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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Dec 16 2013 at 7:11am | IP Logged
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When you plan your meals for the week, do you include lunch and breakfast? I never do, thinking we will just eat leftovers or whatever is always available - eggs, toast, oatmeal, etc.
I've been feeling like I need to plan better for the other meals though. We are very loose during the day. the kids grab what they want when they are hungry, except the little ones that need help. It's not very peaceful though and I'm thinking I need to make all our meals more formal- everyone sits at the table at the same time, grace is said together, etc.
How does this work in your home?
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Becky
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4 lads mom
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Like your house  but I’m okay with it....it’s just the personality of our house and our crazy life....but I AM buckling down with the dinner menus. That does seem to relieve stress on my part. 
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Mackfam
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Some evenings are just as you describe, Becky!  I think it's probably the nature of a larger family with older kids. They often have evening plans - choir practice, sports, social events - that take them away from the family dinner table 2 - 3 nights a week. I try to keep everything on my planner so I know who is going where and when and that helps me plan.
A strategy I've started employing is NOT counting on leftovers for dinner so that there's always *something* in the fridge for an older child that needs to eat a bite quickly and then run. Also, I like claiming that time to sit down with that child and have a cup of coffee or tea to visit with them!
Anyway....
I sit down with my planner and my recipe basket or a favorite cookbook and do my planning either Saturday morning, or sometimes...Sunday night. I take a look at Feast Days, everyone's plans for the week, and plan for meals from there. I make a market list at the same time I plan, adding all the items we need to our Cozi shopping lists so that dd or dh can pick up needed items while they're out during the week.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 16 2013 at 9:32am | IP Logged
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Becky Parker wrote:
When you plan your meals for the week, do you include lunch and breakfast? I never do, thinking we will just eat leftovers or whatever is always available - eggs, toast, oatmeal, etc.
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I used to...and then I stopped. And now, I'm thinking of adding it back in to my menu plans after Christmas...just because I need to freshen things up a bit and give the kids some different options. Sometimes it feels like we get in a rut.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 16 2013 at 9:35am | IP Logged
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 I was just re-reading your post, Becky, and realize you're asking more about daytime eating...than the evening meal.
Breakfast happens a little bit more randomly. The kids have to complete morning chores before they eat, so they sometimes trickle in at different times. They say prayers on their own when they sit down.
Lunch is usually all of us more together. We *usually* say prayers all together, but I'm usually the last one eating. Each of my big kids helps a younger child get their lunch on the table, and I feed the baby. Then I eat...or read aloud...or both. I like lunch times all together because it's a great read aloud time (captive audience), and lunch prep is usually one of my favorite times to listen to an older child's narrations.
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Jen Mackintosh
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TryingMyBest
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I don't include the other meals in my weekly plan. I've tried doing that and it always failed so I stopped. I'm sure there are some families that can be that planned out that much but it's too much for our family. I do think it's a good idea to have more formal meals during the day though. Plus it's helping to train them to not snack all day. Maybe you could make up the plan for breakfast, lunch and snacks the night before based on what is left over from dinner?
Jenn
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JodieLyn
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I have lists of items that are liked for those meals but mostly I don't plan them unless you count that one morning a child may ask for something when something else is being made and we'll make sure to make the request within a day or two... if it's reasonable.
Breakfast is more likely to be made for the whole family.. but even lunch ends up being mostly together even if we're eating different items because once one person starts making lunch it apparently reminds everyone else that they're *starving* and must eat RIGHT NOW too. 
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 16 2013 at 11:08am | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
| I have lists of items that are liked for those meals but mostly I don't plan them |
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Yes. This is what I do when I start to "plan" these meals more...make a list of choices like Jodie does. It doesn't go on the actual day-to-day meal plan.
JodieLyn wrote:
| even lunch ends up being mostly together even if we're eating different items because once one person starts making lunch it apparently reminds everyone else that they're *starving* and must eat RIGHT NOW too. |
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EXACTLY THIS!!!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: Dec 20 2013 at 11:29am | IP Logged
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Sorry to start this thread and then leave! I've been in survival mode so I haven't even had time to think about planning menus! Thankfully, I've always had a basic routine for dinners so those are always okay. It's lunch and breakfast foods that are a struggle.
I think part of the reason I am thinking about coming up with menus for the lunch and breakfast meals is that my dh says I run things like a restaurant! He thinks I shouldn't give them so many choices for these meals and has a hard time tolerating the "what do we have to eat for lunch?" question, or worse, "How come there's no food?!"
In my ideal world (the one that exists in my head) the kids would simply get what they want for breakfast and lunch, clean up their mess, and eat it happily even if it's just peanut butter and jelly 5 days a week. But, that world exists in my head and every day I am in the kitchen for breakfasts and lunches, trying to help the kids decide what they want and then cleaning up the mess myself. (Maybe we just need to focus on better habits in the kitchen!)
On the other hand, for my oldest ds that works when he's home from college, I make the same thing for him for breakfast every morning (egg/bagel sandwiches) and usually the same thing for lunch (sandwiches, yogurt, a power bar and water). It hasn't stunted his growth at all! Has anyone tried packing lunches for their kids in the morning? I did that for a little while but then got out of the habit.
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Erica Sanchez
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Becky, I just have a minute, but the single most helpful thing regarding breakfast and lunch in our home has been to assign an older with a younger child to prepare these meals during the week. We mostly have some kind of egg dish and then yogurt, toast, and fruit if we are out of eggs. I haven't done a menu (for any meals!) but hope to.
Today was "How come there's no food?!" but they managed to find a few things. :)
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SuzanneG
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I keep a LUNCH LIST on the inside of one of the cupboard. For the most part, we usually have those items, or at least the items for 1/2 of them.
shoppping: just regular things that we get all the time...
Sometimes, one of the bigs is in charge of making lunch from that list (their choice). Everyone eats.
Other times, I've started doing what Erica does....assigning a big to a little and everyone fends for themselves....either from the list or from their own brain.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Meal planning
