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Time to Simplify

My May 2019 meal plan is to simplify, simplify, simplify.

Simplifying hasn’t always been easy for me. I used to throw huge birthday parties for each one of my 12 children. Now, I was never into themed birthday parties, so I didn’t get concerned about buying all of the matching cups, plates, and decorations. I didn’t even go overboard on making the cake.

I did, however, go way overboard on inviting and feeding people.

My goal has always been pretty basic. The goal was to make memories. Nothing else matters. You can’t take stuff with you, but memories are so precious.

My misconception was in how to make those memories.

It was normal for 50 – 70 people to show up at each one of these kids’ birthday parties. All of these people were immediate family, like my husband’s siblings. (There were a lot of them!)

Of course, they would bring their families too, so when added up, it came to a lot.

I didn’t just serve cake and ice cream though. Looking back, I now realize I should have just served cake and ice cream, but hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it!

Nope, I made homemade pizza most of the time. I started cooking around 3:00 for the party and many nights didn’t leave the kitchen until 8:00 or 9:00.

Sometimes we would throw a huge BBQ. Of course, when people would ask what they could bring, I would quickly say nothing.

I was exhausted. The kitchen was a disastrous mess. I hurt everywhere. (Most people back then didn’t know how sick I was with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. I don’t bother trying to hide it anymore.)

The kids had a blast! We enjoyed all of the conversations and visiting, but it was way too much on me both physically and financially.

I have come a long way from throwing huge birthday parties for 70 people, while doing it all myself, to today’s meal and party plans.

Everybody Has a Day to Cook

I still have 4 out of 12 children at home. They each get a specific day to cook. Each girl likes to make certain things, so I decided months ago to just go with this idea.

Judy, age 16, loves to make homemade pizza. She makes the dough from scratch and even makes homemade sauce. She wants to try making homemade mozzarella some day.

Judy’s cooking day is Friday, so Friday is always Pizza Night.

Judy has her own little side business of cake making. She makes beautiful cakes, and we love it when she cooks some up for us!

Sophia, age 18, has no issue with keeping things simple. She cooks on Mondays, and prefers to stick to mac ‘n cheese, sandwiches, or left-overs. About once a month, however, she likes to do something a little more complicated, like chicken wing dip.

Sophia’s favorite things to cook are desserts. She has become quite an expert at making all kinds of homemade candies. She has made us homemade caramel, a variety of gummies, and homemade candy bars.

Sarah, age 11, loves tacos. Tacos are one of her all-time favorite foods. She cooks on Tuesdays, and has declared each Tuesday TACO TUESDAY!

Sarah also enjoys making all kinds of yummy treats for us, like cupcakes, Popsicles, and cookies.

Christina, age 14, loves everything chicken. She makes amazing homemade fried chicken. She plans on throwing some chicken on the barbecue grill this month too.

Christina cooks on Wednesdays, and we always expect to eat chicken on that day.

Christina also enjoys making desserts, like cheesecake pies, homemade brownies, and cookies.

May 2019 Meal Plan

In order to keep things simple this month, I have assigned a specific type of food for each day. We are never stuck to this plan and feel fine about switching things up as needed. This does give us a good idea on how things will go for the month though.

Sundays

1. Meat Loaf
2. Steak sandwiches
3. Beef
4. Beef

Mondays

1. Mac ‘n Cheese (And leftover meatloaf)
2. Mac ‘n Cheese (And leftovers)
3. Mac ‘n Cheese (And leftovers)
4. Chicken wing dip

Tuesdays

1. Regular hamburger tacos
2. Chicken tacos
3. Steak tacos
4. Regular hamburger tacos

Wednesdays

1. Chicken
2. Chicken
3. Chicken
4. Chicken
5. Chicken

Thursdays

1. Pork
2. Breakfast for dinner
3. Pork
4. Breakfast for dinner
5. Pork

Fridays

1. Pizza Night
2. Pizza Night
3. Pizza Night
4. Pizza Night
5. Pizza Night

Saturdays

1. Spaghetti
2. Goulash
3. Lasagna
4. Chili

Have a Plan

You don’t have to have a specific day assigned for a specific food. The idea is to keep things simple for your family. Have some type of plan. My main plan is to just keep ingredients on hand for meals.

What’s Your Plan

Do you have a detailed meal plan? Do you have no plan at all? Do you just try and keep ingredients on hand? What’s your plan? Share your answers in the comments, or over on my Facebook page, CANDYFOOTECLUB.

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