Life is always busy. If it's not homework and laundry, that time fills with other things.

Pulling back the curtain a bit here, we seem full up to the brim with things happening around here, and when push comes to shove, a home-cooked meal is the thing that goes out the window.

Recently I've been trying to have things that we can easily make at home, where some of the ingredients are already made. Which was working sometimes, but we were still hitting the drive-thru more often than I'd like to admit.

In an effort to save money and our waistlines, I spent an hour yesterday searching my Pinterest boards for meal ideas and recipes. I spent another hour at the grocery store, shopping for the items that we needed for this week.

On the menu for this week:

Sunday
Balsamic Roast Beef

Monday
Baked Potato Soup with Ham

Tuesday
Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Wednesday
Kabobs with Chicken, Red Peppers and Onions

Thursday
Asian Peanut Noodles with Chicken

Friday
Macaroni and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli

Saturday
Homemade Pizza

Today, I spent another hour washing, cutting, cooking and dividing up items for our meals this week. On Sunday Afternoons I usually enjoy an uninterrupted 3 hour nap, that recharges me for the whole week. Today, I shortened the nap to 1.5 hours to make sure that our prep for the week was done.

I have high hopes for this new process. I'll let you know how it goes. With all my preparation today, I should only be spending less than 10 minutes a day on dinner, which is a huge incentive for me. Gone are the days of "What should we have for dinner?" at 5:00pm, at least that's what I'm hoping for.

Is dinnertime a struggle at your house? Do you meal plan? I would love any and all advice or resource suggestions.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.