Can you believe that it is Time for Janet Barclay’s Blog Carnival already…I feel like I lost a whole month? The topic is quite timely this month with music festival, dance recitals and the winding down of activities I feel busier than ever. The topic is “Organizing Tips For Busy Moms” and I feel like one busy mom right now.
Here is my personal favorite for keeping this BUSY mom sane and on top of an important task….Meal Planning
From corporate boardrooms to casual gatherings the Meal Plan is always a hot topic. A casual mention of a weekly meal routine and I have everyone’s attention. The kitchen really is the heart of the home and when this room rocks it sets the stage for success for the whole day.
You will find success in the kitchen with a few very easy meal planning techniques that work well for our family and can work in yours too. 
Meal planning for the busy family needs to meet these minimum standards…
- To save valuable time you need quick dinner ideas.
- To save money and add convenience to you need to have easy dinner ideas.
- To provide energy and vitality you need to have healthy dinner ideas.
Organizing is all about planning.
Here are 3 steps to ensure meal planning success.
- Family Meeting Time-Get the family together and ask what each person’s favorite weekly meal choices would be. Make sure the choices meet the meal planning standards! Create a master list of all the choices for breakfast, lunches, dinner and even snacks…this is also helpful for those school lunches. This list can be added to as new meal items are tried, tested and given a thumbs up.
- Master Meal List- With the list of possible menu items in hand it is time to pull the weekly meal menu together. This can be as simple as a calendar with the healthy, quick easy meal items written in the spaces or you can go virtual with a handy meal planning tool like the one mentioned in this blog post. Post the menu in a spot where everyone can see it and you may be surprised when you head to the kitchen one morning to find that someone has already started the meal…really…kids and significant others do want to participate…let go…you can do it!
- Grocery Shopping- With a week of meal ideas in hand it is now time to grab the weekly flyers and map out the plan of attack. By paying attention to weekly specials and deals you can stretch your grocery dollars…keeping money in your pocket.
Organizing Today in the Kitchen can save Time, Money and add Convenience to your life.
Have fun…test new recipes…let the kids get involved…make meals a family event.
Here is a video I did years ago…please disregard my suggestion of adding Hot dogs to the meal planning…unless they are vegan….oh what I have learned 
We've been making weekly meal plans before we shop for as long as I can remember! Sometimes it's a challenge to come up with new ideas, but we do tend to repeat meals on a weekly basis (as I'm sure most people do) so it's not that hard, and it sure saves time and stress throughout the week, because once the decision's been made, we don't have to think about it anymore.
When things get stressful here I always go back to my meal planning…good healthy food and a bit of control always do the trick.
I am a busy working mom that loves being organized. Every Sunday for quite a while now, I have a cook day. I make meal items for the week to come. For example last Sunday I made tuscan chicken with penne pasta, porkchops with cream of mushroom soup. The main part of suppers were cooked and I only had to steam veggies or make rice when I got home…my cook days help keep us on track….my little sanity saver.