The Dinner Dilemma Finale

We are going on three full weeks of meal planning and mega organization overhaul. I LOVE it. The prep for all of these new systems is definitely time consuming. But, it is oh so very worth it. Seriously. I started with my problem, in The Dinner Dilemma Part 1. Then I came up with the following possible solution (for which I have Jeana to thank) in The Dinner Dilemma Part 2. It is proving to really help me A LOT. You have the option of reusing what you come up with: 4 beef meals, 4 chicken meals, 4 easy vegetarian meal, 4 pasta meals, and 4 breakfast for dinner meals- you can stick with a staple (especially if you are just getting used to planning meals) or you can switch them up every 4 weeks. From there I showed you how I picked my meals for 2 weeks, and under each day, I listed what I needed for the grocery store to make the items, in The Dinner Dilemma Part 3. I made my grocery list and didn't have to go to the grocery store 5 million times in 2 weeks....just once. It was truly bliss. I loved it. I shared with you how it was going in The Dinner Dilemma Part 4. For me, the most important part was picking easy meals. Meals that I didn't have to buy a ton of weird ingredients for, meals that I pretty much didn't even need a recipe for. Im finishing off this post with my finale 2 weeks menu plan below.

Week 3

Mon-
Chili

Tues-
Cinnamon Rolls and Eggs
Cinnamon Rolls

Weds-
Tacos
Sour Cream

Thursday-
Pasta and Alfredo Sauce and Apple Sauce
Apple Sauce

Friday-
Melt In Your Mouth Chicken
Parm CheeseMayo

Week 4

Mon-
Corn Potato Soup
Corn

Tues-
Pancakes
GF Pancake mix

Weds-
Meatloaf and Potatoes
2lbs ground beef

Thursday-
Pizza
Mozz cheese

Friday-
Lasagna
GF Noodles
Mozz cheese

It has proved several things to me. The first is, wandering around the grocery store and trying to plan meals in my head, or make sure that we have enough stuff to last us 2 weeks is a big fat waste of money. I have decreased my grocery spending by over $200 a month!!! Its kind of amazing! Also, the big thing for me is that I have a plan. I don't go into Hell Hour or Killer Hour or whatever you want to call it blindly. I know what Im going to make for dinner and that stress is not on my shoulders. Now, Im still cranky and the kids are still super emotional and cranky, so obviously we all still have to exercise mass amounts a little self control. Its a process. I get irritable very quickly, and Im trying to get a handle on that. Listening to my tone of voice, hearing how I speak to my kids, being present, being quick to apologize....its all apart of growing.

Im working on a few other totally awesome systems that are all apart of my organizational overhaul including fabulous chore charts, budget system and family schedule. I will be sure to post about them as they come into play.

For now...God is still just chipping away at all of the parts of me that I wish would just disappear...He is so good and so faithful....and He has given us EVERYTHING we need to change peoples lives all for His glory. THAT is phenomenal news....because it is not at all us and totally ALL HIM!!!