Spice Up Your Menus

I coached swimming from 3-5 then headed to the church.

I had enrichment tonight.

I was a little nervous about it since I was on my own. (I miss Angie who is the Bishop's wife in the new ward)

We had Hyun Ju teach a Korean cooking class.

I taught how to better menu plan and effectively list and plan for the week.

We had a smaller turn out than I would have liked - 31 in all.

BUT - EVERYONE had a good time. The food was delicious and everyone liked my menu sheet and organizational tips on how to list things for the grocery store.

It was nice to explain how things work for me and how I can spend less than $125 a week for a family of 6 and left overs!

I think it also helped that I gave them 9 ideas for dinner that cost $10 or less!

I got a lot of good feedback and felt like people who needed to hear it heard it, and those who didn't need it --- had fun catching up and getting to know everyone!

 We had the whole thing set up like TV - everyone could see what was happening.

 Some of the samplings...

 Everyone had thirds! :)

Thanks to Hyun-Ju"LIA CHILD" and her husband Jamie for taking on such a huge project.

It was awesome and I learned a lot! :)

One thing I learned is that I am not the only person who variety plans. I thought most people were bargain shoppers.  I just can't go off of what someone tells me to buy or make. It is all in what I feel like eating or making.  I know there are websites out there that do it all for you (meal plan, grocery list it out for you) but I like to try new things, I like to cook, I love figuring out how to get variety in our meals. 

Honestly I get such a good feeling when Nathan tells me he loves that we don't have a taco night or a spaghetti night because I feel like it is my responsibility as a mother and wife to provide healthy meals that are new and exciting and worth a try.

My kids are so used to trying new things that they never fight me at restaurants or at people's houses. Trying new things is part of dinner.  

What I have been working on (as one of my goals for the year) is making a master "cookbook" of what we eat. So that when I menu plan I can flip through what I have made, what I want to try and what I tweaked.

Each page has a picture and rough cost attached to it including what I served with it.

My goal is to get the top 100 things we eat all in one place...add or subtract as the years go on so when my kids move away they can take a little piece of Mommy with them.

If you want a copy of anything from tonight or the template to my book I am making let me know.