I gotta’ admit something to you but shhhh, its a secret; I do NOT have everything together. LOL I have been told more than once that people cannot believe how I “do it all” or they say I am amazing or some other such nonsense. Heck, just ask my teenager; he’ll tell you all about my flaws and shortcomings.   But the truth of my life is, there are many different strategies in place that do help quell  the tide of chaos and keep us from drowning in it all.

After moving to Wisconsin from California we fell back on some bad habits. We stopped cooking good, truly home-made foods every night.  We let the laundry pile up so that every Saturday became a fold-laundry-from-morning-to-night day. We lost the Marbles somewhere between San Jose and Milwaukee and although we’ve been using them “virtually”, we certainly haven’t been consistent. Well, its time to make some changes and to reclaim our (relatively) peaceful life.

First off, the Marbles need to come back. I guess we’ll have to buy some more. That parenting strategy is the most valuable resource I’ve ever employed. Next, the laundry will go back to being done every other day. This works because the Marble-hungry children in my house will happily fold and put away laundry (albeit, not as neatly as I would, but hey, its DONE, either way). But the most valuable new strategy involves our menu planning.

What Brian and I have found, when trying to prepare fresh, healthy dinners for the family every night, is that the biggest deterrent is prep-time. A good recipe from a favorite cookbook almost always involves chopping, slicing, reductions or just plain long stints in the kitchen.  In addition, just getting a plan in place and getting all of the necessary ingredients in the house can be a challenge and all too often one we find has snuck up on us and we’re off to Jimmy John’s for a round of subs.

Our solution? Its time to take one of our business strategies of “grouping like tasks” to our personal life. Saturdays, one of the only days with ANY free time, will be menu planning days. When we do this together, as a family, the “work” of it is made much more palatable. Giving the kids some say in what is served, at least for one night a week, helps keep everyone happy at the table. Then, on Sunday after church we’ll head to Pick’n Save (yes, seriously, that is my grocery store, LOL) to get everything we need. Once we get everything home, we will do ALL of the chopping, prepping, etc for every meal that week. If there is any soup on the menu, that can be made on Sunday as well. Kind of like Super Suppers, or Dream Dinners, without the mark-up and without all the fat and calories. Not only will this save time and mess on weeknights, but it is fun to be together, working in the kitchen on a day when there is no homework or practice or games to run off to. How nice will it be to open the cookbook at 5 pm and then the refrigerator and find that so much of the work is already done?  I promise to let you know how it goes. Wish me luck!!

Image goodness:

I have had a lot of fun with my new tool; the Ikelite underwater housing. This was my first Custom Session that was almost entirely in the pool. How much fun is that? They are making their Christmas card out of these images, which I imagine will make their cards pretty one-of-a-kind, don’t you think?