Menus

Writing a menu is the one thing that helps me most in my kitchen. It gives me just enough structure to quench my inner desire to be super organized, and enough flexibility to be creative and artsy.  Growing up, I hardly ever ate the same thing twice in one month. My mom was a gourmet cook extraordinaire and was always feeding us healthy and delicious food.

That element of love was a staple in our house. Everyday, whether I wanted it or not, I knew that I could come home from school to something absolutely delicious that had been prepared with love. This was part of the legacy that my mom left for me. Even during her last days, when her body was riddled with cancer, she managed to prepare simple and delicious meals that were full of flavor and love. Those were meals were precious to me, and I enjoyed them with tears of gratitude.

So naturally, with her as my example, I love to bless my family in this way.

As a home school mom of five kids, and one who enjoys living frugally, I make 95% of everything we eat. Eating out is a rare treasure and it usually costs us close to $80 per outing. While it provides the luxury of not having to prepare the food and clean up, I would almost always rather spend those $80 on fun grocery items to help spice up already yummy food into something extravagant.

When I write my menus, I write them with freedom. I know that if I have a super creative itch or craving, I can replace whatever meal is slotted- with whatever I want to make. If I want to switch up my days, I can do that. My menus really act like meal suggestions for the week.

I base them off of what we already have in the pantry, what food items are on sale, and what we want to eat. That way, I am being resourceful, while still giving my family what they want. With 5 kids, I usually run things by them to make sure anyone is not vehemently opposed to one menu item. Usually, they are excited about what I am cooking. Over the last 14 years I have developed a good pool of things (About 300 recipes) that I cook from. If I try something new and they like it- GREAT! If they don't like it, no worries, it never comes back. ;)

Okay, so without further adieu here is a sample of a menu on our No Spend Month. If you are interested, I will keep posting menus as I write them. Just to give you an idea. Enjoy!

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Day	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Sunday	Cream of Wheat	Super Salad with Tuna	Spaghetti and Meatballs & Green Beans
Monday	Pumpkin Waffles	Egg Salad Sandwiches	Red Beans and Rice
Tuesday	Oatmeal	Apples and Cheese	Potato and Leek Soup/Salad Homemade Bread
Wednesday	Frittata	Peanut Butter Sandwiches	Greek Pasta
Thursday	Green Smoothie	Tuna Pasta Salad	Barley Vegetable Soup
Friday	Cinnamon Raisin Bread	English Muffin Pizzas	Shabbat Dinner with CBH
Saturday	Pumpkin Bread Pudding	Left Overs	Pizza at the Park