I work outside the home, just like many of you. I am also a single mom. This means that after picking up the kids from school, it’s time to go home and make dinner. I have discovered that this process moves more quickly and smoothly if I actually know what I’m gonna make when we arrive–sooo, each week, the kiddies and I decide what kind of ’stuff’ we’re craving, make our shopping list and write down the menu.

This menu serves as more of a guide than anything else. We do put a full meal on each day, but if Tuesday is supposed to be Alex’s Garlic Burgers, be we decide we want Personal Mini-Meatloaves instead, we go with the Meatloaves. The decision making usually occurs in the morning while chilling out before leaving for the bus. That way, I can take anything that is frozen out of the freezer. It also allows me the freedom to not have to think about what we’re gonna eat and the group decision ensures an ‘I don’t like this’ -free meal.

There are weeks when the menu planning gets overlooked due to lazy-mom syndrome, but it usually ends up costing me more stress in the long run. This 15 minute family meal chat does two things that I love: 1) It ensures we’ll ALL eat and like at least part of every meal; and 2) It ensures some relaxing family time, cooking and eating (rather than trying to figure out what’s for dinner).