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MONTHLY MEAL PLAN

[Confessions of a Mama of 8]

Stress, frustration, tears, and woe: this was my frequent reality at dinner time because the food wasn’t ready, my people were crying from hungriness and low-blood sugar, and I was trying to fight through a new recipe. With meat that wasn’t thawed yet because I had forgotten to plan ahead.

If any of this rings a bell with you, read on!

I never used to meal plan until this past year. In fact, I’ve been trying to figure out a meal planning method that actually worked for my life (feeding 10 people daily, a wide range of cuisines we love, lots of littles, a couple of picky-eaters) that I could maintain.

It is with great joy I now share with you the successful method I have found, hoping you find some helpful ideas too! Adapt and modify it as you need for your own life. This is supposed to lessen your stress, not increase it.

1. Schedule about 30 minutes to meal plan for the first time (this is only because of the extra time making the Menu Guide List that you will use each time thereafter). After this first time, it should be relatively faster – more like 15 mins, or less!

2. Assess your current season of life. Be very honest. Do you have infants, young children, erratic schedules, late night commitments, or heavy workloads?

Do you deal with special food requirements due to allergies/sensitivities, or super picky people? Is it easy for you to get to the store/get groceries or will you be trying to use produce or food you raised or already have a lot of?

Is it cold outside (scheduling soups, stews, chilis, etc) or warm (planning salads, outdoor grilling, lighter fare)? What do you have on hand in your pantry/freezer?

3. Make your Menu Guide List, keeping your current season and what you already have on hand in mind. This means simplify and go for maximum efficiency over fancy or complicated meals.

Try to get at least 10-15 regular meals that you and your family eat and generally enjoy.  Ask your children for their suggestions and input, if you want (I do – it helps me remember meals I forget about, and also lets them feel involved and less likely to complain about what’s planned!)

Some friends I have use a smaller number of repeating meals. I tend to go bigger – often using up to 20 meals.  Make this list ideal for you, and keep it in a place you can reference often! 

*UPDATE your Menu Guide List as your life/schedule/the weather changes. Be honest about meals that just aren’t working well for you anymore, and need either updating or replacing.

An important category to include on your Menu Guide List is your Hero Meals! These are the 3-4 meals that you can make quickly or easily that are generally well-liked by a majority of your family, which you always have ingredients for, that you can make without stress. If it’s something that you find easy and enjoyable, put it on the list.  Try to get at least 3. And find a cape to wear when you make them – one of our favorites are these amazing baked hamburgers!

4. Find a calendar format you want to use (Google calendar, a paper calendar, a monthly planner, your phone, whatever you find works well for you), and note the days that already have appointments or commitments – anything that will impact your time to prepare an evening meal.

5. Begin putting in your Hero meals on the days that will contain the highest stress-level or the shortest available prep-time.

6. Fill in any days that are “Family Tradition” meal days – like Taco Tuesdays, or Pizza Fridays, or Leftover Mondays… whatever it is that you routinely make or eat on a specific day, write those in! Our Friday tradition is this amazing al fresco-style supper!

7. Plug in the meals from your Menu Guide List on the rest of the days, trying to keep a rational flow – For example, if you’re having a roast on one night and you know you’ll have leftovers, plan a basic stew or nachos with the leftover meat within a day or two afterwards.

CONGRATULATIONS! You did it! An entire month of meals planned and suddenly you’re feeling empowered and positive about the weeks to come because you know that you have a plan in place!

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I don’t enjoy laundry chores, except hanging clothes outside on the clothesline (key word: outside).  Others may love laundry. And some of us are left brain dominant and others are right brain dominant. What works for you might not work for your friend.

To be successful at anything we do, it’s useful to know yourself better.

Typically we learn how to do home management tasks from our family growing up, or pick up habits from people we look up to. This can work well- or not, as each family and home is unique with its specific needs. You are unique, and it pays to know yourself so you can maximize your strengths and learn how to work with weaknesses.  Learning who we are and how we work best adds energy and joy to our lives.

Questions to get to know yourself: 

Spend some time really focusing on these questions and the answers you come up with.

What are your strengths?  What gives you energy?

When you identify your strengths, you can maximize them and use them to your advantage.  Take a moment to think about what you’re good at and what you love to do, then make a plan to do it!

Example: If you love to cook and make fantastic food, bless others with your skills. This may look like many different thing: sharing recipes, have dinner parties, inviting other families over, taking meals to those in need, etc.

That is just one example of a strength you may have. For others they may be good at organizing, planning events, doing laundry, planning fun activities for kids, etc. Identify YOUR unique strengths and acknowledge that they may be different than others. You’re gifted in your own unique ways, take a moment to love and appreciate yourself for that.

By identifying the things you love doing, you can prioritize doing them!

What are you limited by?  What drains your energy?

We all have things that we’re uncomfortable with.  Perhaps it’s a skill we simply need to develop, or maybe it’s something that we have no interest in improving.  We need to acknowledge these aspects of ourselves and seek ways to work with it. 

When we identify and accept our problem areas it helps us as we find ways to maneuver these tough aspects in life. 

Maybe you find cooking tedious and boring, or you don’t want to or simply can’t take time for it?  Don’t beat yourself up over it. Accept this, and figure out strategies to provide good, healthy food for your family.  Is there a person in your house who enjoys cooking? Do you need to hire someone to cook? Maybe subscribe to a meal plan service?  Or take cooking classes? 

Evaluate your options and find a solution that works for you.

Maybe you don’t have an eye for interior decorating.  Ask a friend for help, get a book, or watch some shows.

Identify a do-able plan to address your problem areas. Delegate tasks, or learn super fast and efficient ways to do the work that you don’t enjoy or that drains you.

What are your personal advantages? 

We all have advantages in life that we often aren’t even aware of. These are the aspects of life in which we excel or have easily obtainable resources to ease our way. 

Did you grow up knowing how to bake bread?  Or do you live near a bike trail and easily get exercise? Perhaps your best friend has a huge garden and shares her excess produce that you then turn into delicious food for your family. 

There are little things in life that add benefit, which we often don’t even realize to be thankful for. Take a minute to think about the blessings in your life and live gratefully.

What can you delegate?

Think about the strengths of the people in your home and delegate tasks to them.  Do you have a tall child who can easily dust the top of the refrigerator? Or a child that loves to plant and care for flowers?  If there are tasks you struggle with, figure out if and how to delegate them to someone else.

For example: If your house has a lot of windows and you don’t have the equipment or time to wash them, it may be beneficial to hire a window washing business to handle the task.

What are your priorities?

Spend a moment envisioning yourself at the end of your life. What will you think back on and be happy and grateful for?  What people will you surround yourself with?  

People and relationships are always the most important. It’s essential to keep your priorities straight, home is more than a place; it’s a feeling. Yes, you may create a home that looks, smells, and feels clean and beautiful; but don’t forget that the atmosphere is more important than cleanliness. Fill your home with love and caring.

How do you do your work?

Have you heard the saying: work smarter, not harder? Apply this to your home management work. We all come from different homes and have learned habits, both good and bad. 

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut and continue doing things the way you always have. Don’t get stuck in a pattern. Seek out tips, tricks, and hacks for all aspects of home management work and life with children. Search for new and better ways to do things, always seeking more efficient methods. 

How do you manage money?

Maybe you learned your financial habits at home growing up, or maybe you developed them in your early adulthood. Think for a minute about your money management skills.  Money management information is easily accessible, but the bottom line is that you can’t spend more than you make without getting into financial trouble. This is important to remember as you shop for your home and family.  If you haven’t yet, learn how to better manage money in your day-to-day life.

Knowing Yourself will Improve your Life!

Knowing yourself helps you learn how to amplify your strengths and plan to acknowledge and address your limitations.  Spend some time thinking through what’s important and plan to strategize home management to allow you to emphasize on what’s truly important.

Bottom line: know yourself and emphasize your strengths and the parts of life that give energy.

You can do this! 

By following these questions to evaluate and know yourself, you can identify how to improve your habits, therefore improving your life. It’s easy to let this type of activity take the back burner. Life is busy and staying in your well known habits is EASY. But to grow and improve you must know yourself, to capitalize on your strengths and overcome your weaknesses. 

For awesome home management resources, check out our FREE resource library!

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Welcome to Week 6 of the Whole House Overhaul! This week, we’re going to focus on the Toy Room, Schoolroom (if you homeschool), and bookshelves of your home.  If you missed Week 1 through 5 of the Whole House Overhaul in 6 Weeks, read them here.

Clean and Organize the Toys

Depending on your situation you may have a designated toy room, play area, or basement. Or perhaps your toys are in the living areas of the home.  Whatever your situation, this is the week to sort through, organize and clean the toy areas of your home. Depending on your unique situation, you may have taken care of these areas at other points in the 6 Week Overhaul.  If not, it’s time to do it now.

Clean and Organize the Homeschool Room

Homeschoolers, this is the week to organize and clean the schoolroom.  Inevitably there are books, programs, or activities that you are finished with and it may be time to pass them on. Sort through as you organize, setting aside items you no longer use.  Also, organize your arts and crafts supplies this week.

Clean and Organize the Bookshelves

This is also the week to sort through your books and organize them like a library.  There are handy stickers you can find online to put on the spines to organize your books in whichever way works best for your family.  The goal is to be able to find what you need- not just you, but any person in your family should be able to find what they’re looking for.  There are many ways to organize your books. I’ve heard that some decorators organize books by color; while that method may look good in photos, I personally wouldn’t appreciate that type of organization for my books.

Getting Started

As with the other weeks in the Whole House Overhaul, we’re going to add these extra deep cleaning and organizing tasks to the normal weekly cleaning.

We’re going to work top to bottom and left to right- cleaning in an orderly method to help stay focused and on-track.

Collect the trash and take out.  Remove anything that doesn’t belong in the Toy Room, Schoolroom, or on your Bookshelves and put it in its rightful place.  If something does not have a designated place then assign one.

Lets Clean!

It’s time to deep clean the Toy Room, Schoolroom, and Bookshelves.

Start with catching cobwebs.  

Next, clean the light fixtures and change any burnt out bulbs.  

Dust the walls, baseboards and doors.

Clean the windows, curtains, and blinds.

Clear off the tops of all flat surfaces.  

Sort through and organize any  cupboards, drawers, tubs, baskets, boxes, carts, and other containers. Then arrange items neatly.  

Clean out any closets and arrange appropriately.

Dust shelves and arrange items/books in a logical way. A few examples of how to sort books are:

• Eras in history
• Biographies
• Science by topic
• Children’s
• Youth
• Adult

Vacuum the furniture, pillows, cushions and fabric of upholstery.  Remove stains. Wipe any leather furniture with a damp cloth or leather cleaner.

Vacuum the floor, then move the furniture and vacuum underneath.  Use an edge attachment on your vacuum to clean the edges of the carpet.

Rearrange if you need to, want to, or discover a better layout.  A fresh look in a room is inspiring!

Look around for anything that would make the room or area more usable, and make a list of shopping items.

You’ve got this!

By following these simple steps, your toy room, schoolroom, and bookshelves can get the reboot they need. You and your family can enjoy a clean and organized space to play and learn in, and your bookshelves will become a more efficient space too.

To help you along with this journey, I’ve created a Week 6 Checklist in the resource library. 

If you’ve enjoyed the Whole House Overhaul in 6 Weeks, you’ll love the home management techniques in the book! Home Management: Plain and Simple is a book written just for moms and homemakers like you. In it, you’ll find home management solutions applicable to your unique situation. Get the book here!

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Say hello to Week 5 of the Whole House Overhaul! This week we’re going to focus on bedrooms.  If you’re just joining us, or missed Week 1 through 4 of the Whole House Overhaul in 6 Weeks, catch up here.  

Bedrooms

Bedrooms can be a tricky area. They are a personal space, depending on the personality and age of the occupant/s.  Children of different ages may want to do the cleaning on their own, some may not care at all, and some will need help.  Consider these factors before you begin. It may be helpful to give each person that is helping with this project a list of cleaning tasks. You can find a list of cleaning tasks for the bedroom in the Free Resource Library.  

Getting Started

This week we’re adding extra deep cleaning and organizing in the bedroom to the normal weekly cleaning, as part of the Whole House Overhaul in 6 Weeks.

We’re going to work top to bottom and left to right. Cleaning in this orderly method helps to keep focused.

Collect any trash and remove, then remove anything that doesn’t belong in the bedrooms and put it in its rightful place.  If something does not have a designated place then assign one.

Next, it’s time to deep clean the bedrooms.

Step-by-step

• Start with catching cobwebs.  
• Next, clean the light fixtures and change the burned out bulbs.  
• Dust the walls, baseboards and doors.
• Wash the windows, curtains, blinds.
• Clear off the tops of all flat surfaces.  
• Sort through the dressers and arrange items neatly.  
• Clean out the closet and arrange appropriately.
• Dust and organize shelves and arrange items in a pleasing way.
• Vacuum the mattress, pillows, cushions and fabric of upholstery.  Remove stains.
• Vacuum the floor.  Move the furniture and bed to vacuum underneath. Use an edge attachment to vacuum around the edges of the room.
• Rearrange the room if you need to, want to, or discover a better layout.
• Look around for anything that would make the room more usable and make a list of shopping items.  

You’ve got this!

By following these steps you can give the bedrooms in your home the reboot they need! By making the bedroom a clean and organized room you will be able to enjoy the space, and have a more relaxing atmosphere for sleep. To make this task easier for you, I’ve created a checklist in the resource library.

For more home management solutions, check out the book. Home Management: Plain and Simple, is a book written for women just like you! In it, you will find the tips and hacks you need to better manage your home management situation. Get the book here.

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Welcome to Week 4 of the Whole House Overhaul! This week, we’re going to focus on the entry areas of our homes.  If you’re just joining us for the Whole House Overhaul in 6 Weeks, skip back a bit and catch up with: Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3!

The entry areas of the home easily become a catch-all place where your family dumps their belongings as they walk in the door, then leaving their shoes haphazardly strewn about.  It can be a very frustrating place where family members- especially the younger ones may trip and get hurt. This week we’re going to add extra deep cleaning and organizing to normal weekly cleaning as part of the Whole House Overhaul in 6 Weeks.

We’re going to work top to bottom and left to right. Cleaning in an orderly method helps to keep oneself focused and on track.

Getting Started:

Start by collecting the trash and removing it from the entryway.  Remove anything that doesn’t belong in the entry and put it in its rightful place.  This task can be very frustrating, take lots of deep breaths and put on some happy music. Light a candle or put on some essential oils for atmosphere and then say a prayer.  When you come across an item that does not have a designated “home” then assign a place for it.

Now it’s time to deep clean the entries.

Deep Clean the Entryways:

• Start with catching cobwebs.  
• Next, clean the lights and change any dead lightbulbs.  
• Wipe the walls, baseboards and doors.
• Wash the windows, curtains, and blinds.
• Clear off and dust the tops of all flat surfaces.  
• Clean out and organize cupboards, drawers, and baskets.  
• Dust shelves and arrange items in a pleasing way.
• Sweep and mop.
• Wash any throw rugs.

Outdoors:

• Check out the outdoor area around the entryways.
• Moving left to right and top to bottom, sweep and organize the area around the entry.
• Remove items that don’t belong, and put them away.

Make the entryway a pleasing and efficient area:

Look around for ways to make your entryways more usable. Maybe you could use shoe shelves, wall shelves, or cubbies?  Get on Pinterest for ideas and inspiration then add needed items to your shopping list.

That’s it!

By following these simple steps, you can enjoy a clean and organized entryway! I can’t speak for everyone, but in my opinion it’s 10x more relaxing to come home into a clean and functional entryway. Let’s get to it this week! By sticking through this week of the Whole House Overhaul, you can achieve the entryway you want. To make this week as simple as possible, I’ve made a checklist for week 4- entryways in the Resource Library! Check it out here.

For more home management solutions, check out the book: “Home Management: Plain and Simple.” This book was written for busy homemakers just like you! Get the book here for tips and tricks to help you along on your home management journey.

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For Week 3 of the Whole House Overhaul, we’re focusing on the living areas! Living areas include parts of your home such as: the Living Room, Family Room, or whatever area of the home your family spends the most time. If you missed the beginning of the Whole House Overhaul in 6 Weeks, catch up by reading Week 1 and Week 2!  

Living Area

The living areas of the home tend to get messy- fast!  Games, books, magazines, toys, socks, schoolwork, and just any sort of randomness- the kind that makes me shake my head.  This week, we’re going to add extra deep cleaning and organizing to your normal weekly cleaning schedule as part of the Whole House Overhaul in 6 Weeks.

We’re going to work top to bottom and left to right. Cleaning in an orderly method helps to keep yourself focused and on-track.

Step by Step:

• Collect the trash and remove, then remove anything that doesn’t belong in the living areas and put it in its rightful place.  I like to use a laundry basket for gathering the items to put away, and then have family members pick out items that belong to them and put it away. Or, I will carry the basket around the house putting things away.  If something does not have a designated place, then assign one.
• Next, it’s time to deep clean the living areas.
• Start at the top of the rooms with catching cobwebs.  Next, dust and wipe the light fixtures and change any burned out bulbs.  
• Dust the walls, baseboards and doors.
• Wash the windows, curtains, and blinds.
• Clear off the tops of all flat surfaces.  
• Dust electronics.
• Sort through and clean out cupboards, drawers, and baskets.  
• Clean shelves and arrange items in a pleasing way.
• Clean the furniture: remove items and wipe.  Vacuum the cushions and fabric of upholstery, remove stains. Wipe and use leather cleaner on leather furniture.
• Vacuum the floor, moving furniture to vacuum underneath.  Vacuum the edges of the carpet.
• Look around the room and think, is there anything that would make the room more usable? Make a list of shopping items.  

You’ve got this!

The living areas of the home are some of the most used areas! Having a clean and organized living area makes for an enjoyable and fun place for the family to spend time together. By following these simple steps, you can enjoy a clean and organized living area! To make this easier for you, I’ve created a checklist in the Resource Library.

To learn more about how to improve your homemaking journey, get the book! “Home Management: Plain and Simple” is a book written for moms, wives, and homemakers of all types- to help you along your way and teach you all sorts of tips and hacks for your unique home management situation. Get the book here!

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Sometimes, I step back and realize that life and it’s messes have caught up with me again. The mess is overwhelming and the damage seems irreparable- I may as well torch the house. The home needs a complete reboot- an overhaul. Instead of torching the house and giving up on the mess- I’ve created a 6 week whole house overhaul. Join me on this journey as I spend 6 weeks hitting the “reset button” in each area of the home!

In this overhaul, we’re going to work on organizing, decluttering, and cleaning one part of the house at a time.  To make this a more manageable undertaking, we’ll break it into sections and when it seems pertinent- into detailed tasks.  You’ll find checklists to help along the way in the Resource Library.

I need an overhaul just as much as the next person.  The past few years in our family’s life have been very busy and disruptive to say the least.  Life has been fun, but all the changes we’ve experienced made for some messy times. I’ve found that messy on the outside translates to messy on the inside. Living in a mess, causes my stress levels to rise.  One way I manage stress is to keep the physical part of life in order. Having a place for things, labeling the place if needed, and teaching the family where the object goes- is an essential part of keeping the physical mess (and stress) to a minimum.

Planning your overhaul:

Planning when to do the overhaul depends on your unique daily life.  You may need to schedule a day to take on some of these jobs, or perhaps some of these tasks could fit into your daily routines. A few examples of how to fit an overhaul into your daily routine are: while prepping a meal, take ten minutes to clean out one drawer or cupboard; or wash the windows in the living room while watching a movie with your family in the evening. Organize bookshelves or toys while you’re homeschooling or playing with your little children; or organize a bathroom drawer or cupboard each time you are in the bathroom.  Little bits of progress done throughout daily life is just as valuable as devoting a whole day or week to a big project. Both ways of doing an organizing and cleaning project work, and there is a time and place for working both ways in our lives. What works in this stage of life may not work in a different stage.

Week 1: Kitchen and Dining Room

The last couple of years have been busy and disruptive in my life, the kitchen typically takes the brunt of that.  While I’ve found that taking care of one little problem at a time is very helpful, it’s also good to have a dedicated time to focus on a reboot of the space. We’re going to spend one week focusing on cleaning and organizing the kitchen and dining room.  These rooms get the most use in the whole house, along with the bathrooms. Food is an essential and unavoidable part of life, and the kitchen is where that unavoidable mess happens. The kitchen gets messy, dirty, and unorganized in the blink of an eye.

Kitchen Cupboards and Drawers

Starting to the right, and moving left through your kitchen. Go through one cupboard or drawer at a time, emptying the contents. Only keep what is necessary, and put the rest in a box for the thrift store or into the trash. Then clean the cupboards and drawers- inside and out.  

After cleaning the cupboard/drawer, put your “keep” items back- unless there is a better place for them. Try to keep organization and efficiency in mind when putting things away. You may want to hold back certain items to be transferred into a different location.  Keep “like with like” when organizing your cupboards! I find it helpful to keep all the glasses in one place near the sink, the coffee cups in a cupboard near the coffee maker, knives in the knife drawer etc..  

We’ve got one week dedicated to this task, so let’s break it down into doable portions.  Perhaps, clean out one drawer or cupboard per meal time. Or devote one afternoon to the cupboards and drawers. Put on some happy music and lets get to it!  

Kitchen Pantry

Tackling your pantry one shelf at a time, remove shelf contents and check expiration dates.  Throw out the old/expired items and donate the ones that you won’t ever use. Wipe the shelf and place your items back, putting “like with like.”  Clean out the cobwebs at the top of your pantry and sweep the floor. This task is another one that you can break into parts- adding to chores at a mealtime, do it while you’re baking something in the oven, or do it all at once in an afternoon.  

Kitchen Counters

Start right to left with your counter space, removing items and wiping the countertops.  If your counters are cluttered, consider whether the item is better stored elsewhere and do something about it.  Find a new home for the counter clutter.

Sink

Wipe your sink and faucets, making them shine.  I prefer the powdered Bar Keeper’s Friend for removing stains and marks in the sinks. It’s the best cleaning product for that in my honest opinion. Make a new habit by cleaning the sink, faucets, and backsplash every time that you wash dishes.

Dishwasher

The dishwasher can get gunky around its seals- which doesn’t take much to clean off, but it’s a disgusting job.  Get up some gumption and grab the paper towels. Spray it down with a good cleaner, and let it soak a bit before wiping it all off.

All of these tasks can be done one part a time tacked on with meal chores, or by devoting part of a day to doing them. Work through them in a way that makes the most sense for you and your unique schedule.

Refrigerator

The refrigerator is a job that can be easy if it’s cleaned frequently, or a big job if it’s been awhile.  Just like we’ve been doing, clean one shelf at a time. Remove the items, disposing of the out-of-date items, clean the walls and shelf, then replace the items.  Put “like with like” as you organize your refrigerator. Wipe the outside of the refrigerator. If you can, pull the refrigerator out from the wall to clean behind and under it.

Stove

Start by cleaning the outside of the stove top to bottom.  I find it helpful to use a vacuum to suck up excess crumbs from the stovetop before scrubbing if it’s especially messy (yes, my stove gets that dirty- I’m human too!). For messes that have dried and hardened onto the stove, put water on it and let it soak for a bit before scrubbing. Reference the instructions in your oven manual for cleaning the interior.

Table, Chairs, & Bar stools

Top to bottom, give your table a good scrubbing.  Then wipe down each chair and bar stool. If there are screws loose, tighten them.  If a chair is broken, repair or throw it out before it causes someone to be injured.  

Walls

The next step to a clean kitchen is to clean the walls and doors.  You can use a long handled tool to dust, or perhaps you need to use a ladder and scrub with a damp cloth.  It depends on how dirty your kitchen walls and doors are. Next, clean the door handles and light switches. One hack to make wall cleaning easier if you have young children, is to use high gloss paint when/if you paint your kitchen!

Windows

The window above the sink is usually dirty from water splatters. Even if you don’t wash any other windows this time, do the sink window.  Scrub the tracks and interior parts of the window sash, then wash the glass inside and out. Wash the window screen either outdoors or in the shower.  Wipe the window sill. Depending on how many windows you have, washing them all can be a big job. You might decide it’s best to take a half-day or weekend to tackle the windows.  Alternatively, depending on your budget you could hire a window cleaning company to do your whole house once or twice a year.

Lights

To really spruce up the area, clean the lights in your kitchen and replace burnt out bulbs. Then, spend a few minutes sweeping cobwebs from the ceiling and corners of the room.

Floors

Sweep and mop the floors.  If your floors are especially dirty, use the two bucket method.  One bucket for soapy water and the other bucket for clean water. Rinse the dirty rag or mop in the clean water bucket and load up with soapy water for the next section of floor.  When your clean water bucket gets dirty, dump it out and restart with clean water. This keeps your soapy bucket from getting dirty too soon and makes for a better cleaning of the floor.

You’ve got this!

By following these steps, you can successfully overhaul your kitchen and dining room. A clean and organized space makes for a better work environment in your kitchen and a more enjoyable dining experience!

To help you along with your kitchen overhaul, I’ve created a Kitchen and Dining Room Cleaning Checklist that you can find in the free resource library! You can find even more life changing cleaning and organization tips in my book “Home Management: Plain and Simple.” To get the book, click here.

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Actually, there are 1,095 reasons for Kitchen Day.  That is how many meals there are in a year! Food is necessary for life, our days tend to center around mealtime routines, and eating is a social activity.  We can keep it low key and yummy with some thought and planning. I’m giving five reasons for kitchen day and simple steps to start doing it because sometimes we just need a little jump-start. I’ve written a lot about Kitchen Day in Home Management, Plain and Simple, this is the very abbreviated version.

Five Reasons for Kitchen Day

1. We’re busy and it helps manage the time in the kitchen.  Meals and all that goes with it can feel overwhelming when our days are full of the rest of life.  A Kitchen Day is meal prep that frees up time later.
2. It’s a stress management technique.  When people are asking “What’s for dinner” or “I’m hungry” or “What is there to eat?” you don’t need to stress, you’ve prepared and have an answer.  Sometimes, it’s taking care of the basic things in life that relieve a nagging stress.

3. You will improve your health.  When you give thought to what you’re preparing, and not rushing- you make better food and drink choices.  Your grocery list matches your meal plan and you will be less likely to throw junk food into the cart.

4. Save money by having a plan.  When you meal plan and prep ahead you will make money-saving choices, use money-saving prep techniques, and be less prone to eat out

5. Your food will be more creative and taste better.  With thought and preparation, you will get more color and flavor in your food.  You will have chosen family favorites and delightful new dishes that stretch your family’s taste buds. 

Simple Steps to Start:

• Each week, plan your menu; take some time to look at your family’s calendar and choose dishes that fit with the days.  One day may call for a slow cooker meal, another day allows more time for a creative dish that takes more prep, or a busy morning and day means that you have a 30-minute skillet meal ready-to-go.  Plan your meals for the week including family favorites and new dishes you might like to try.
• Make the grocery list for your choices and schedule a shopping day.  When you get home—wash, dry chop and store.
• Choose your Kitchen Day to either be the same day as your shopping day or the day after.
• On Kitchen Day, start early in the day for items that need more time to cook.  For example, cooking chicken for several meals in the slow cooker all day.  Defrost several pounds of ground meat overnight or in the morning and brown in the afternoon.
• Assemble meals (or parts of meals) for dinners, lunch salads, snacks, and breakfasts then refrigerate or freeze.  Don’t forget to add food storage containers to your shopping list.
• Clean your kitchen thoroughly.

This is do-able and with practice you will be efficient and fast.  Although it calls for a commitment of a focused day, this frees up time in the rest of your week.  You can do it!

Get a Checklist for Kitchen Day in the Free Resource Library.

The post 5 Reasons for Kitchen Day and Simple Steps to Start appeared first on Home Plain and Simple.