So, I’m sitting here on this rainy Monday night; the baby has been asleep upstairs for a while now and the older kids are sitting in their rooms reading. I always feel super grateful for being home on nights like this. Just when you can get everyone snuggled in pjs, light a candle and settle in for the night.
I was super proud since I was able to prep the dinner I planned before picking the kids up from school. I had the table set and ready to go with my little springtime tree in the middle of the table lit up. And as I went to walk out the door for the rest of the afternoon, the diaper bag over one arm and holding my 15 month old in the other, I felt very comforted by the scene I had created.
Now, this is not to make it feel like I have a beautifully set table every night, because I definitely don’t. I feel for the most part, I am throwing bowls with pasta in front of my kids while trying to get the rest of the dinner out. Then what happens? I am back at the kitchen sink with a mountain of dishes again, as my kids move on to something else.
But today reminded me why I want to be more intentional about meal scheduling. And a few things I noticed by having the meal ready to go:
- There was no arguing – I think I can sympathize with any mom who just is there trying her hardest to get dinner on the table and then she hears ‘I don’t feel like that tonight’.
- There was no time for snacks – Those multiple trips to the snack closet which then result’s in ‘I’m not hungry anymore’.
- We were able to sit down together – Family meals are really important to me and I just felt like I was doing them wrong because I was always missing the sitting-down-to-dinner part by always getting everything ready last minute.
As we get to tonight’s dinner, if you are following along, this post shows this weeks meal scheule and links to any recipes: Plant-Based Meal Planning for Spring: A Week’s Guide.
I made Lentil Taquitos were from High Carb Hannah, the inside filling was really tasty, but I do think I maybe should have made a sauce to go on top of them. https://highcarbhannah.co/recipes/lentil-taquitos/ And the Spanish Rice was a take on my aunt’s recipe that I modified a little.
Hope you all had a great start to the week 🙂
Talk soon,
Kerri
