Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Meal Planning (this year, anyway)
Posted in Our Housekeeping Systems
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Oh, man, we have tried it ALL. In 20 years of marriage, I've tried every method of menu planning that has come to my attention. Once a month cooking? Too hard on the knees. Daily choosing from what's in my cupboards? I need a LOT more organization than that! Choosing from a premade list of 30 menus? Booooo-ring! This year (yes, we live in terms of a school year, even though we are year-round schoolers, a little quirk of ours) we are trying something completely different - one year menus! Here's how I've done it: I created a spreadsheet with these columns, all on one row: (Month) (meal) (name of recipe) (ingredients of recipe) (cooking method) (prep time) (category) (comments) I copy down the name of each month 130 times, then move to the meal column put a B, and copy that down 30 times, for 30 breakfast meals. Then changed the B to an L for the 30 lunch rows, 30 snacks, 30 dinner rows and 10 dessert rows. I use the category column for dinner meals only. I have chosen for the categories: 3 beef meals, 3 fish meals, 3 meatless meals, 10 poultry meals, 3 "variety" meat meals (pork, eggs, etc.), and 8 uncategorized meals. The easy part is next. I know every week we have cereal twice, once on our "errand day" and once on Mama's sleep in day, so I put cereal on eight days in each month, and "cereal, milk" in the ingredient column for each of those eight days. Another easy breakfast we have once a week is boiled eggs and bagels, so that went in four meal slots, with the ingredients in that column. I like to make the boiled eggs ahead and have them cold and ready for eating, so I put that in the comments section to do the night before. Everyone chooses their own breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and dessert on their birthdays, and special meals like Thanksgiving dinner went on the list as well. Every week we have one "clean out the fridge" dinner meal and eat out one lunch after church, so that went on the grid. The empty spaces are shrinking already! I continued doing that for lunches and dinners, adding in those meals that we just have to have often, their ingredients, how they are cooked (oven? oven temp? stove? etc.), how long they take to prepare and any other notes in the proper columns. One thing I noted in the comments column is if a dinner meal needs an additional veggie or a starch to be complete, after all, we won't get those 5 fruits and veggies a day if we don't plan for it! Next is the not-too-difficult part. I asked the kids and hubby to write down their favorite meals, how often they would like to eat them, would they be willing to cook them, etc. So now I have a list of foods I can add (or not) to my main listing. I know, for instance, that Kate wants a PB&J sandwich every day of the year, but not everyone does, so that's a once-a-week meal. I also know that while we enjoy fish sticks with applesauce, there are at least two children in my family who will NOT touch them, so that is more of a once-a-month lunch. I got a commitment from each child for how many meals I'd like them to prepare (and clean up after) per week, and write their names in that many meal slots. The older ones are responsible for finding appropriate meals, purchasing ingredients (I pay, but they will make their own list), prep and clean up. The younger ones enlist the help of an older one for nutrition, capbility and budgetary reasons. Then comes the most time-consuming, but fun part of the process. I went through my myriad of cookbooks, one at a time, adding in the recipes that we love but had been forgotten over the years. Some will repeat once a month, others only once or twice a year. Now, keep in mind, I can't sit, stand, or walk for more than 30 minutes, so this was done in little chunks over a long period of time. I might leaf through one cookbook per day. If a recipe is "company worthy", I formatted it in italics. I try to have one of those per week just in case. Ah. We're done. Not every square of the grid is filled in, and that's okay, and there is only a notation for "needs green veg" or "needs starch" for a lot of days, but that's good too. I'm still done. Time to use it: August comes, so I scroll down to the August section. With one eye on my calendar, I choose seven breakfasts, seven lunches, seven snacks, seven dinners and two desserts. Two or three blank meals each week is fine, I'll deal with that later. (I also format the meals I've chosen as bold on the spreadsheet, but that's because I can't remember from one day to the next what we've eaten!) I watch the calendar for evening meetings (I need something QUICK or a crockpot meal), and pay attention to cooking methods (if I'm cooking a dish at 475°, I don't really want a dessert that has to cook at the same time at 350°, or to try to cook two things in my only crockpot at once!) I print out the info I need on two pages: page one is the menus, cooking method, prep time and comments. I don't put dates on it, just a list of breakfasts, lunches, etc. Page two includes the complete listing of ingredients which I check against my pantry and fridge before heading out for the store; and the comments column. I enlist the children in researching their meals and putting their shopping lists together, give it a once-over with them, then turn my attention to the blanks. Almost without exception, I'll see a recipe during the week that I want to try. Something in a magazine, on a TV show, or that I find online will strike my fancy. I add that to the list that week in a blank spot. It's okay if it happens after my big once-a-week shopping trip, because there WILL be a midweek trip, I guarantee it, because our fridge isn't big enough to hold more than 3 days worth of milk! Now it's off to the store. I take my list and coupon box and send the junior cooks off with their lists. Remember, on my list are the items I need to buy, checked off from my pantry supply and the comments like "needs green veggie" or "needs starch." As I go through the produce section, I'll add to my cart the fresh, seasonal veggies I find at the lowest prices, so I'm not trying to serve $5 a pound asparagus out of season just because the menu says so! If I have a coupon for rice or pasta, I'll use it for the "needs starch" item. Or if there is a special on some yummy freshly-baked bread, I'll pick that up and its companion menu item goes first that week! Before we head to the checkout, I look over the kids' carts. Did they pick up the appropriately-sized item? Did they try to sneak a gigantic Snickers bar in with the collard greens? Hmmmm? Back at home, I choose tomorrow's meals when I'm fixing tonight's dinner. Do we need eggs boiled? Meat out of the freezer and into the fridge? The dry ingredients stirred together for tomorrow morning's muffins? Easy to do while I'm in the kitchen anyway. I also keep an eye on the fresh foods. Here in the south food spoils very quickly, so salads and fresh veggies will be served soon after the shopping trip, while frozen veggies can wait till later in the week. After a meal, I'll do a little follow-through. Would that casserole taste better with corn than peas? Should we try mozzarella on the burgers next time? Is that meal something we no longer like and should be removed, or really, really liked and need to have more often? These comments are noted on the posted menu page on the fridge. Next week when I print out the menus, I'll add those notes to the spreadsheet. Sound difficult? Ask me again in July. For now, it seems to be working... |
Monday, March 13, 2006
Weekly Dust and Vacuum
Posted in Our Housekeeping Systems
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Each week we do a whole-house dusting and vacuuming on the same day. We do one "job" per week for a month-long rotation, and split up into four "teams." Due to physical limitations, Mom doesn't serve on team one or four. Team one: Most of the rooms are already picked up before we begin, but team one has the very important job of making sure there are no paperclips, toothpicks or little pieces of paper to jam our machines and make the job a struggle. This team starts each room first. Team two: When team one clears a room, team two moves in. Using a static duster for regular items and feather duster for delicate items, team two goes around the room like the hands of a clock, dusting from top to bottom, noon to midnight. Team three: As team two dusts their way to the next room, team three brings the big vacuum cleaner and does the floor, working from the area farthest from the door back toward the doorway, then it's on to the next room. Team four: Ah, the detailers. Using a handheld vacuum with an angled attachment, a brush attachment, or other attachment that fits this week's focus, this team does the fine detail that leaves the room really CLEAN. Focus areas: Week one of the month: HIGH. Tops of bookshelves, refrigerators, doorways, dressers, tables, TVs, cobwebs in the corner, etc. are the focus area this week. Week two: LOW. Baseboards, under beds and tables, legs of chairs, etc. get a good going over this week. Week three: BIG. This is the BIG job. The moving of the books, the dusting under the knicknacks, the delicate vacuuming of oil paintings, like spring-cleaning in miniature. Week four: LITTLE. We did such a great job last week that this week we just do a quick once-over. We rotate the teams so everyone gets a chance to experience the different jobs. We all have our favorites: Rose likes the little vacuum because it's her size, John likes the BIG, strong, manly vacuum, Kate likes to dust, and nobody likes to pick up; but we all share the work and it gets done quickly! |
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Daily Bathroom Cleaning
Posted in Our Housekeeping Systems
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We have three bathtubs, three toilets, five bathroom sinks and a stall shower. After many years of scrubbing each one every week, I've decided less is more! By using only one shower, one tub, one toilet (barring emergencies, of course) and one sink, I have found we have less cleaning to do. Here's approximately how it works: In the morning when I wake up, I get into the master bathroom first. I do a quick dusting with a static duster and a quick sweep of the corners before any steam gets into the room to cement dust and hair to surfaces. I brush my teeth and hair and Dearest Beloved takes the first shower. When he is done, he rinses the walls and shower door with water (we keep a quart-sized plastic cup in the shower.) After he's done blow drying and brushing and all, he uses a cleaning wipe on the counter and around the sink. He has wiped up the sink since he started trimming his beard, but if I keep wipes handy, he'll do the whole counter! What a guy! John gets in the shower next. Just before he gets in, he uses a disinfecting wipe to wipe down the toilet top to bottom and the floor around the toilet. Then same shower, same rinse down with water afterward. Blair has the room now and takes the longest - no surprise. She also does a quick rinse of the stall walls with water. By the time she's done her hair and makeup the hot water is replenished and ready for me. But before she leaves, she wipes the mirror with a window wipe. Time for my shower. Before I leave the stall, I rinse the walls down with water and take a squeegee to all the wet surfaces. After I'm all ready for the day, I tidy up the room, make sure all the handles sparkle and hit the doorknobs and light switches with a wipe. That bathroom is done and isn't used again until tomorrow morning. During the day we use the toilet in the hall bathroom. It's easy to dust, sweep and wipe up during the day because no steam accumulates. Over the course of the day I'll take 30 extra seconds during each pit stop to clean one thing - the mirror, the sink and counter, the toilet and around, a quick sweep, etc. Our young girls bathe after dinner in the downstairs tub. Rose goes first and climbs up on the counter to clean the mirror afterward. Christy has second bath and cleans the counter and sink when she's done. Finally, Kate gets in and wipes up the tub when she is done. Because I can't get up and down those stairs very often, Blair has been put in charge of making sure that bathroom is tidy before she goes to bed. So she will make sure there are no puddles lurking and give the toilet and surrounding floor a top to bottom wipe before bed. By bedtime, all three bathrooms are tidy and wiped down. The steam and dampness is confined to one chunk of day in each room, so the mold is controlled as much as possible. We still shake out and wash rugs, do a good sweep and mop and scrub all the showers and tubs once a week, but it's so much easier when the mess is knocked down daily. A couple practical notes: we use a non-soap soap. It's harder on the skin, but easier on the cleaning. You might know it by "detergent" soap or "Zest." Each child has a dorm bucket I got for a few dollars at a bed and bath store. It holds their own toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, makeup, hair brush and doodads. They bring it to the bathroom for their shower or bath, leave with it full and store it under the bathroom sink nearest their bedroom. About once a month I'll take them apart and put them in a disinfect cycle in the dishwasher. Yes, I know those wipes are expensive, and yes, I know I could make them myself. But, if I have them they will get used. If I don't have them the wiping doesn't get done, the work takes longer during the weekly chore and we have to be alert for drop in visitors!! It's a trade-off and one I will gladly make to have clean bathrooms. |
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
How we do what we do
Posted in Our Housekeeping Systems
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I'm adding a new category for my blog today. I'll be writing down how we do our chores - daily, weekly, monthly and occasionally. I'm not convinced at all that this is the "right" way, even for us, but hopefully by looking at it objectively I'll see weak points for improvement. |