Our Fall / Winter Meal Routine

 

Having a meal plan always makes the day run smoother. I glance at the menu in the morning and know if I need to pull a protein out of the freezer. I can focus on the tasks at hand during the morning because I know I have all the ingredients necessary for lunch.

A few months ago, I started implementing not only the meal plan but a meal routine also. What's a meal routine? Simple. We have the same types of things on the same days of the week. Because the weather has become cooler, I now incorporate more soups, casseroles and other hot foods into our routine.

Here's the routine we've been using for a couple weeks. It's been working well so I thought I'd share. Don't worry, I'll explain everything below.

Sunday

B (baked) oatmeal or cereal
L crock pot or casserole
S Dad calls it

 Monday

B muffins and smoothies
L dippy lunch
S soup

 Tuesday

B eggs and toast
L pizza boats / Italian subs and salad
S casserole

 Wednesday

B bread and fruit
L sandwiches/quesadillas
S crock pot meal

Thursday

B breakfast casserole and fruit
L soup and salad
S oven bake

Friday

B pancakes / waffles
L leftovers
S family pizza

Saturday

B bacon, eggs and pao de queijo OR waffles (w/ blueberry topping and whip cream), bacon and pao de quijo (dad's favorite breakfast)

L leftovers
S big meat

Most of that made sense, right? Let me break it down by day for you...

Sunday... Sundays are so hectic for me that I don't have time to stand in the kitchen for half an hour making breakfast; so, Sunday breakfasts are either baked oatmeal or cereal. Simple.
Crock-Pot or Casserole? Well, if I put things in the crock on time in the morning then it cooks while we are at church and is usually done when we get home. If I miss the deadline to get things in the crock, I put a frozen casserole in the oven before we leave on 200 degrees and when we get home it's warmed through and just needs a quick broil to crisp up the top.
My husband has a very erratic work schedule and most days isn't home for supper, but he almost always has Sundays off so I let him choose the Sunday suppers.

Monday... I use my quick mix for the majority of my breakfast baking. It keeps things super simple in the morning should I forget to make things ahead of time.
What's a "dippy lunch", right? For us a dippy lunch is some homemade hummus, refried beans (with cheese of course), lots of sliced veg, hard boiled eggs and pretzels. We dip the veg and pretzels in the hummus and beans. See? Dippy Lunch. :)

Tuesday... Pizza boats are one of my kids' favorite lunches, its super simple (and cheap!).

Wednesday... Wednesday is pretty self explanatory. :)

Thursday... When you think breakfast casserole, most people think of something elaborate with veg, meat, hash browns- which I do make from time to time. THIS breakfast casserole is simple and quick. Are you noticing a trend here?
Oven bake, for me, is anything non-casserole that bakes in the oven. One of our favorite bakes is a smoked sausage-sweet pepper-onion-potato-bake. I've taught Oscar to make it and his tastes better than mine! So he usually makes it.

Friday... Quick mix is also used for the pancakes or waffles. Family pizza is just homemade pizzas with lots of topping choices. Sometimes we make wings to go along with it.

Saturday... My husband is usually home on Saturday mornings so we have a nice big breakfast. You're thinking.. Big meat? What on earth? As you can tell, the majority of our suppers are incorporated meals, meaning casseroles/crock pot meals where everything is kind of thrown together. A big meat meal might be meat loaf, ranch chicken tenders or anything else where the meat stands alone.

Well, that's it, our routine!! 

 

Does your family follow a routine?