An Addition to the New Plan

Insomnia strikes again....

I was up for about two hours, and right after I climbed back into bed, I came up with an addition to the new plan.  We tried it out today, and it worked beautifully.

First, I grabbed a bunch of cookbooks, the menu calendar, a bunch of pieces of paper and a pen for each child.

Second, I gathered the kids together and had them go through the cookbooks and figure out what they were planning to cook for their days.  Here's how it looks:

Saturday/tonight (#2) -
  Spicy cornmeal tilapia (a HUGE winner)

Sunday -
  Lunch (the Warden): omelet - He makes AMAZING omelets.
  Dinner (me):  meatball soup

Monday (#4) -
  Homemade pepperoni pizza

Tuesday (#6) -
  Homemade chicken noodle soup and crescent rolls

Wednesday (#5) -
  German pancakes in a mug and sausages

Thursday (#3) -
  Sloppy Joes

Friday (#1) -
  Crockpot macaroni and cheese


I have to say that I was impressed that a number of the kids ventured outside the normal box.  #2's gutsy move to serve fish was one of those.  He asked why we don't eat more fish, so he decided that that's what he was going to do.  EVERYBODY ate and ate and ate some more of the fish he made tonight.  SO GOOD!

Third, I had each child create an ingredient list on a little piece of paper.  They were then to go around the house and mark off the items we already have in the house.  Those left unmarked were the things they would shop for at the store.

Fourth, I told the kids our budget, and we went to the grocery store with their lists.  Each person picked up what they needed.  We stuck pretty close together; although, the girls, who tend to be a bit more comfortable with the store layout ventured away and would come back with items for the cart.

We ended up going over our budget by $3, but we hadn't paid attention to it much, so I think that was pretty good.  We cut our shopping time in half.

Since the boys bagged the groceries, the girls had to take them and put them in the car.  Everyone helped tote them into the house.  We put many of the refrigerated items in the garage fridge so no one would be tempted to eat them before it was time to cook them.

I'm thinking we have a new Saturday tradition here.


I've shared this here....
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