MadFamily Weekly Dinner Planning - How I Manage to Feed Everyone Dinner
I hate cooking with a passion. You spend hours in the kitchen, then everyone complains as they eat. And then you have to clean up afterwards. But, in this MadHouse of ours, not only do all of my children actually expect to eat at least three times a day, there are many nutritional requirements we face due to their variety of needs.
MadReader, the oldest girl, is a Type 1 Diabetic. Which means that everything she puts in her mouth needs to have the carbohydrates calculated. Each meal needs to have a balance of fat, protein and carbohydrate to get her to the next meal alive. She still needs to eat her vegetables too. And she's 12. So she's as picky, and prickly about everything at this lovely age.
MadStyle, the middle girl, has Sensory Processing Disorder. She won't touch many tastes and textures. The list of foods she eats is very short, and there are limited combinations I can put them together in. Different foods must not touch, and no sauces - except tomato sauce. Stews, stir-frys, casseroles are out unless she can physically separate the foods. Cooked vegetables are out, textured or creamy soups are out. She also won't eat many things if they're put together. Beef and potatoes is okay. Ham and potatoes is not. Ham and pasta is okay, as long as it's plain, but pasta and chicken is out. Chicken is okay as long as it's boneless, skinless and she doesn't see the skin at all. She loves tacos, but won't eat lettuce or tomatoes outside of them. Processed foods and sugars make her ADHD worse. She rarely eats cheese unless its pizza or lasagna.
MadBaby is just that, a baby learning to feed himself. He will accept being spoonfed, sometimes, but strongly prefers to feed himself. So foods easy to chew, easy to grab are ideal.
MadMom gets mad about cooking. I refuse to cook 3-4 dishes for each meal. I'm on a very tight budget, and have very little time to cook.
So what do I do?
Once a week, generally on Thursday night when the grocery fliers are delivered, I set up the menu plan for the next week. I plan to make dinner on 5 of the 7 nights. We have a frozen pizza every Friday, and a leftovers night. The girls each pick a dinner they want for one night from a running list I keep of meals everyone eats. Right now, I have 17 meals on that list. I wish there were more, because I get very sick of them, but that's what everyone eats.
I pick a make ahead meal that I can put 4-6 of together and throw in the freezer, using the sales and list to guide me. I pick an existing meal from my freezer. And for the final meal, we have an eat from the pantry night. Lunchables, pancakes, soup and sandwiches happen on this night. I try to use what will expire soonest.
I long for the day when I can try new meals, and be creative in the kitchen. But until then, I make sure we have stuff everyone eats. And quietly cringe every week when we have spaghetti, making sure that the brand of sauce and noodles haven't changed, for dinner.
MadReader, the oldest girl, is a Type 1 Diabetic. Which means that everything she puts in her mouth needs to have the carbohydrates calculated. Each meal needs to have a balance of fat, protein and carbohydrate to get her to the next meal alive. She still needs to eat her vegetables too. And she's 12. So she's as picky, and prickly about everything at this lovely age.
MadStyle, the middle girl, has Sensory Processing Disorder. She won't touch many tastes and textures. The list of foods she eats is very short, and there are limited combinations I can put them together in. Different foods must not touch, and no sauces - except tomato sauce. Stews, stir-frys, casseroles are out unless she can physically separate the foods. Cooked vegetables are out, textured or creamy soups are out. She also won't eat many things if they're put together. Beef and potatoes is okay. Ham and potatoes is not. Ham and pasta is okay, as long as it's plain, but pasta and chicken is out. Chicken is okay as long as it's boneless, skinless and she doesn't see the skin at all. She loves tacos, but won't eat lettuce or tomatoes outside of them. Processed foods and sugars make her ADHD worse. She rarely eats cheese unless its pizza or lasagna.
MadBaby is just that, a baby learning to feed himself. He will accept being spoonfed, sometimes, but strongly prefers to feed himself. So foods easy to chew, easy to grab are ideal.
MadMom gets mad about cooking. I refuse to cook 3-4 dishes for each meal. I'm on a very tight budget, and have very little time to cook.
So what do I do?
Once a week, generally on Thursday night when the grocery fliers are delivered, I set up the menu plan for the next week. I plan to make dinner on 5 of the 7 nights. We have a frozen pizza every Friday, and a leftovers night. The girls each pick a dinner they want for one night from a running list I keep of meals everyone eats. Right now, I have 17 meals on that list. I wish there were more, because I get very sick of them, but that's what everyone eats.
I pick a make ahead meal that I can put 4-6 of together and throw in the freezer, using the sales and list to guide me. I pick an existing meal from my freezer. And for the final meal, we have an eat from the pantry night. Lunchables, pancakes, soup and sandwiches happen on this night. I try to use what will expire soonest.
I long for the day when I can try new meals, and be creative in the kitchen. But until then, I make sure we have stuff everyone eats. And quietly cringe every week when we have spaghetti, making sure that the brand of sauce and noodles haven't changed, for dinner.
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