Menu. Grocery List. Shop. I have been avoiding the grocery store for the past month. Why?? I guess part of the reason is because I'm in a cooking slump. I love to cook, but for some reason I haven't been terribly inspired lately. I can't seem to come up with anything good to make, and as a result, I don't have a good list for the store, so I don't want to go and buy junk. Junk. GMO food. Packaged, pre-processed, high fructose corn syrup, chemical-laden food. My kids want crackers and chips and other snackies, but I want them to eat fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds. My friend has a connection with a woman who purchases good "ingredients" in bulk--whole wheat flour, rolled oats, nuts, cheese, raisins, etc. We just got a big batch of bulk foods this week. I have granola in the oven now. A year or so ago, I was the only person in the house who ate granola regularly. My husband would eat it sometimes. I'd make a big batch and it would last a few weeks. Well, a couple weeks ago, we ran out of boxed cereal and I told the children to just eat the granola. My eldest is 15. His serving size is double or triple mine. In any case, what used to last almost a month is now gone in a week. Should I cave and buy the toasted "Os" cereal, or should I simply make the weekly batch of granola, which includes rolled oats, sunflower seeds, ground flax seed, pecans, almonds, or walnuts, raisins, and coconut? My granola is clearly superior in nutritional value. I want my kids to be healthy. The obvious answer is that I need to work on my schedule and be sure to keep up with the bread baking and granola making.
After the granola came out of the oven, I dropped my sons off at their work, then spent the rest of the morning helping my best friend complete her first sewing project--a lovely red floral print skirt. When we finished, I asked for her help. The FlyLady emphasizes the importance of meal planning to reducing CHAOS. I have been a meal planner in "fits and starts"--sometimes I have the whole month planned out and I keep up with the shopping, then I get into the slump I mentioned earlier and I feel paralyzed at the prospect of grocery shopping and cooking. When I've been on task, life is smooth. I know what's for dinner before I eat breakfast. When I don't know, "What's for Dinner?" I feel stressed and irritable. In any case, my dear friend made a copy of the June calendar page for each of us, and we talked through the days we're busiest and need easy meals as well the days we want to make something special. After about 20 minutes of talking about food (our favorite topic!), we had 22 menu ideas. I left her house with a plan and felt confident about making my grocery list. I went to the store this afternoon and stocked up with the main ingredients for all of the suppers, except perhaps for fresh produce I'll need later in the month.
My friend mentioned that I ought to also include my bread-baking days on the menu. That would solve my lunch dilemma. My husband tends to pack sandwiches for his lunch, and since I make our bread, I need to make sure there is bread available early in the morning.
Although some of the chores I had hoped to accomplish today will have to wait until Monday, I have a great sense of peace knowing the meals are scheduled, the food is on hand, and my friend's skirt is done!
Living the Sweet Catholic Life!
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