What it looks like

If you know my family at all, you know that dinners are somewhat of a headache at my house.   Makena became a vegetarian more than 2 years ago and she is not what you would call "open minded" to trying new foods. Jamie is a 'meat and potatoes' guy and he is what you would call "a picky eater".  And I eat pretty much everything except red meat.  Makena and Jamie both have a few things that they would eat three or four times a week.  I would like something new every single day.  I also like the healthier options - whole wheat, lots of veggies and very little sauces.  Not those two - give them white pasta, slathered with Alfredo sauce and a protein and they're happy as can be.  A salad, what for?

Basically it's a no win situation.  The usual responses are "what's that green thing?"  "what's in the sauce?"  "why are the noodles brown?" "what is it?"  "is there meat in it?"  "is there anything else?"  And, it becomes very frustrating.  And then sometimes it's something that they both like and I slide the recipe into a special place and jump for joy inside!

Like most families, we have different things going on each day/evening.  Because we work from home, it's often easier for me to get things going right away, but I'm usually working until 6pm or later.  I've tried meal planning over and over (and over) again but I just can't get it to stick.  Yet almost every weekend, I'll spend a few hours pouring over pages of my cookbooks or recipe binders to create a week's worth of menus.  But, this is what it looks like when I try to find a recipe using items that I already have sitting in my fridge or pantry.

Eventually I have 4 binders, 5 cookbooks and a mess.  But no dinner.

So, this week, I tried something a little different.  I spent hours going through all of the above to come up with the below.

I found 8 recipes that I could throw in to a ziplock bag and freeze.  Then either Jamie or I can throw them in the crock pot for dinner that night.  (Like how I worked him in there?)  Now, these aren't things that Makena can eat because they all have meat in them, but half of my battle is already won.

It did take me several hours to gather the recipes and get all of the groceries, but once I had everything organized the process went rather quickly.  Now....hopefully they taste good!  We don't have to use them all next week, but they'll be ready for when we need them.

I do have to admit that I was a bit overwhelmed shopping for so much food all at once.  I usually shop every couple of days for veggies and little things, but I wanted it all done at one time.  And because I buy mostly organic veggies, fruits and meats, my bill was quite a bit higher than normal too.  But we don't usually eat boxed or canned foods, so I'm used to that as well.  (Although I did purchase 15 different cans of beans, but I'm okay with that!)

BUT, this is what it looks like when you have everything ready for lunches or side dishes for the week too!

I also bought everything Makena and I would need to make salads in a jar for the week.  I finally found this guest post over at The Paleo Mama to help me plan.  (There are several people that have posted/pinned about salads in a jar, but I found this post by Dusti Lynn to be the most helpful and more to my liking.)  I made 6 of these jars last week and ate them in 4 days, so I know these are a good thing already.

I think dinner will always be a battle at my house.  Always a source of frustration.  But, I'm not giving up.  I want my family to be healthy and happy.  You have to pick the battles you want to fight and which ones are worth working on.

P.S. Yes, I've tried the 'you eat what you get' but that's just not how I work.  I've tried changing things slowly or sneaking foods in, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.  I've tried many things and I'll just have to keep on keepin' on.