We're taking a bit of a break right now from the rigors of homeschooling, to focus on getting our lives more organized. Part of that is thinking over, and rethinking over, what is working in our lives and what is not.
First, an easier one: menu planning. I found a lot of inspiration in
this post from Kim over at
Our Enchanted Place. With many evenings dedicated to practices (fencing, roller derby), hectic work schedules, and my college class(es), planning ahead is key. We've slowly settled into a rotation that works well for us:
Saturdays: this is one of the days I really have time to cook. Sometimes I'll roast a chicken, if we want the leftovers, or we tend to do a lot of our ethnic cooking on this day, such as curries, African stews, and more. In the summer, if M is home from work, this also tends to be a grilling outdoors kind of day.
Sundays: The Girl has derby until 6:30 pm most of the year. This is a great night for pasta during the colder months, and salads (containing pasta or not) in the warmer months.
Mondays: Soup during the colder months, sandwiches or salads during the warm ones, due to a busy Monday schedule and The Boy's fencing class. We use the crockpot a
lot on Monday soup nights!
Tuesdays: Another day I actually get to spend time cooking, and often, The Girl helps. I am thinking of making this our learn to cook night--I'll take turns with the kids, letting them choose what to cook, making grocery lists, budgeting, and then doing the cooking.
Wednesdays: More fencing, so this is generally a quick-cooking sort of evening. We often have things like quesadillas, or tacos on Wednesdays. Sometimes, when M is home, he'll take over cooking this evening, and then we'll have omelets or a stir-fry.
Thursdays: A cook-ahead day, so things like casseroles or crockpot dishes beyond soup, as The Girl has a later derby practice most of the year.
Fridays: Sometimes the kids will spend Friday night at their Nonna's house, and then M and I have whatever we feel like (within reason of course..no Maine lobster and caviar!). On other Fridays, we have pizza night! I make a big batch of dough for crusts and freeze some, so pizza night is never too challenging. Toppings range from regular ones like pepperoni, to leftover chicken, roasted veggies, etc., depending on what flavor we want.
Then, homeschooling. I am coming up with new goals fro January through May, so I think I'll dedicate w post to that later in the week!
Thirdly, budgeting. I have good intentions in this area, I really do. But, somehow it never gets done -- writing and sticking to the budget that is, although I can't say we're spending in excess either. I'm reading
Total Money Makeover at the moment, and M and I have been discussing how we are going to put it into practice. That is one of our
major goals for 2015... to implement the tools used in the book. We want to model fiscal responsibility for our children, we want to tackle debt (which we have far too much of in my mind), and we want to start getting ready for the future, since we are both in our 40s.
Do
you, my loyal reader(s), budget?
Other projects: I am working on a housecleaning rotation, and having the kids take more responsibility for helping with housework. Part of this is part of their education -- housekeeping, budgeting, cooking, etc., are all like skills in which I feel they should be well versed. M and I are listing household projects that need to be done, and then ranking them in order of importance (i.e. roof work = very important, rebuilding the chicken hutch = not as important).
Hope you all have a good week!
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