weekend work: make-ahead menu + the pantry plan

Oh lawdy bee, I need Nate to come home STAT. I’ve been holding up my end of the bargain for so long (must be all that tiger blood), and I am nearing the end of my proverbial rope. I have such sweet friends though, y’all. They seem to understand how hard it is to single-parent two kids for two months even better than I do–and yet–they don’t give me the pity eyes. You know the look moms give, with the chinless, puckered mouth thing. Dislike! I have gotten this look a ton in the past month. My two Beantown besties do not do this, which is why we can be friends.

I didn’t realize until Nate was gone how much better life is with a partner. I think I actually have a better memory with him at my side than I do on my own. There’s probably a study somewhere that backs this theory up. I don’t think it’s just because I can turn to him and say “You remember that place by the thing where we went that time?” and he knows what I’m talking about, although that’s part of it. It’s more like, I enjoy life better and thus commit the experiences to memory more when he’s with me. You know?

Did you read the guest post here last week on work flow and routines? Barb’s plan for the day seemed very sensible, and I’m looking forward to making changes in my own home rhythm. First change on the horizon: “husband takes care of the dinner clean up.” Mmmm, yes, I like the sound of that.

I find that the easiest way for me to stay on top of my “domestic engineering” chores is to do a little bit of work every day, including weekends. I save the work I like best for weekends because it feels least like work. So, no Saturday floor mopping and Sunday toilet scrubbing but rather Saturday meal planning and Sunday pantry preparing. I was inspired by Cheeky Bums Blog to share my menu and pantry-stocking plan with you today. I hope you’ll be inspired to make some meals and pantry items from scratch!

My weekly staples are:

Breakfast

• Granola (scan through post to find recipe…this was early in my recipe-posting career)
• Yogurt
• Breakfast Cookies
• Breakfast Burritos

Lunch

• Avocado Nutella
• Bread
• Crackers (I use my own recipe, similar to this one; I’ll post mine soon)
• Popcorn (without the butter if I’m storing it)
• Boiled eggs
• Tabbouleh

Dinner

• Meatballs
• Lentils or Dhal
• Rolls

p.s. Statue pic is from Sweden, circa 2006 trip

Editor’s note: This post is part of Works for Me Wednesday, Real Food Wednesday, Simple Lives Thursday, Your Green Resource, Fight Back Friday, and Sunday School