What's for Dinner?

I didn't want a whole week to pass without posting...

It was such a busy week, it had the feel of the pre-Yom Tov frenzy. I think it's just getting back into the routine that takes some adjustment.

Last night we celebrated the marriage of our cousin, Meira. It was a beautiful wedding with a beautiful chassan and kallah. Today, we are off to Baltimore for Shabbos Sheva Brochos, and then Sunday we have Sheva Brochos at our house. I think that also explains the hectic week.

As promised, we will begin with meal planning. On my first post to this blog, I wrote the following about one feature of a happy home:

It's when the kids come home at the end of the day and they ask you "What's for Dinner?" - and you ACTUALLY have an answer for them, AND it will be able to be served before those same kids start eating the expensive "school only" snacks you just bought from Costco, AND you don't need to go to the store first to get the ingredients to make that dinner.

Putting dinner on the table night after night is a daunting task. It feels never-ending, and truthfully, it really is. It's one of those it's-really-a-bracha-to-have-a-family-to-have-to-serve-dinner-to, but that doesn't make it easy.

I know the type out there who honestly doesn't know what they will be making for dinner until an hour before serving it. They claim it's too much of a stress to plan it out before hand.

Really?

It's more stressful than having to go to the grocery store each day to get the 2 or 3 items needed in order to get dinner on the table? Maybe these people have extra time on their hands. I am suspecting not.

My life changed when I had quadruplets. Duh. In this area, I mean. I could no longer just run to the store. Sure, I had a gazillion amazing people offering to do my shopping for me each week. And even more people who would have been happy to pick up this or that. But I wanted to run my house as independently as I could. I wanted to squeeze my own Charmin, if you know what I mean.

So meal planning was born. It was extreme in those days. I use to plan meals for a whole month. That's a lot of planning. I don't do that anymore. One week at a time is good for me. But the idea is the same, whether you do it for one week or one month.

"Honey, what do you feel like eating for dinner on May 15th?"

Since I need to get my kids up for school and then go to work, I will leave you now with one assignment. One that's pretty crucial in efficient meal planning. Yes, you can do it without it, but it's soooo much easier with it.

The master dinner list. Or whatever you want to call it.

It's a list of your dinners you make that your family likes. I keep it on the hard cardboard backing of my refrigerator calendar so it's there each week for easy reference.

I separate milchigs and fleishigs, but you can do it the best way you see fit. I add things as I try new things (spinach souffle is the new thing, thanks Chana B.). The other spinach dish got crossed off because kids stopped eating it. Turkey burgers - huge. Veggie pizza - lost its flair.

You get the idea. Jot down meals as you remember them. Get the list going. Next week we'll continue.

Good Shabbos.