Have you tried this rotisserie chicken noodle soup? This is actually one of my favorite meals to make my family. It’s very easy and VERY flavorful!! ua-cam.com/video/hGwP-HI1jDQ/v-deo.html
Right here with you on that struggle bus! I think somewhat because I have some picky family members and I don't enjoy cooking. I've realized that I operate at a slower pace, so it feels like it takes so much time. Could also be decision fatigue. I do like how the Minimal Mom recommendeds that we find favorite meals and just put in repeat.
I LOVE meal planning and prep!! It is so nice to not have to think about what’s for supper during the week. I usually only do a week at a time in case we change our mind about what sounds good. Helps us with less waste and avoid to eating out at the same time.
I'm with you. I'd rather scrub a toilet than meal plan. Don't know why. I think because it's overwhelming. Trying to come up with ideas that take into account everyone's preferences PLUS making it relatively healthy PLUS affordable....it's almost an impossible task.
I bought the digital freezer meals 😋 and my family has loved the recipes. I too have a picky family. I shop 2 weeks at a time. It's so nice to batch cook 2 days month and have meals in the freezer. Saves so much time and energy.
The freezer meal one is intriguing bc I’ve never done freezer meal cooking before. Some things don’t freeze well!! So I think tried and true freezer meals would be nice to know about!
Honestly watching channels like LargeFamilyLove has motivated me to meal plan. I meal plan for at least a month, I already have the rest of the year planned out. My system consists of a binder. In one section of my binder I have meals my family will actually eat divided into categories (1 page per category). In the next section is the meal planning pages. I have a master page where I have different categories written down for each day. Depending on what is going on that day decides what category goes on that day. My husband's days off has more elaborate meals. On days my husband won't be home for dinner and I only have 2 5 year olds I have kid friendly meals (yes this is a category). I have this master list in a page protector which I move to mark the week I am currently on. By meal planning for a month at a time I can do one day at a time. All the Mondays at once then all the Tuesdays then all the Wednesdays, ect. That way I can pull out that category page and figure out what I want to cook for that month. If we ever have to change something, say my husband decides he wants to go do something as a family at the last minute I can always change things up b3cause I have a stocked pantry and I shop for at least 2 weeks (I actually try to get as much as I can for the entire month on the first shopping trip and only buy fresh ingredients as I need them, but that depends on my budget). I like doing it this way so I only have to think about what's for dinner once a month and having it already done allows me to just look at the menu in the morning or the day before and get out what I need for that day. You can also include your family in the menu planning. Growing up I had a friend who's family did a weekly family meeting to plan out meals. Each person got to pick one meal they would like to have for that week and if they were of an age to cook could either cook the meal or help make the meal. Making a meal plan by NO means means you have to stick strictly to it. But helps to make sure you have the ingredients you need on hand.
I’ve tried shopping for two weeks but we’ve had food (produce) go to waste before bc our lifestyle means on the go with lots of driving. I hate wasting food! :( I agree with including the family in the planning. ❤️
Freezer meals saved my life. I take out meals on Sunday night for the meals Mon-Wed and then take out other meals then. It’s much easier to shop from my freezer! I don’t think I could ever go back to fully cooking my meals each night. I’ve reduced eating out and we are eating much healthier. The recipes come with shopping lists, and you can pick from meals around what your family actually likes. My daughter even likes the meals better. Lol. I wish you luck if this works for you. I have never been good at meal planning and I feel your struggle, for real. 💜
So what freezer meal plans do you use?? We are just so used to fresh cooking. My kids don’t like leftovers. And freezer meals to me has always sounded “not as good” as fresh. But if there’s an easy way….I’m all ears! 😜
I loathe meal planning! GAH! It's the WORST but a necessity. I think having picky eaters makes it worse than if you're family will just eat whatever you cook, too. I have one kid with Aspbergers who has severe food aversions, one kid with stomach issues especially when its heavy on dairy or gluten, and thankfully hubby will literally eat anything. I needed ONE easy person. I'm also picky.... no mushrooms here either, or onions. So, yeah.... I feel ya!
Meal planning is like my saving grace. I pick the meals for 2 weeks and then I have to grocery shop off that or I will spend way too much money and with inflation it's already double what we paid a year ago. :( I love that penny pincher meal box! That's cool. Although, I just use my pinterest boards and that it. NO dessert in the crockpot, mine is too old and it doesn't cook right.
I’m wondering if that’s my problem too!! My crockpot is 18 years old and it seems to mess up a lot of meals lately. It runs very hot so I have to shorten every single time and temp. Inflation…..sigh…..this is the reason I need to get BETTER at meal planning!!
I’m good at meal planning!!! This looks awesome as we are always looking for extra ideas!!! We only do cheese on Pizza!!! I buy short cuts so we don’t prep like potatoes or veggies prepared ready to cook!!!
We LOVE our Crockpot. We make huge batches and freeze the extras so we don’t have to cook everyday (we don’t like cooking daily). I’ll have to check her website out :)
I can freeze some things but my kids turn up their noses at most leftovers (not that we don’t do eat them anyway….but bc of how they are, I probably don’t freeze as much as I should. I DO FREEZE SOUP!!! that always tastes just as good when thawed!
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I was thinking if you all and your meteorology plans. We’re currently being hit by the hurricane (not bad here). But one of the Bible study leaders at our church is the pilot who flies into the eye of the storm. Coolest job ever!
@@Homeschooling_with_the_Riveras that would be a cool job!!!! I didn’t even know that was a thing! I’ll have to tell my son! Are you in the direct line or just weathering really bad weather while It passes?
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I didn’t know either, but it sounds so cool. We are thankfully not in the direct path. We have some family that is but thankfully they are in Ohio right now and not down for the winter yet. We’ve had a lot of flooding and some wind, but we’ve seen way worse before. Thanking God (especially as we near our due date with baby 3) that we were spared a bad hit. Using the weather as a science lesson for the kiddos 🤗
I think they’ve actually come out with a binder version and they are always coming up with new “boxes” so they may even have a vegetarian version now. 😉
I love Taco Tuesday!!! We always talk about it but haven’t stuck to it! Tacos are definitely and easy meal to fall back on, though! Tacos and frozen pizza!! Lol!
I had to figure out meal planning for my sanity!! Nothing stressed me out more than not knowing what to make for dinner! Once I figured out a system that worked for me, it changed my life 😂
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan it's very simple because I need simple 😂 I take a piece of paper and I make a grid of squares (six down and seven across, so six weeks of meals). Then I fill in the squares with meals. I have a binder full of handwritten or printout recipes. If I try a new recipe and we like it I put it in the binder. I don't make a schedule like have this meal on Tues and this meal on Wed because I like to be flexible in what I want to make that night. So once a week I just look what meals are on that week and make a list to shop. I love doing it this way because I only have to remake my list once every six weeks and then I don't have to think about it anymore! I just shop once a week what is on the plan for that week! I've been doing it this way for years now so I have built up an arsenal of meals for variety. I hit up Pinterest for new ideas when we get tired of something. But we don't repeat any meals in that six weeks so we don't get tired of stuff very often!
I like this idea! My husband and I both have ADHD. And although I love the IDEA of PPP boxes, I feel like it would stress me out to cross my fingers and hope my very picky eaters would eat each meal. Barbecoa isn’t even a word we use in our home 😂🤷🏻♀️ I think I make meal planning too big in my head. It doesn’t have to be gourmet. Especially in this stage of having three kids under 7. My goal isn’t to wow my kids with my culinary prowess. It’s to serve meals they’ll eat that will free up some mental load for me. I’m used to putting in an InstaCart order for pickup. So now I just have to add a little structure to that already established behavior.
I actually was dreaming of cooking in the kitchen. 🤣. I was in the kitchen a lot as a kid, and I loved it so I never felt removed from it. And my 14 year old son daydreams about cooking tasty snacks for his friends lol. But it can still be a struggle, because even though I love cooking, that doesn't stop life from getting in the way, lol. I waste so many groceries 🙄. I don't do well with set meal plans and we are not big on casseroles or slow cooker meals. We are picky in different ways. My son and i love exotic meals full of variety. My husband prefers more basic meals. And none of us are big on casseroles or crock pot meals. I just need to get better at keeping a list of the recipes we love and put them in some kind of system for rotation. I'll probably have a good system down by the time my son goes to college, lol.
I can see kids being interested in cooking and daydreaming about it. That’s definitely not me!! 😜 we don’t care for casseroles either. Seems like most of the meals my family likes require LOTS of prep time which is another reason why meal planning is hard. That life, you mentioned…..sometimes life getting in the way is “I’m so tired!! I don’t want to be in the kitchen for an hour!” 😩
Crockpot? I have an instapot, does she have one for that? Do you suggest I buy a crockpot? I love using my instapot for bone broth, beans and chicken soup but not much else, haha.
I thought instapots could also be slow cookers? She has several meal planning boxes that aren’t just for slow cookers! There are just two that specialize in a crockpot recipes. She has a low cal box, freezer cooking box, sides only box….I think there are 7 boxes all together and they’re probably creating more.
I NEVER know what to make for dinner. I have 7 children and we've been homeschooling their whole lives and I just simply can't seem to think of what to cook or how to shop right to be able to have on hand what I need to make the meals I do come up with anyway. It's a problem...
I’m with you. When I have tried to plan ahead, something comes up and we don’t eat at home, or we change our minds….and sometimes produce gets wasted. I think it would be easier if I just lived next door to the grocery store!!! 😜
Have you tried this rotisserie chicken noodle soup? This is actually one of my favorite meals to make my family. It’s very easy and VERY flavorful!!
ua-cam.com/video/hGwP-HI1jDQ/v-deo.html
Right here with you on that struggle bus! I think somewhat because I have some picky family members and I don't enjoy cooking. I've realized that I operate at a slower pace, so it feels like it takes so much time. Could also be decision fatigue. I do like how the Minimal Mom recommendeds that we find favorite meals and just put in repeat.
Yes! I love that idea!!
I LOVE meal planning and prep!! It is so nice to not have to think about what’s for supper during the week. I usually only do a week at a time in case we change our mind about what sounds good. Helps us with less waste and avoid to eating out at the same time.
Do you also like to cook??? I think if I had a full time house keeper, this might not feel as daunting to me. 😂
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I actually don’t like cooking. This helps me only have to think about it for a day as opposed to every day.
Girl you hit the nail on the head with this video. I'm so struggling!
Thanks!! It’s so hard to plan so many things! At least we aren’t the only ones on the struggle bus!
Oohhh this is great! I struggle with coming up with new ideas and also get stressed having to plan our meals! I need some variety! This is great!
Yeah!! Anything to simplify a task in the day, right?!? 😉
I agree and I loved this video!!
🥰thank you so much!
I'm with you. I'd rather scrub a toilet than meal plan. Don't know why. I think because it's overwhelming. Trying to come up with ideas that take into account everyone's preferences PLUS making it relatively healthy PLUS affordable....it's almost an impossible task.
PLUS doesn’t take an hour to prep and cook!! 😉
I bought the digital freezer meals 😋 and my family has loved the recipes. I too have a picky family. I shop 2 weeks at a time. It's so nice to batch cook 2 days month and have meals in the freezer. Saves so much time and energy.
The freezer meal one is intriguing bc I’ve never done freezer meal cooking before. Some things don’t freeze well!! So I think tried and true freezer meals would be nice to know about!
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan oh yeah, they are so good, so easy and my family has been enjoying them. 😉
Honestly watching channels like LargeFamilyLove has motivated me to meal plan. I meal plan for at least a month, I already have the rest of the year planned out. My system consists of a binder. In one section of my binder I have meals my family will actually eat divided into categories (1 page per category). In the next section is the meal planning pages. I have a master page where I have different categories written down for each day. Depending on what is going on that day decides what category goes on that day. My husband's days off has more elaborate meals. On days my husband won't be home for dinner and I only have 2 5 year olds I have kid friendly meals (yes this is a category). I have this master list in a page protector which I move to mark the week I am currently on. By meal planning for a month at a time I can do one day at a time. All the Mondays at once then all the Tuesdays then all the Wednesdays, ect. That way I can pull out that category page and figure out what I want to cook for that month. If we ever have to change something, say my husband decides he wants to go do something as a family at the last minute I can always change things up b3cause I have a stocked pantry and I shop for at least 2 weeks (I actually try to get as much as I can for the entire month on the first shopping trip and only buy fresh ingredients as I need them, but that depends on my budget). I like doing it this way so I only have to think about what's for dinner once a month and having it already done allows me to just look at the menu in the morning or the day before and get out what I need for that day. You can also include your family in the menu planning. Growing up I had a friend who's family did a weekly family meeting to plan out meals. Each person got to pick one meal they would like to have for that week and if they were of an age to cook could either cook the meal or help make the meal.
Making a meal plan by NO means means you have to stick strictly to it. But helps to make sure you have the ingredients you need on hand.
I’ve tried shopping for two weeks but we’ve had food (produce) go to waste before bc our lifestyle means on the go with lots of driving. I hate wasting food! :(
I agree with including the family in the planning. ❤️
I live watching these kind of videos. I find them so inspiring and useful. Great content my friend. New subscriber and supporter 🥰
Welcome! Thank you!! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan You're welcome my friend 😊 if you have the oportunity to drop by mine id really appreciate your support 🥰
Freezer meals saved my life. I take out meals on Sunday night for the meals Mon-Wed and then take out other meals then. It’s much easier to shop from my freezer! I don’t think I could ever go back to fully cooking my meals each night. I’ve reduced eating out and we are eating much healthier. The recipes come with shopping lists, and you can pick from meals around what your family actually likes. My daughter even likes the meals better. Lol. I wish you luck if this works for you. I have never been good at meal planning and I feel your struggle, for real. 💜
So what freezer meal plans do you use?? We are just so used to fresh cooking. My kids don’t like leftovers. And freezer meals to me has always sounded “not as good” as fresh. But if there’s an easy way….I’m all ears! 😜
I loathe meal planning! GAH! It's the WORST but a necessity. I think having picky eaters makes it worse than if you're family will just eat whatever you cook, too. I have one kid with Aspbergers who has severe food aversions, one kid with stomach issues especially when its heavy on dairy or gluten, and thankfully hubby will literally eat anything. I needed ONE easy person. I'm also picky.... no mushrooms here either, or onions. So, yeah.... I feel ya!
I’m be easy person is nice!!! 😉 severe food allergies complicate the menu!! Oh man!!
Meal planning is like my saving grace. I pick the meals for 2 weeks and then I have to grocery shop off that or I will spend way too much money and with inflation it's already double what we paid a year ago. :( I love that penny pincher meal box! That's cool. Although, I just use my pinterest boards and that it. NO dessert in the crockpot, mine is too old and it doesn't cook right.
I’m wondering if that’s my problem too!! My crockpot is 18 years old and it seems to mess up a lot of meals lately. It runs very hot so I have to shorten every single time and temp.
Inflation…..sigh…..this is the reason I need to get BETTER at meal planning!!
I’m good at meal planning!!! This looks awesome as we are always looking for extra ideas!!! We only do cheese on Pizza!!! I buy short cuts so we don’t prep like potatoes or veggies prepared ready to cook!!!
Buying the prepped food would help with time, for sure!!!
We LOVE our Crockpot. We make huge batches and freeze the extras so we don’t have to cook everyday (we don’t like cooking daily). I’ll have to check her website out :)
I can freeze some things but my kids turn up their noses at most leftovers (not that we don’t do eat them anyway….but bc of how they are, I probably don’t freeze as much as I should. I DO FREEZE SOUP!!! that always tastes just as good when thawed!
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I was thinking if you all and your meteorology plans. We’re currently being hit by the hurricane (not bad here). But one of the Bible study leaders at our church is the pilot who flies into the eye of the storm. Coolest job ever!
@@Homeschooling_with_the_Riveras that would be a cool job!!!! I didn’t even know that was a thing! I’ll have to tell my son!
Are you in the direct line or just weathering really bad weather while It passes?
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan I didn’t know either, but it sounds so cool.
We are thankfully not in the direct path. We have some family that is but thankfully they are in Ohio right now and not down for the winter yet. We’ve had a lot of flooding and some wind, but we’ve seen way worse before. Thanking God (especially as we near our due date with baby 3) that we were spared a bad hit.
Using the weather as a science lesson for the kiddos 🤗
Super cool idea. I think I’m going to make my own version, we are vegan/vegetarian. I’m thinking a binder version :) ❤
I think they’ve actually come out with a binder version and they are always coming up with new “boxes” so they may even have a vegetarian version now. 😉
I meal plan by the day except for Taco Tuesday!!!! Meal Planning overwhelms me also. 🌻
I love Taco Tuesday!!! We always talk about it but haven’t stuck to it! Tacos are definitely and easy meal to fall back on, though! Tacos and frozen pizza!! Lol!
I had to figure out meal planning for my sanity!! Nothing stressed me out more than not knowing what to make for dinner! Once I figured out a system that worked for me, it changed my life 😂
What’s your system?!?!?! Do tell!
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan it's very simple because I need simple 😂 I take a piece of paper and I make a grid of squares (six down and seven across, so six weeks of meals). Then I fill in the squares with meals. I have a binder full of handwritten or printout recipes. If I try a new recipe and we like it I put it in the binder. I don't make a schedule like have this meal on Tues and this meal on Wed because I like to be flexible in what I want to make that night. So once a week I just look what meals are on that week and make a list to shop.
I love doing it this way because I only have to remake my list once every six weeks and then I don't have to think about it anymore! I just shop once a week what is on the plan for that week! I've been doing it this way for years now so I have built up an arsenal of meals for variety. I hit up Pinterest for new ideas when we get tired of something. But we don't repeat any meals in that six weeks so we don't get tired of stuff very often!
I like this idea! My husband and I both have ADHD. And although I love the IDEA of PPP boxes, I feel like it would stress me out to cross my fingers and hope my very picky eaters would eat each meal. Barbecoa isn’t even a word we use in our home 😂🤷🏻♀️
I think I make meal planning too big in my head. It doesn’t have to be gourmet. Especially in this stage of having three kids under 7. My goal isn’t to wow my kids with my culinary prowess. It’s to serve meals they’ll eat that will free up some mental load for me. I’m used to putting in an InstaCart order for pickup. So now I just have to add a little structure to that already established behavior.
I actually was dreaming of cooking in the kitchen. 🤣. I was in the kitchen a lot as a kid, and I loved it so I never felt removed from it. And my 14 year old son daydreams about cooking tasty snacks for his friends lol. But it can still be a struggle, because even though I love cooking, that doesn't stop life from getting in the way, lol. I waste so many groceries 🙄. I don't do well with set meal plans and we are not big on casseroles or slow cooker meals. We are picky in different ways. My son and i love exotic meals full of variety. My husband prefers more basic meals. And none of us are big on casseroles or crock pot meals. I just need to get better at keeping a list of the recipes we love and put them in some kind of system for rotation. I'll probably have a good system down by the time my son goes to college, lol.
I can see kids being interested in cooking and daydreaming about it. That’s definitely not me!! 😜 we don’t care for casseroles either. Seems like most of the meals my family likes require LOTS of prep time which is another reason why meal planning is hard. That life, you mentioned…..sometimes life getting in the way is “I’m so tired!! I don’t want to be in the kitchen for an hour!” 😩
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan Same.
Crockpot? I have an instapot, does she have one for that? Do you suggest I buy a crockpot? I love using my instapot for bone broth, beans and chicken soup but not much else, haha.
I thought instapots could also be slow cookers? She has several meal planning boxes that aren’t just for slow cookers! There are just two that specialize in a crockpot recipes. She has a low cal box, freezer cooking box, sides only box….I think there are 7 boxes all together and they’re probably creating more.
Do you have on two different contacts ??? 😆 no cheese, no mushrooms 🍄 .. 😮😅thanks for sharing
No? Do my eyes look different colors? 😂
@@OurHOMEschoolPlan yes ma’am they do 😊
@@CharlotteMasonTT well my contacts are clear anyway. That’s so funny! Just be the lighting!
I NEVER know what to make for dinner. I have 7 children and we've been homeschooling their whole lives and I just simply can't seem to think of what to cook or how to shop right to be able to have on hand what I need to make the meals I do come up with anyway. It's a problem...
I’m with you. When I have tried to plan ahead, something comes up and we don’t eat at home, or we change our minds….and sometimes produce gets wasted. I think it would be easier if I just lived next door to the grocery store!!! 😜