dinner time bliss

Dinner is one of the things I do well.

We have to eat everyday, rain or shine..  And it's more stressful (and more work, not to mention more money) when I don't make meals a top priority.  The busier I am and the more kids I have, the more important it is to plan out what we're going to eat.  And because I homeschool, our food organization has extended to planning breakfast and lunch too... just because it makes life easier not more complicated.  Everyone is happier when we have food in our bellies, especially mom!  And it's really not THAT hard to get into the habits of planning out your meals and having the kids help with the process.  Of course, it takes a little while to teach the kids how they can help, but it's really starting to pay off for me lately!  The boys have been really amazing and we have developed such a fabulous routine.  The other day Aaron came home early (total surprise) and all 5 boys played four square outside while I (slowly) put dinner on the table.  I kept thinking how lonely it was to get it ready all by myself.. and so much harder too!  It's probably been a year since I've set the table, or longer.  And cut up vegetables? I hardly knew how to do that anymore.  I missed my helpers and know that when they grow up and move out of the house, I will look back at our memories of cooking with them in the kitchen with such fondness.

We used to do a one-on-one thing (one child picks dinner and helps with prep while the others occupy each other and play) but for the past year or so it's been the entire clan, all helping and serving together..  music blasting, everyone talking... dinner prep that used to be the worst time of day is now some of our best quality time together.  The only things I have to do is have the ingredients and start prep at a decent hour.  Our menu has been rocking lately and I am becoming more of the supervisor with little chefs doing more of the work!

Zack has really been into making the weekly lists of the things we need for our menu.  He will ask the other kids what they want to eat that week, make an entire list of everything we need and then take a special "date" to the grocery store with me or Dad and buy all of the ingredients.  He has to be sure to check everything off the list AS SOON as we put it in the grocery cart... which is so cute.  This particular list included "shuger and codig cheese."

We were sick for over a month in December/early January (literally for weeks, the whole family) but our dinnertime hardly suffered one bit.  Of course, a few friends brought over meals and snacks, and on the really hard days, that was so helpful.  But the kids want to eat food they're familiar with... and having others bring meals was almost not worth it.  I was amazed at how good we were at quickly throwing something together and having dinner at a decent hour every night, at the table, even sick as dogs.  On Christmas day we pulled together a delicious turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing and homemade rolls.  We had the ingredients, everyone chipped in and it was almost an effortless meal.  I didn't do anything except make the rolls and watch the kids (and hubby) work around me.  Definitely the highlight of Christmas day for me (but I did sleep from 9am-5pm, so there wasn't a lot to remember about that day, unfortunately.)

The other day, we were supposed to run several errands in the morning and I couldn't find the keys to my van anywhere (this time it wasn't my fault.)  We had leftover pasta sauce from the night before and lots of cheese in the fridge and nothing much going on, so we decided to make a couple of pans of lasagna.  While we were assembling, Zack asked if we had everything to make chicken pot pies (he's been asking to make them for a while) and sure enough we had everything accept for an egg for the crust.  So I had Ben ride his bike to a neighbor's to borrow a couple of eggs and about an hour later we had 4 chicken pot pies.  Everything went in the deep freezer in the garage and it felt like such a productive morning.  Who needs to run errands anyway?

On Monday (Martin Luther King day) I woke up in bad shape, no sleep the night before because of contractions all night.  Aaron had the day off, but still had to go into the office because of a big project he had going.  I also remembered that we had signed up to feed the Sister Missionaries that night (and the past two times we've canceled on them because we were sick!) So first thing after Aaron left for work, I called the kids in on my bed and told them what was happening and what needed to happen. I needed to stay in bed as much as possible and THEY needed to take care of ME (and each other) and WE needed to feed the missionaries that night.. and Dad may or may not be home before dinner.  They each took different assignments and kept coming back into my room to check on me or to fill my glass with ice water.  We did a lot of reading and math in my bed.  Roma took a long nap, I was able to take a relaxing bath and get myself somewhat ready for the day.  Each of the boys had a checklist of duties and directions and by the time dinner rolled around, the house was clean, the table was set, candles were lit, the food was hot and ready and I didn't have to lift a finger.  It was such an amazing day/evening.  Aaron came home right before the missionaries arrived and I came downstairs after everyone was sitting at the table.    

After dinner, while the Sisters and I discussed RS stuff, Aaron made Oreo shakes for dessert (MLK tradition since college) and then we had a FHE lesson about Abraham and Isaac taught by Ben (one of of the items on his to-do list) and we all went to bed early that night. It felt so rewarding to be the mom of these hardworking, sweet kids.  And they really felt so good about themselves, too.

If you are feeling overwhelmed about meal planning, start simple and remember that your efforts WILL pay off!  More tips here.