Menu Planning: Part 1

My basic meal plan is set for this 1st Semester of school. It will probably have to change after Christmas because I expect a change in schedule. At this point, I haven't settled on the ACTUAL meals but rather "themes". For now, that's about all I can pull off. I have too many other "details" to work with right now to get more specific. At least I do have a starter plan.

Breakfast:

• Monday: are fresh baked days (muffins, breads, etc.) a "hot" start to kick our new week off
• Tuesday: HOT cereal day (cream of wheat--my kids BEG for it, oatmeal of different varieties/flavors, including baked)
• Wednesday: Cold cereal, breakfast bars, pop tarts or something similar (figure by midweek, I need a "break")
• Thursday: from the freezer day since we have commitments those days (breakfast burritos, breakfast cookies, fruit cups, "mc-muffins", etc.... whatever happens to have made it on the list during freezer cooking days and can be zapped and eaten while running out the door)
• Friday: pancakes/waffles or "cheater" doughnuts (made from canned biscuits and my kids LOVE them)...today is a celebration of making it through another week!

Lunch:

• Monday: from the freezer (various items cooked ahead: chicken nuggets, mini meat loaves, pizza pockets, etc....)
• Tuesday: Sandwiches (we are gone during the normal lunch "prep" time so this has to be a simple day)
• Wednesday: "fun" meal to get us over the mid week doldrums...something creative (usually from Family Fun.com)
• Thursday: packed lunch for a picnic at the playground after PMO or Little Caesar's Hot-n-Ready ($5.46 with tax gets me a pizza and crazy bread since we purchased one of the fundraiser cards from a neighbor)
• Friday: from the freezer

Dinner:

• Monday: PASTA night w/ Salad (this is BOARD game night!)
• Tuesday: CROCKPOT meal (Adriana doesn't get home until 8:30 so I have to have something that can be eaten at different times since this is our only non-family dinner night and she HAS to eat as soon as she walks in the door. This is also FAMILY devotional night.)
• Wednesday: from the FREEZER since 607 starts back SOON (YEAH!!!!) and there just isn't time to fix anything and FCC is not offering meals this time around.
• Thursday: from scratch/try out a new recipe or even a "new" cook (Adriana, Kevin) This is "friendly competition" night which means time to break out new batteries for the Wii remotes.
• Friday: "easy" meal night or snack bar at Oasis depending on whether it is our turn to volunteer or just drop Adriana off. Leftovers are a big possibility.

Snacks: still working on my list and tweaking recipes for things we typically purchase prepackaged and want to cook at home. This is also going to be "fun" since many days will revolve around Bradlee's pre-K curriculum. Many days may coincide with his "book" or letter of the day. Most excited about that!

So for those of you who have asked, there is my plan. It's not as specific as you were probably expecting, but that is what is working best for now. I hope to get more specific, especially in regards to knowing exactly what I want to do for freezer meals....but my brain hasn't wrapped around all of that with all we have going on right now. Baby steps!