Things to make life easier

I hate lunch. I hate deciding what to make that A) at least half of the kids will eat and B) is easy to put on the table and C) is somewhat healthy and well-rounded. So I finally figured something out that helps me not only get through lunch but all the meals. I've started planning every meal and snack for the week. It is so nice to not have to scramble around for what to put on the table. We also eat so much healthier. Here is my menu plan for last week:

Mon ...........Tues............Wed
Cereal........Yogurt/fruit...cereal

Quesadillas...ham/pretzels...Annie's pasta
plums.........carrots........cherry tomatoes
cucumbers oranges........nectarines

Grapes........apple slices...dried cranberries
PBCrackers....cheese.........graham crackers

Shrimp Salad..sweet n sour...Tostada leftovers
melon.........meatballs......corn
breadsticks...rice/broccoli..watermelon


Thurs..............Fri..............Sat..............Sun
pancakes.............oatmeal...........biscuits........cereal

chicken nuggets......hot dogs..........PB&J............tuna
plums................carrots.............oranges.......apples
sweet potato fries...strawberries........carrots.......cucumber

smoothie.............goldfish............bananas.......grapes
popcorn..............oranges.............nutella toast..banana bars

crab quiche..........cous cous...........sweet n sour...salmon
peas.................salad.................peas................wild rice
cantaloupe...........watermelon............ rice................broccoli

Desserts: Peanut butter bars, snickerdoodles

Other bonuses: not as much complaining, my daughter started to complain about what was for lunch but stopped when I showed her that her favorite lunch was coming up the next day. Not as much pestering, instead of bugging me about what was for snack or dinner they just went and looked for themselves what they could have.

I also try to plan one meal that I can double and freeze to make a quick meal for another week (I doubled and froze the crab quiche and the cous cous was frozen from before and a few fun desserts to make with the kids or when I *need* some chocolate.

Okay so looking back at my menu I take back that we eat healthy...we just eat more of a variety :)

So in a perfect world I would do this every week instead of every once in a while like I do now.