die of happiness right there on the kitchen floor. Everyone loves an accountability-buddy, am I right?!?!
My plan is to keep filling in the blanks, but since I have these printed on cardstock, I also have a back so I can put my Mom notes on the back to really help me on my quest to get organized.
This is what has helped so far:
- Tallies for how many times we have had it
- Helps to weed out the failed missions!
- Who requested supper?
- This is a game changer! There are six in our household so if I can find one meal a week that we each love, it makes life so much more enjoyable and we have far less fights among the kids.
- My kitchen helper
- I sincerely want my kids to be confident in the kitchen, and the best way to learn is to do, so I want to make sure that my kids can make a handful of meals so they are the coolest kids in college and adult life when they can feel confident!
- Ingredients that I may not normally have
- If you are anything like me, I keep a pretty well stocked pantry, and there is nothing more irritating than seeing that one quirky ingredient that changes all our plans. This fights that and exponentially helps me while grocery shopping.
On to Step Two!
Now that I have started collecting our favorite meals, I can start to assemble my binder of meals that may one day be a fun little cookbook, photo album to share with the kids.
What meals are your family favorites?!?! What did I miss?!
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