GETTING ORGANIZED FOR FALL
I spent a good part of this weekend getting ready for fall. I love this time of year. The kids are headed back to school, the weather cools off, everything slides back into a routine again. It’s fabulous, good times at the Mills house.
One of my favorite tricks to keep sane in a household full of kids, pets, homework, writing deadlines and preschool is to practice meal planning. I was sorta forced into meal planning a year or so ago by my mother.
Now, to preface, my mother is possibly the most efficient, organized person on the planet. She got all of those genes, and left me with none. And so I spend my life constantly seeking some kind of magic method that will keep me organized. So far, no luck. But every once and a while I find something, some little thing, that brings me closer to a harmonious, peaceful, less chaotic life.
Meal planning is one of those things.
I have a binder filled with plastic sleeves that each contain a two week meal plan in them. That includes, a master list of meals, a recipe for each meal and a grocery list that has everything I will need for those meals. In essence, I can organize two weeks worth of meals in about five minutes.
I probably have about two dozen meal plan packets made up, and I just rotate them through the year, revising a little as I go. Let me tell you, as a mother, zookeeper and writer, it saves me from losing my mind. A lot.
If you’re interested in seeing what a meal plan packet looks like, I have a link here to one of mine. Believe me when I say it’s worth the initial investment in time spent planning. I am a total convert.
8 DAYS AND COUNTING...
