Fall Meals

A while back I learned the magic of having a meal bank, a list of meals our family eats regularly that I can easily refer to when meal planning.

I recently switched out my summer list for fall and winter foods, whoo hoo! Though it's still summer temperatures where we live, it is time to change up the menu and embrace soups, glorious soups.

The beauty of fall and winter food is that much of it freezes well and is even better the 2nd or 3rd time around.

Today, I'm sharing my fall meals. I will link to some of the recipes, but honestly I am not a strict follower of recipes. I'm always substituting up and improvising. If I left a link off a recipe, it's because I can't find one close enough to the one I use. I will do my best to do separate posts on those meals....especially this slow cooker chicken curry pictured below.

Fall Meals

taco soup
turkey chili with black beans
super food soup
chicken and quinoa soup
lentil soup
vegetable soup
chicken tortilla soup

red beans and rice
chicken pie
hot ham and cheese sandwiches
sloppy joes
hamburgers/ turkey burgers
greens, black eyed peas, corn bread
sheet pan chicken

roasted sausage and veggies
tacos
enchilada casserole
slow cooker chicken curry
spaghetti
fish and roasted vegetables
homemade pizza

We don't strictly eat from this list. I do a lot of roasted vegetables and salads as sides. I use up leftovers and make random soups. Also, I use a lot of ground turkey instead of ground beef. This list is here for reference when times are tough and I'm stuck.

What are you favorite fall meals?

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P.S. Using Walmart's online grocery pick up is keeping me sane!

Theme Days + Weekly Routine

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A couple months back I was listening to an episode of one of my favorite podcasts. The host, Meg, mentioned that her themed days of the week were really helping her win at this thing we call life. Minute 34:24 if you want to go listen - it's a great conversation. It all started when she made Saturday "prep for rest" day. This set up Sunday to be truly restful. But it took planning and intentionally, really pushing herself on Saturday to get her errands, housework, etc done. She went on to explain the other days...

Monday: weekend recovery, grocery pick up
Tuesday: tackle to-do's
Wednesday: whatever day
Thursday: pray and prep (standing appointment to go to a prayer chapel, prep for podcast)
Friday: work hard/ play hard
Saturday: prep for rest
Sunday: rest

This themed days of the week idea clicked for me. Many things I do naturally fall on certain days. But I experimented and took it a step further, giving each day of the week a theme to guide the day's  activities. And y'all! My weekly routine is my life. I feel as close to caught up as I have ever been as an adult.

It goes like this.

Meal plan Monday: Monday afternoon I make a meal plan and order my groceries (to be picked up Tuesday morning). It is a standing appointment.

To do Tuesday: Tuesday is a day for "to-do's." I clean out my e-mail. I make any needed appointments. I handle bill paying or insurance or budgeting tasks. I think about holidays, birthdays, and gifts. I handle any school or church business. To-do Tuesday!

Catch-All Wednesday: Whatever I didn't get to on Tuesday, falls to Wednesday. Wednesday is a day to catch up on anything that needs catching up on...cooking, cleaning, or administrative type stuff.

Busy Thursday: Thursdays are our busiest day. Busy Thursday means I usually start the day off with a slow cooker meal in the morning and I have low or no expectations for being productive on Thursday...besides getting us where we need to go.

Play Friday: Fridays are for fun. For me this usually means loosening up the screen time rules for my kids and giving myself a little quiet while I read a book. It's crazy, I know.

Prep for Rest Saturday: I adopted from this from Meg. Saturday I try to tie up any loose ends especially surrounding laundry or school related things like making sure I have enough food for lunches, signing Friday folders, and making sure all the school uniforms are clean.

Sunday: REST

This has truly been revolutionary for my stress levels of how (and when?) do I get it all done?!

Two last things -

1. If you do anything, make a standard meal plan and grocery day. It will change your life! Guard that time vigorously and you will be amazed at how much brain space you will get back and how much money you save.

2. Lean in to your natural rhythms. When I made this routine, I basically gave a little more definition to what was naturally already happening. What changed was it gave me permission to really focus on what the theme was for that day and ignore the nagging sense that maybe I should be doing something else.

So how about it?
Do you have a weekly routine?
Do you have theme days?

Tiny Goals

After each baby, the little disciplines that are vital to my well being do not naturally make their way back in my life.

Bible reading, exercise, organization, healthy meals, etc fall to the wayside in those early weeks. And I have to fight to get these things back.

There is always something (or more often) someone right in front of me who needs me to do something! I have to start running the ship again so it does not run me.

So...I'm starting very small (tiny) this week with three things that I hope will restore my humanity again.

1. Read Bible 10 minutes/day.

In the living water sense, not the check list sense. A friend (hi Emily!) posted a picture of her daughter sitting outside with a little Bible, and in the caption she says, "Sometimes in the mornings, I ask AS to please leave me alone for 10 minutes so I can read my Bible. I found her outside a little while ago, and she politely asked me to go back inside for ten minutes while I wead my Bible, pwease."

This struck me. What an example! I can totally do 10 minutes even if it requires me asking my kids to leave me alone.

2. Walk 3 times a week.

I bought this awesome double stroller and I love it. 

3. Meal plan/grocery shop once a month.

Every time I get a little free time I find myself needing to go to the store...again. So I'm hoping that a major plan and grocery haul will decrease the number of times I have to go to the store. Sure I will have to run in for milk and bananas once a week. But, something's got to give. It's worth the experiment.

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Honestly, I want to be more ambitious than these tiny goals. But my wiser self is standing shaking my other self saying "You have four kids, just do the best you can." 

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picture from when she was 3 weeks old