Quick Tips for the Minimalist Minded Mama - Menu Planning!

"What's for dinner?"

Is it just me or does anyone else dread this question each day? Especially when we're busy all day with schoolin' our babies, trying to deal with the house, work and everything else pulling you in a million directions-- and now all these humans want food?! Again? UGH.

I've got our kids pretty self sustainable when it comes to breakfast and lunch, but dinner is the meal that's left to momma. And that's not an easy deal. In our house anyway, my husband is particular bout some things, our 7 year old complains about darn near anything I make, the nearly 5 year old is hit or miss and I want to keep our grocery budget under control. 4 kids plus extended family in the house-- our grocery shopping trips can spiral out of control FAST!

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So this was my oober-minimalist plan to tackle dinner:

>> Pick 6 meals that the hubby and kids WILL eat without much complaint (except for the 7 year old, she's impossible)

>> Day 7 will be pizza day. My kids want pizza delivered every. single. day. I can't take it any more.

>> Each week there is a dinner assigned-- that's what we're eating. Every week, the same thing. DONE.

That's it.

So I decided that these foods were pretty well accepted:

Steak/mashed potatoes/homemade rolls, Tacos, Chili/cornbread, Chicken Fettuccine Afredo, Burritos (yes, separate from tacos ;), Lasagna and Pizza Day!

I assigned them a day, noted it to pop up on my calendar each day, wrote out what I needed for each item, multiplied by 4. BOOM.

Done.

We're a month in and I LOOOOVE it! We've swamped a couple days around, but really that's about it. It's been SO easy, one less thing to worry about/waste time on, and honestly- I think the kids really dig it and even our impossible 7 year old is way more calm about dinner even when it's not one of her faves. Super score!

AND, it was the least amount of money I've spent on food in probably ever, because it was simple.

Minimalist menu planning, check! 😎