Weekly Menu
It has taken me a while to figure out how to plan meals for my family. Allergies and pickiness have converged to make meal planning a daunting task. There was a time when I was attempting to create a months worth of different menus. I wanted to have variety at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and for the snacks in between. I am sure that some day, I will have that many recipes under my belt, but until then I follow a schedule like the one in the table below.
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | |
| Breakfast | Sausage
Potatoes Apples |
Van’s Waffles
Blueberries |
Cereal
Strawberries |
Sausage
Potatoes Bananas |
Van’s Waffles
Grapes |
Cereal Oranges | Pancakes
Apples |
| Lunch |
Leftovers |
||||||
| Dinner | Brown Rice Pasta with Meat Sauce
Broccoli |
Mac&Chreese with Ground Turkey
Mixed Vegetables |
Tilapia
Rice&Orzo Carrots |
Pork Chops Sweet Potatoes
Salad |
Quinoa
Baked Chicken Broccoli |
Chili Fries | Teriyaki Chicken
Mixed Vegetables |
| Snack(s) | Cherrybrook Kitchen Cupcakes | Snap Pea Crisps Hummus | Dried Fruit Soy Milk | Freeze Dried Mangoes | Flatbread
Turkey |
Apples
Cheese or Crackers |
Graham Crackers
Bananas |
My meal planning ideas are really a synthesis of ideas I have gotten from reading tons of books and websites on the subject of healthy eating and meal planning. Breakfast and lunch are easy to prepare. I rotate pancakes, waffles, and potatoes for breakfast and add fruit and meat. The children eat leftovers from dinner for lunch. Dinner time is becoming easier as I find more and more options that work for the entire family.
How do you plan meals for your family? I learn something new every time I ask this question.
~S
OneUrbanMom
You: Where have you been?
Me: Mothering. Loving. Working. Laboring. Traveling. Living.
You: What brings you back?
Me: Mothering. Loving. Working. Laboring. Traveling. Living.
You: Huh?
Me: You’ll see.
~S
In Memorium
Marcus’ grandfather passed away three weeks ago today. The last time we visited him, I managed to capture a photo with all of the boys looking at the same time.
We’ll miss you great-grandpa.
~S
OLG2
We drove to Manhattan Beach to take pictures of OLG2 on Saturday. It was terribly hot where we live, but it was overcast, cold and dark at the beach. We didn’t get the photo we wanted, but I couldn’t leave without trying. Here’s the best shot from our short walk on the strand.
~S
Sunday Photo
I often find myself behind the camera instead of in front of it, so I’ve asked my sisters to try to snap a shot on Sundays when we’re all together. Here’s the first shot from our Sunday Shoot.
~S
This is What Peanut Allergies Look Like
OLG1 is allergic to peanuts. He is not only unable to ingest them, he can’t have contact with them. We recently removed him from a school that didn’t understand how serious the issue is for him. There are some simple things his school could have done that would have protected him. Honoring their no peanut policy would work. Washing tables with soap and water would work. Having a peanut free table would work. There are matters of cleanliness that also keep children with allergies safe: hand-washing, mouth-rinsing, and a no food sharing policy also help keep children safe. These practices can be life-saving for children with severe food allergies, but they are also good practices for all children. Cleanliness can keep children from spreading diseases, colds, viruses, ring-worm and the like. I know that there are parents who protest strict rules that help keep children with allergies safe and would rather children with allergies not attend school at all, but I think the policies parents of children with allergies support are reasonable and that it is unreasonable to deny children with allergies access to quality public education.
The picture below shows what an anaphylactic response to contact with peanuts looks like. I am grateful to God that OLG1 did not ingest peanuts that day, the same swelling in his mouth or throat could have been fatal. I hope that parents who think children with allergies should be excluded from school, can learn to develop compassion. Regardless of their ability to develop such compassion, it is the responsibility of public schools to provide a safe place for children with allergies.
~S
The Successful Urban Mom Survey
I am really interested in what other urban moms think about managing the craziness that is being an urban mom. In order to find out more about this and to be able share this information with others wondering the same thing I’ve created a survey that I hope you’ll take, if you’re an urban mom. It is 10 questions long and your responses can be as long or short as you choose them to be. If you think I should ask additional questions please don’t hesitate to write your questions in the comments for this post. Thank you in advance for taking my survey!
~S
