This post could also be titled ‘Our Big Family’s Epic Eating Solution’ – but I thought that might be a bit too dramatic. It IS bound to create an epically long blog post though, so buckle up!
You’ve probably heard it said that in order to raise a large family you need to have one of two personality types: super organized or super laid back. I have never been accused of being spontaneous. In fact, I’m probably about as ‘go with the flow’ as an anchor. I most definitely fall into the organized category. And though it is a skill I possessed as a little girl who would keep her bedroom neat and tidy at all times, it has developed through the years and even more so as each child has been added to our family. Organizing our family’s day, and keeping myself on task to ensure that things run smoothly, is something I take pride in doing.
I personally have a ‘one big chore a day’ mentality – meaning that instead of doing a little bit of the same type of chore multiple days a week, I prefer to do the big chores (laundry, yard work, bathroom cleaning, grocery shopping, etc) only one day a week. It seems to streamline things for me. When I am done with that big chore, I don’t need to think about it again the rest of the week. Lately our growing kids (the boys especially) have been eating like they are enrolled in a contest. If I didn’t have a plan to keep the fridge and cupboards stocked with healthy choices, I’m sure that I would be running to the grocery store every other day. And time spent in the grocery store is time that could have been used for more important things – like designing. I want to go to the grocery store only once per week MAX.
And so, trying to make eating (and shopping) as efficient as possible, I developed a 4 WEEK MEAL ROTATION system. Essentially, the rotation is filled with family friendly and healthy meals – meals that I am fairly confident won’t produce any (or many) complaints and will be eaten fully, without waste. Nothing is more deflating than a frowning kid who says ‘I don’t like this!’ to a meal you labored over for what felt like hours. This system has kind of revolutionized the way I feel about cooking for my crew, and it has made creating the grocery shopping lists SO much easier.
So what exactly is in OUR family’s meal rotation? Let me tell you…
Our eating philosophy shifted a couple of years ago when Craig and I tried the Whole30. Though skeptical before we began, and just wanting to shed a few pounds and/or inches, we became hooked during the 30 days. We had more energy, felt in control of our health, and the extra pounds came off. It just seemed like a common sense way to eat healthy; However, we didn’t feel that eating from such a restricted list of foods would be sustainable over a long period of time. Sure, we could give up cheese for 30 days… but, forever? We also weren’t sure it would be safe to incorporate such a strict meal plan for our growing children. And I definitely did NOT want to create two different meals for our family (one for the adults, another for the kids).
I set to work using some of the recipes we had enjoyed during those 30 days and tweaked things here and there to allow for SOME grains and SOME dairy. I also worked hard to fit in a great variety of meats and produce, to give ourselves and our children the vitamins and minerals we need without the use of supplements.
One of the absolute best things about having a meal rotation is that you only need to make 4 grocery lists! Using the recipes as a guide, I typed a list of ingredients needed (1 list per week) and broke them down into categories such as dairy, produce, frozen, etc. These lists were then placed into clear plastic sleeves, and the night before my weekly shopping trip I simply take out the list needed for the following week and use my dry erase marker to cross off the items we already have on hand.
It’s like a REVERSE shopping list! You already have 2 tsp of basil? cross it off! Cupboard already contains a can of black olives? off it goes! That list gets whittled down to only the items that you NEED to buy. No more wandering aimlessly in the aisles wondering ‘Did that recipe call for garlic powder or garlic salt?’ or ‘Do I have apples at home?’ This little tip has actually saved us quite a bit of time and money.
There are a few blank lines at the end of each category to add to the list, and in the space marked ‘other’ I write in any additional items we may need that aren’t part of our evening meals (such as cereal), or misc. non food items, such as lotion. When I go to the store, I walk around each section with my list and dry erase marker in hand and simply cross off items as they are placed in the cart. When I come home, I wipe off the plastic sleeve and set it aside until that week’s list is needed again. Easy!
Today I am starting this series with WEEK 2 of our meal rotation. I know, it’s a weird place to start. But we just finished up eating WEEK 2 meals and I was able to photograph some of the dishes and double check the recipes and shopping lists for accuracy before sharing them with all of you. I will plan to share a new week of recipes each week until I have shared them all, and then will do one giant post or link that has everything all together.
Couple things to keep in mind:
1. I am not a master cook. Cooking is not my favorite thing to do. In fact, I try to spend as little time in the kitchen as humanly possible. These recipes were adapted from various sites around the internet. Sadly, I no longer have the web addresses to link to. Most recipes have been doubled to adapt to feeding our large family.
2. These are recipes for our evening dinner ONLY during the work week, and lunch + dinner on the weekends.
3. Typically there will be enough left over from our evening meals to give Craig lunches for his work days, and the rest of us eat simple meals for breakfast and lunch during the week (sandwiches, salads, etc.) The kids also eat school lunch a couple times a week during the school year and every day during the summer.
4. These recipes feed our family of 7. We have 3 boys (currently 6, 8 and 10) who are big eaters and 2 girls (age 3 and 6) who also eat well. If you have a smaller family or a family who doesn’t eat as much as ours, you may be able to freeze the leftovers and get 8 weeks of meals out of these 4 weeks of recipes (not having to cook much the second go-round, which would be awesome).
5. Our grocery bill each week is right around the $200 mark. We buy everything at our local grocery store. As we fine tune this system, we may end up buying meat in bulk from a butcher or grow veggies from a garden (eventually) which could significantly bring this cost/week down.
6. You can use this model to create a meal rotation that works for your own family. Simply choose meals that everyone enjoys with ingredients that are affordable.
Ok, here we go. Links to printable items directly below + short descriptions and some photos after.
WEEK 2 MENU
PRINTABLE WEEK 2 RECIPES
{Monday}
AFD/ Kid night
I call this ‘kids choice’ night, because Craig has fire department meetings every Monday evening. They will usually go for spaghetti or even PB&J. I typically eat a salad or leftovers from a previous meal.
{Tuesday}
Tacos + watermelon, rice, and avocado slices
When we started meal planning, Craig was quick to point out that he could ‘eat tacos every night’, and that would be fine with him. We negotiated and came up with Taco Tuesday instead (though we rotate every other week from tacos to fajitas, and we switch up the sides). Either way, it is a family favorite night.
{Wednesday}
Steakhouse Veggies (or) Beef & Cabbage Stir Fry + cottage cheese and peaches
This is one of the days where we have an option. It gives us a little more variety in our meals. This past week we chose the stir fry, and it was yummy! We all now prefer cauliflower rice over the standard variety.
{Thursday}
Spaghetti Squash Pizza Pie + side salad, grapes, and cheese
This dish sort of tastes like a mix between spaghetti and lasagna and is very filling. It is very dense and freezes beautifully if there happen to be any leftovers. Freeze in individual servings for easy meal prep in the future.
{Friday}
Roast Beef (or) Beef Stew + roasted butternut squash and fresh bread + treat night!
We made sure to schedule in some treat nights here and there, so that we could look forward to them. This past week we chose the roast beef meal option. It literally melts in your mouth!
{Saturday}
Lunch: Big Salads (adults) / chicken nuggets (kids)
Our Saturdays are usually pretty busy, so we keep the afternoon meal simple and the same each week. Our ‘big salads’ consist of romaine lettuce and maybe some spinach, topped with any variety of veggies + chunks of chicken and maybe a bit of blue cheese crumbles. We love the Newman’s Own Olive Oil & Vinegar dressing.
Dinner: Avocado Garlic Shrimp Pasta + hard boiled eggs and strawberries
This shrimp pasta is one of my favorites on the rotation, though admittedly it is not a front runner for the kids. I do make some concessions for them when this meal comes up, by allowing them to eat the pasta plain with a little ghee and Parmesan cheese instead of the avocado sauce. And I let them choose if they would like shrimp or chicken instead.
{Sunday}
Lunch: Hash Brown Bake + cottage cheese and cherries
This is a super simple recipe that is perfect for a Sunday brunch. Happy campers all around.
Dinner: Chili + criss cross potatoes
Another family favorite, our crew is fine eating this hot meal all year round – even in the dead of summer! The criss cross potatoes add the perfect side dish as a replacement for bread.
Whew! This post is making me mighty hungry!
For those of you interested in simplifying your grocery shopping for these specific recipes, just click on the link below for a complete shopping list that includes everything you need to make this week of healthy meals for your family.
GROCERY LIST WEEK 2
I will be back sometime next week with the menu, recipes and shopping list from week #3. Happy cooking everyone!
In the meantime, see those cute little buttons below this post? If you hover over them you can see that they give you multiple options for sharing the content from this blog. Know a friend who has been asking about meal planning? Email this blog post directly to their inbox or share with them on Facebook!
You just can’t go wrong with soup. At the beginning of Week #4, we choose which of these three soups we would like to eat. They are all Whole30 compliant and all equally good in their own unique way. Pictured is the Golden Cauliflower variety. Add some fresh bread or simple sandwiches, if you desire.
