Fat Chick Fed Up

How’s that for a title?

As most of you are probably aware by now, The Chick Magnet, after several months without a steady income, has accepted a job in Florida. The time has finally come for me to say good-bye to my husband and the kids to say good-bye to their daddy for several months.

Just so you know, I can hardly type that sentence without bawling my eyes out. My hubby leaves Friday to start a new adventure for our family. His new job begins a week from today.

So, while my typical menu plan is focused on healthy, whole, raw foods, my focus has shifted a bit this week. I am planning on making all of The Chick Magnet’s favorite foods. I will still be using quality ingredients and making things as healthfully as possible.

But, let’s be honest, you really can’t make Peanut Butter Pie healthy.

And, let’s be honest, who would really want to?

So, without further ado, here is our rather indulgent menu plan for this week.

Menu plan, Week of September 12 – September 18

Monday:

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs, sliced watermelon
• Lunch: Peanut butter and honey wraps, fresh peaches, carrots and dip
• Dinner: Smoked sausage, sweet corn, fresh fruit (these are actually leftovers because I am going out tonight for Mom’s Night Out. I know, really nice of me to do that my husband’s last week home. But it will also be my last night for a while to get to go out with my girlfriends and you better believe I am going to take advantage of it! Besides, it gives The Chick Magnet and the Chicklets some excellent bonding time! At least that’s what I will tell myself to assuage the guilt. )

Tuesday:

• Breakfast: Healthy, Hearty, Whole Grain and Nut Pancakes
• Lunch: Green Smoothies, Amish Friendship Bread
• Dinner: Taco Salad 

Wednesday:

• Breakfast: Quick Cook Coffee Cake
• Lunch: Egg McMuffins (NOT McDonald’s ), cantaloupe, sliced tomatoes
• Dinner: Homemade General Tso’s Chicken, Fried Rice, Asian Salad

Thursday:

• Breakfast: Steel Cut Oatmeal
• Lunch: Peanut butter and banana sandwiches, homemade applesauce, sliced cucumbers
• Dinner: Taco Soup, cornbread, peanut butter pie (Yep, I’m going there. This is The Chick Magnet’s last night home and this is his all-time favorite dessert. Don’t worry, I will be sharing the recipe love with you later this week. You can thank me later.)

Friday:

• Breakfast: Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Bread
• Lunch: Subway (I know, I know. But I will be having a garage sale this day and trying to help get the car loaded for The Chick Magnet’s trip and I will be a big bundle of emotional mess and dealing with emotional children-so I’m indulging and letting someone else do the work).
• Dinner: Leftovers  (again, the aforementioned garage sale and The Chick Magnet will be gone by dinner time and I am sure I will not be in the mood for whipping up something fabulous).

Saturday:

• Breakfast: Homemade granola
• Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sliced veggies and fruit
• Dinner: Marinated pollock fillets, steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Sunday:

• Breakfast: Granola
• Lunch: Leftovers
• Dinner: Beefy Cheesy Pasta

You will notice that many things are the same from last week. The first reason for this is that I like to streamline breakfast and lunch. I try to offer enough variety that we don’t get bored and I can be sure we are getting plenty of healthy nourishment. But it makes it easy to have the same things on the same days for breakfast and lunch because it just helps to streamline my “super-busy-stay-at-home-homeschooling-mama-to-four-who-is-never-at-home” life.

Also, some of the dinners that I didn’t get to make due to scheduling conflicts or time constraints last week got carried over into this week. I actually don’t mind when that happens because even though things don’t go perfectly according to plan, it helps to already have a few meals on back-up and helps with the grocery bills for the week since we should already have all of the ingredients for those meals.

It’s important to me that my routines serve as a guide for my days, not as a dictator. It helps me to have a plan and a general idea of how I want things to go, but if I don’t allow for flexibility (for example, having a few back-up meals planned for those especially hectic days when I only have time for easy) then I get all sorts of anxious and I don’t allow myself to be open to opportunities for serving and helping others.

I have to be flexible because the fact is, life gets in the way sometimes. Sometimes I get a 5 o’ clock phone call from a friend who needs a listening ear and I don’t have as much time to make dinner as originally planned. Sometimes the kids have an especially hard day and we all need a little break and will go out to eat. Sometimes I have lots of leftovers that weren’t anticipated and I can have an open evening the next night to play games and have extra story times with the kids.

So if you have never planned out your menu plan like this, don’t let the”plan” part of it discourage you. Stay flexible, keep your options open and have fun with it!

I am linking up this post over at OrgJunkie today. Head on over and check out some other great meal ideas.

As always, if there is something in particular you are just desperate for the recipe for, let me know in the comments and I will do my best to accommodate!

Do you menu plan? Do you think menu plans can help you to be more flexible?

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