30 Meals Plan - Step 1

Here we go! Everybody ready? I know I am! Anything to try and make dinnertime smoother, quicker, and easier. Thanks nannygoat!

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Someday I will enjoy cooking.

Someday I will baste and sauté' with feeling and pleasure!

But right now there are 4 little ones underfoot and a kitchen table covered in art projects, homework, and spilled honey from breakfast.

It's 5:00pm and one of my girls is complaining of a growling stomach and begging for cookies while the other is whining about having to come inside and help set the table. Meanwhile I'm frantically scanning the pantry and fridge for clues of what to make for dinner. I finally spot the spaghetti sauce and start to cook only to realize that we are out of pasta... grrrrrr all the while nursing my baby and yelling at my toddler to leave the dog food alone... I just love dinnertime.

Sound familiar?

I'm always up for new ideas that will make dinnertime run more smoothly especially if those new ideas save me time and money too!
So when my mom shared a new idea with Melissa and I that promised these results we were all ears and now we want to share this idea with YOU! (Because we are ALL about sharing)

INTRODUCING...
THE 30 MEALS PLAN!

Okay, this is so simple and yet SO BRILLIANT!
The idea is to find 30 meals that your family loves MOST and compile those meals/ recipes so that they are easy to access. Then make a master list of all the ingredients you would need for all of those meals so you can keep your cupboards (and food storage) stocked so that on any given night you can pick a meal and whip it up in a jiffy or plan a week-month at a time... easy peasy!

The beauty of this is you still have a great variety (or if you are like me, more variety) and you can shop the sales, stock up on those ingredients, and make less trips to the store which saves me lots of time and $$$$ since I can never stick to my list. Plus no kids complaining, " This is gross"... you know everyone will be happy!

So if you want to join us then... HERE WE GO:

STEP 1: If you are like me then you use a lot of the same recipes over and over again. I have several cookbooks and recipe boxes full and over-flowing but honestly I make maybe 15 of those recipes on a regular basis so the first step is to find 30 recipes your family LOVES. I obviously picked all 15 of our "standard recipes" and then we have been making a new recipe every night to start building to 30 meals.

We get most of our recipes from Kraft foods because they are SOOOOO simple and my kids like 9 out of 10 of the recipes. I also use ward/ neighborhood cookbooks and recipes on the Internet. Every night after the meal we go around the table and vote yes or no whether or not to add it to the list.

There you go, start compiling your 30 meals and we will be back soon (next Monday!) with Step 2!