Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard...........

As weeks end approaches it is time to clean out fridge, take inventory! Yay, so excited about this one. Out with the old and in with the new.  I really dislike this part of my week. It is compost time, recycling, garbage & oh yes meal planning for the week along with groceries....
Thankfully the hubby and I work together most weeks when it comes to the "Fridge" & "Garbage".... If I don't get to it that day, he will and vice versa. It works and we work as a team..  Don't get my wrong I really hate the "garage part" but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, yes ladies I know it is man job!

So after we are all done with the fridge, I plan meals! I am not the fly by the seat of my pants kind of food shopper & I try to never go when I am hungry! I make all fresh home cooked meals, I usually try to buy alot of organic but sometimes you can't, so not a huge deal. But careful thought goes into my meals each week. I don't buy processed stuff like those "Frozen Meals" and crap like that. I buy alot of fruits & veggies, at the moment no need to buy any meat because we have a meat order that we started so the freezer is full of selection.... Even that is all "Hormone Free". It is only healthy choices in this house.. I try to feed my girls the best possible, we don't always get it right but for the most part I think we do well. Being a single income family, we have a grocery budget that we stick too. If we go over it comes from someplace else like entertainment or something of that nature, it works for us and we do pretty good at sticking to it. We are always looking at areas to improve, but even though we are on a budget we don't skimp on the health and well being of the family. I can tell you that just does not work for us, it is important to teach kids good eatting habits young so that they continue that way of life.

When planning the meals, I need to do so carefully! I usually plan what each day will be and write it down. So I will have a Monday - Friday plan,  whether or not there will be left overs. I need to consider Tom and Isabelle's lunch, snacks and so on. Things for Belle to take to school need to be "Peanut Free" and she gets alot of healthy choices also. No "Koolaid Jammers" or "Pudding" gets packed in her lunch. That kind of stuff in this house is VERY RARE.  That stuff does retarded stuff to kids, I have seem my kids eyes after drinking a Jammer.. The dark circles that appear are maddening.. They want us to feed this crap to our kids? Hell NO (That was my little RANT)... Saturday and Sunday usually we are out or we are at my Mom's for our Family dinner on Sunday. I will often get suggestions for the rest of the family to see what they feel like.  A typical week of planning will be:

Monday - Spaghetti, Caesar Salad, Garlic Bread

Tuesday - Chicken & Mixed Bean Fajitas with Avocado's & Spanish Rice

Wednesday - Some sort of meat with Veggies

Thursday - Crock Pot Stew or something of that nature

Friday - Family Pizza Day (Cheese Black Olives and Mushrooms girls choice)..
Then the next week we are back to the drawing board to change it up!

Thankfully my girls are great eaters which makes is easy! The girls eat Seafood they LOVE LOVE LOVE Calamari they will even eat the legs, Sushi (California Rolls), Butter Chicken, broccoli etc. They have a very good appetite so I can't complain! I have never made separate meals for either of them. They eat what we eat, they need to try everything at least once to determine their like or dilike.   I never expect them to clean their plates, but I do expect them to eat most of it. Laila is not a huge fan of meat alot of times she gets more the veggies part. I always take into consideration the food groups to makes sure that daily they get their proper servings of each! I think when planning meals, breakfast seems to be the one I struggle with most! Let's face it Breakfast sucks, there is not a whole lot you can eat this time of day which is funny because it is the most important!

Usually by Thursday in this house the cupboards are getting alittle bare and it is time to get it stocked up again. Rather then going every week to the store, we have been trying to stretch going grocery shopping to 2 weeks. It works some weeks but not others, which is fine. With the warm weather approaching it won't be so crappy to go to the store, so it is not too bad if we go every week. We typically need to run out for lunch meat or eggs, but to run out for milk is very rare also. That is one thing my kids are not big on and never have been. A 3 ltre bag of Organic Milk will last almost 2 weeks.. I think they would rather drink Soy or Almond Milk..
We also try to make it a "Family Trip" to the grocery store as we feel that it encourages them to shop smart and make heathly choices when they are older. It also encouranges them to be vise with Money. That is one area that Tom and I are teaching the girls about is money... I never was taught about the value of a dollar as a child and I wish I had been. It is sooo important..  I do venture out on my own to shop when I have had a rough day, I find it relaxing but for the most part it is usually a family deal. The girls love shopping week. the minute we walk in the door everyone thinks it is an "Eating Free for all"... Let's EAT EVERYTHING! After they help put everything they can away that is... I guess to them that means that if they help, they can eat it too....

Laila stealing Isabelle's Apples.. My little foodie!

Thankfully they don't eat like this anymore!
Belle enjoying her Breakfast! Even bowls make good hats.