meal planning

There was a time in my life when Andy and I would make dinner plans practically every night on the fly. We'd call each other on the way home from work, figure out what we wanted, then execute on our plan. It probably wasn't the most cost effective way to do things, or the most time efficient, but it worked for a young married couple with no kids.

Fast forward to Levi at 10 months old. We could still mostly get away with this plan because baby food is ridiculously easy to plan for, even when you are making it yourself. Every week or two, I'd make up a big batch of baby food (veggie purees and Levi's favorite, baby bolognese which was basically spaghetti and meat sauce with veggies, also pureed). I'd freeze it into ice cube trays, pop them into a freezer bag and we'd be set for our quick and easy baby food.

Fast forward to today. Now we actually have to plan. Levi eats dinner at 6:00 and I really try to keep him eating a variety of foods. Of course, he'd eat lasagna for a whole week straight (and has been known to do so), but I want to keep his food preferences as varied as possible. Plus, I know that one of the things that stresses my hubby out more than any other household chore is food planning. He doesn't like to make those last minute decisions when there are hungry people to deal with. He likes to know what's coming to him, know that we already have the food in the house. Of course he doesn't complain if there are no plans, but I can almost visibly see him relax when I tell him "we are having chili for dinner" and he walks home to a house smelling like chili ready to eat. As a homemaker, it makes me feel good to provide this sense of stability to him as he provides our family with our financial stability.

All that to say, I have just meal planned ourselves from here until Move Day!! I have a plan for every night between now and the new house. I have to go food shopping again next Monday to get the next round of fresh ingredients, but that'll be easy. Usually I handwrite my meal plan for the week, but this time I typed it. Each day I noted if there was a special evening activity (of which we have many coming up... church events, a wedding for me to run, etc.). Then I wrote the meal. If it was a planned leftover, "Repeat: lasagna". If Levi was going to eat something different than us, I wrote that in parenthesis. I also accounted for take-out plans, like for the day before we move. Boston Market will be preparing our dinner for us.

Phew! That's one more thing taken care of before we move!