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Meredith
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| Posted: Jan 20 2007 at 3:22pm | IP Logged
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Thought maybe some might be interested in this topic as the New Year heads into full swing!! Please take a look and lets chat about it here too!!
Blessings!
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Meredith
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MichelleW
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This is great Meredith! I'll have to check it every Monday (which is when I make my weekly menus).
This year I started making menus for breakfast and lunch as well. It has helped me so much these past two weeks! I was planning to include these on my blog, but couldn't figure out how to do it. DO you mind if I steal your side bar idea?
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Michelle
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Meredith
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MichelleW wrote:
| DO you mind if I steal your side bar idea? |
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Absolutely NOT, I'd love it!! Maybe you could start a breakfast or lunch menu plans for us to check, ours are sort of boring these days too even though I finally have a handle on the dinnertime stuff!! Thanks so much.
By the way, do you think this would warrant a Carnival or Fair, Elizabeth??? I'm happy to host and we could link here so non-bloggers will be able to participate!!
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Meredith
Mom of 4 Sweeties
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JodieLyn
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Luckily, I'm west coast and it's not even 2pm here yet. 
I'll have to think about it soon though.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Paula in MN
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I do like the idea of a carnival! And Michelle W, I plan lunch and dinner menus. I don't worry so much about breakfast because the kids like cereal, toast, cinnamon rolls or oatmeal. And I have been using the menu planning for both kids as lessons, too. We pull out all the recipe books, they can pick one or two to make, and then they have to shop for the ingredients in the pantry, freezers, or cupboard.
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 Paula
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guitarnan
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Well, we were going to have raclette tonight, but dh found a German restaurant within reasonable driving distance...good side, we love German food; bad side, cost! So, it's up in the air.
I'm very interested in planning cook-ahead meals (crockpot or otherwise) because we now have two nights per week with classes/meetings. We tend to eat very late (thanks to living in Italy), so landing dinner on the table at 6:30 is a real trial. So far I've relied on crockpot recipes, but there must be something else I can cook ahead besides lentil soup! (We love that, I admit!)
Here are some of my favorite cookbooks:
Rustic European Breads from Your Bread Machine
30 Minute Meals 2 by our family's favorite gal, Rachael Ray
River Road Recipes III: A Healthy Collection
and my newest, Naples At Table
I also love to collect recipes from friends and family...I'm so glad I got some of dh's grandmother's recipes for cookies and muffins...not that I'm supposed to be eating desserts! 
Hungry yet again, 
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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SharonO
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I started planning meals for 2007 by taking a monthly calendar and plotting in the main dish for lunch and dinner. A lot of my meals are crockpot meals or freezer meals. I was able to come up with at least 3 weeks of dinners. Lunches get repeated more often. Now I'll be the first to admit we are still working on the nutritious side of our meals, luckily no food allergies to deal with. But considering the past couple of months we were eating Pizza Hut weekly and various other carry outs, we are heading in the right direction. It is so liberating to look at the calendar on grocery day to see what I need to buy. It feels even better to get up in the morning and know what's for dinner and that I have all the ingredients to make it without a trip to the store. It helps my picky eaters to prepare themselves for dinners they may not care for. Besides we are saving a ton of money!
I hope this is one new year's resolution I can keep.
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Natalia
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Great post Meredith!
I am usually pretty good about planning menus but during Dec. it got crazy and I slacked off. Now I am trying to get back into the swing of things.
My main goal is to have dinner started in the morning: either thawing something or putting something in the crockpot. Sometimes I even can get vegetables cut up or potatoes peeled. Doing that in the morning while the kids are doing their table time assignments make the afternoon so much smoother for me.
I second the recommendation for Saving Dinner. I really enjoy it that book and for the most part the kids have liked the meals.
Tonight we are only having homemade italian bread, cold cuts, cheese and some fruit. I need a break from cooking !
Natalia
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Chari
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JodieLyn wrote:
Luckily, I'm west coast and it's not even 2pm here yet.
I'll have to think about it soon though. |
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My FIRST thought, Meredith, was yeah, right....it is ACTUALLY 4:30 and NO dinner prep in sight (and here I check the board )
anyway, Jodie....you are luckier than me, I am on the west coast, too.....but it is 5 pm where I am!
see you later while I go do this dinner thing that keeps happening EVERY SINGLE DAY........anybody else having the same problem??? 
blessings, chari
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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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Meredith
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Natalia wrote:
Tonight we are only having homemade italian bread, cold cuts, cheese and some fruit. I need a break from cooking !
Natalia |
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Oh yummy, hope you had it on a picnic blanket, what a great winter dinner picnic idea!! We'll have to try this while reading our Winter Holiday RA, the kids will love it!
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Meredith
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Elizabeth
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A carnival is a lovely idea, Meredith. I wonder if it might be a repeating thing like Lisa's Thankful Thursdays. If we ate motivated by this to get our planning finished on Sunday and we send you a link (or a list if there is not blog), you could do a quickie carnival with all the links. Then, anyone who hasn't gotten menus written might have a resource. But, are you up for a regular mini carnival chez you? I think that often carnivals are opportunities for us to sharpen something and get it ready and this might encourage the habit of menu planning.
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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JodieLyn
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Chari
We decided on tacos.. and not eating here until between 6:30 and 7 to account for kids going every which directions and allow friends to be picked up without worrying when it will happen etc.
So I'm just now starting to cook... got a break while the meat and onions are starting.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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stefoodie
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The dimsum people prepared our dinner .
Sounds great, Meredith, would be very happy to participate, but I'm still a bit confused as to what we're supposed to do -- do we post what we're planning to cook the following week and then send you the link? This sounds great!
Do any of you pack lunches for the hubby? Just in case you're looking for ideas for packed lunches too, I just started "My Husband's Bento Box", if anyone would care to join me.
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Meredith
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Stef, that's a great idea, my husband might faint if I actually packed him a lunch or ironed his shirts for that matter, but that's another post
Elizabeth, I think a weekly/monthly Carnival would be great as it would give people plenty of time to "plan" and profit from other peoples "plan"! Whatever works for everyone is fine, I know for me, it'll just be a rote weekly entry for now, the It's 4 O'clock thing.
Whay don't we set the 1st Carnival for the last Saturday of January, and then I'll post it either Sunday night or Monday morning and however it fits into everyone's planning week, as I know they will be different for everyone, they can just jump in wherever they want, sound good?
Glad you're up for this, it certainly has made my New Year start out well
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Meredith
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MichelleW
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Ok, I put up last week's menus on my blog
I mostly needed to see if I could figure out how to do this, and I was able to get them up. So, I guess that means I can participate. I am really excited to read other people's menu ideas. This will be so helpful to me! Thanks for thinking of this Meredith!
Oh, and I LOVE your snack suggestion for this week! We like pineapple in our cream cheese, so I am sure the oj in it will be a big hit.
Stef, great idea! My dh takes leftovers from the night before, so I have nothing wonderful to add to your fabulous menus. But, I love the bento box and the things you've been packing sound yummy!
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Michelle
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Tina P.
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Meredith wrote:
| Maybe you could start a breakfast or lunch menu plans for us to check, ours are sort of boring these days too even though I finally have a handle on the dinnertime stuff!! Thanks so much. |
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I *hate* making lunches. In fact, when I was single, I ate an apple (almost every day) and a snickers bar (only sometimes). Probably shouldn't have confessed that. Occasionally, I'd have a burrito at the cantina on campus when I was going to school, but when I worked I ate at my desk and took a walk for my lunch break. When I started actually having to come up with ideas for lunch, ugh! I was in a quandary. And I still can't get it together.
My 12 yos is in charge of lunch. And I do *not* like the frozen pizza, pizza rolls and other sundries that my husband brings home that we cook up for lunch. Any quick, easy, and HEALTHY ideas would certainly be appreciated.
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Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
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Lisa R
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Meredith,
I can't open your menu for the week. When I click on the side bar I just come back to your post? What am I doing wrong?
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God Bless!
Lisa, married to my best friend, Ray and loving my blessings Joshua (17)and Jacob(15), Hannah(7) and Rachel (5)!Holy Family Academy
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almamater
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This sounds great, Meredith! A la my New Year's Resolution, I have been sitting down on Saturdays to plan the weeks dinner menu. Since I started a daily jotting learning notes blog, I just tag on the bottom a note of what we had for lunch and dinner. But a weekly carnival would be wonderful!
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Meredith
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Lisa R wrote:
Meredith,
I can't open your menu for the week. When I click on the side bar I just come back to your post? What am I doing wrong? |
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Lisa, when you're in the article, click on the downloads and see what somes up. It's working for me. I can load it here too I think?? Let me try that too!
Week One Menues
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Meredith
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Lisa R
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Got it! I was clicking on the sidebar not in the article.
Thanks!
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God Bless!
Lisa, married to my best friend, Ray and loving my blessings Joshua (17)and Jacob(15), Hannah(7) and Rachel (5)!Holy Family Academy
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4Real Forums : Tea and Conversation
Topic: It’s 4 O’Clock, Know Where Dinner Is?
