A Saturday Well Spent

This photo (which is admittedly, very poor quality) is photo of the list of things we needed to do today. In my ongoing effort to be a good and prudent wife, I am implementing more ideas for staying on top of healthy meals for my family, without breaking the bank or my back. We girls worked this morning to do much of the "prep" work ahead of time so that putting together dinner will be a much smoother and efficient process.

This is a picture of all that needed to be done. You will see vegetables that needed diced, chopped or grated. You see large packages of meats that needed to be separated, cooked and frozen.

We grated the carrots, enough for five meals this coming week.

We chopped celery, enough for four meals this week. Notice my fancy and expensive "tupperware" that I am storing my chopped veggies in. I even splurged and got the matching lids! ~smile~

We don't want to waste the precious resources that the Lord has blessed us with. So, all my vegetable "scraps" go into a pot. I later added water and some salt and these are now simmering on my stovetop to make a vegetable broth for soup this week. Once I have finished simmering these, I will strain the broth and these will go into our compost pile for the garden beds this spring.

When I am able, I try to buy in bulk. This is usually the less expensive way to go. Then we just separate the meat into portions for later.

We made hamburger patties, enough for tonight's dinner and enough for next Saturday's dinner. The ones for the freezer were stored in a plastic container with freezer paper between each pattie. When we are ready to use them, we can just thaw them out and toss them on the grill.

Here is my beautiful daughter, Shannon, helping make the patties. She later browned the rest of the roll you see on the left side of the picture to be divided for four other meals, two this week, two next week.

We had five happy girls when we served macaroni and cheese with hotdogs in it for a quick lunch. Most of us also had a pickle. Ok. I know. This is an unusual combination, but we are an unusual group of girls.

We cooked up boneless, skinless chicken breast and then dice it and divide it for two meals this week and two meals next week. This saves a lot of hassle and time later. Especially when we use the meat for our General Tso's Chicken.

So, what will we do with all of this food? Well, here is a copy of our menu for the week. We will use the same menu next week, as well.

All breakfasts will be boiled eggs with either toast or biscuits. The exception is Sunday breakfast when we will have cereal.

Saturday lunch: Mac & Cheese with hotdogs and pickles

Saturday dinner: Hamburgers on the grill, baked beans, salad

Sunday lunch: Baked Chicken and dumplings, green beans, salad

Sunday dinner: Chicken and rice veggie soup

Monday lunch: Mustgoes ( in other words, odd things in the fridge must go)

Monday dinner: Pinto Beans, Pork Chops, Fried taters, cornbread

Tuesday lunch: Baked potatoes with the works

Tuesday dinner: Taco Salad

Wednesday lunch: Mustgoes

Wednesday dinner: Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

Thursday lunch: Veggie soup and biscuits

Thursday dinner: General Tso's Chicken over fried rice, salad

Friday lunch: Cheesy Chicken and rice casserole

Friday dinner: Black beans and rice, salad

I hope this inspires you to start planning ahead and doing what you can to make your home run more smoothly.

Remember: We do all things to please the Lord, not men, because from the Lord we will receive a blessing.

If I am able, I will post pictures of the finished products. I will even be happy to include recipes for those who are interested.

Thanks for sharing my Saturday morning with me.

Take care,

Elizabeth