Simply September

Ahhh, September!
I love it!
I am so happy to be on a schedule again!
Of course, I don't want every minute scheduled~
We need time to relax and chill, too!
(As if we haven't been doing that all summer!)
I love the change of seasons and the change of schedules.
It makes life exciting and interesting.
Oh, but I do love a simple life!
Hmmm.
What can simple mean?
Let's see.
~More time at home.
~Less running around.
~Less clutter.
~More time for faith and family.
~More time outdoors.
~Listening to beautiful music.
~Reading wonderful children's books.
~Talking and listening to God.
~Simple, healthy meals.
~Enjoying the beautiful things in life.

So I said to myself~
"Stop dreaming, Laura, and start simplifying!"

The first thing I thought to simplify was our meals.
I came up with this plan that makes it easier for me to think about our meals.

A Meal Template!
Yay!
This is what it is: (I plan on using it until I am sick of it.)
I picked a main food for each day of the week and I create my meals from that.
~Monday is chicken or turkey day.
I cook a chicken dinner with 2 whole chickens along with all the vegetables. I then boil the bones and tiny bits of chicken into broth so I can use it for other meals.
~Tuesday is rice, bean and veggie dishes.
I know it's coming, so I pre-soak the beans the day before. I can even cook the rice before and then add whatever veggies and spices I want.
I could do Mexican, middle eastern, greek, italian. Whatever we are in the mood for.
Next Tuesday, I plan on making black bean and rice burritos with all the toppings.
~Wednesday is salad day.
I am thinking hearty salads, like cobb, chef, taco, greek etc.
I will add bread of some sort.
~Thursday is fish day.
Fish, veggies and a salad.
So simple!
Everyone loves it!
~Friday is homemade pizza day.
Lenny decided he will be the pizza maker.
He's all fired up!
He made it once and considers himself quite an expert!
It was really good~crispy crust, yummy sauce!
He found a thin crust recipe online.
I will post the recipes at a later time.
Every week could be a different flavor. There are so many types of good unusual recipes for pizza!
Now Saturday. Soup and sandwich day.
This is our running day and I didn't want to worry about what we were going to have for dinner, so I thought this would be a good meal.
I plan on using the crockpot and just making sure there are sandwich fixings in the fridge.
It could be as simple as vegetable soup and broiled tomato, basil and mozzarella sandwiches.
Sunday. Pasta day.
I plan on putting this meal together in advance.
I plan on lasagna this week so I will make it Friday and probably freeze it if I do not have enough room in my fridge.
I'll put it in the oven on Sunday morning before church. Or I could layer it in my big electric roaster. I have even made lasagna in a crockpot.
Other pasta ideas: spaghetti and meatballs, turkey tetrazinni, greek pasta salad etc.

So I have a plan.
Will I use it?
Yes, I will.
But I am enlisting every single child I have to help me!
I am not doing it by myself!
I don't need to!
The kids need to learn their life skills, you know!
I will ask each one for specific ideas for each meal and we are going to put on our aprons together!
Actually, maybe I will hang up mine and go take a nap!

I do know that every day won't be as easy as it sounds, so on those days, I have a back-up plan: breakfast for dinner!
Oh well!
It's better than the fast food on the corner!

Anyway, I look forward to more simplifying.
Does anyone want to share their simplifying ideas?
Oh, Please!!!
I long for simplicity!