I made this plan on a simple whiteboard that stays in the kitchen. When the kids get home, they can see what time I will be home, what the dinner plans are and if there are other things going on. It works quite well.
If I am at work and they don’t know how to prepare something, then I can explain what they need to do. New recipes are written in ‘The Gold Book’ for future reference.
All of the meals that you see listed are vegan and gluten-free.
All meals are accompanied with a salad and homemade dressing. As I explained in my previous post, I prepare the salad and dressing on a Sunday to be ready for the week. Usually by Wednesday it needs to be filled up again. That is no problem. I do it Wednesday mornings since I work later in the day.
Since I prefer more raw meals, I make the salad the main part of my dinner and turn it into a meal by adding sprouts, seed pate, hemp seeds, avocado, etc. I have shared this before so you can read more about that here.
Leftovers are usually put in glass containers and then in the freezer so that my husband can take them the next week. If we have made a lot, then leftovers are kept in the fridge for another night (like Friday!) when we aren’t in the mood to prepare food. Not wanting to prepare food does not happen a lot for me. I find preparing food a good stress reliever (as long as I am not super hungry). But you may find preparing food stressful. I recommend making double of meals that you love and saving them for another day that week or freezing them and planning to use them in the next few weeks. Labeling the container before you put it in the freezer is a really good idea. (just sayin’)
Sunday evening, we will all plan together for next week. I think that it is a good family activity. We generally agree on what we want and who will do what. Although for this week, there is still nothing planned for Sunday. It looks like will be a last minute decision or a fend-for-yourself night. Those rarely happen so when they do, it’s ok.
Being organized and knowing what you will prepare is half the battle. If you are confident with that, then the actually preparation is much easier. It will help prevent the nights when pizza is ordered or other fast food and you feel guilty about feeding your family that. You end up beating yourself up and that is good for no one.
Benjamin Franklin once said, ‘If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.’
Start planning! I have a print-able menu plan for you to get started. Barbara’s Meal Plan
Thanks for reading!