Having a Weekly Menu Planned Can Help Busy Working Moms

Posted March 02, 2009 by Cheri Alguire

I don’t know about you, but after a crazy day of working in my business, there is one question that used to send me into overload. “Mom, what’s for dinner?”

By the time I was asked that question, my brain was usually fried from a day of work and after having to make decisions all day, this was one decision I was not prepared to make.

The sad truth about not having thought through that question much earlier in my day meant that I ended up piling the family into the car and hitting fast food. This is not how I like to take care of my family’s food needs. Not only is it not the healthiest choice, but it can really wreak havoc on the budget if it happens too often.

I have found a little planning goes along way. I created this Busy Mom’s Menu Guide
form that I fill out on Sunday for the entire week. I look at the family schedule and make sure I am not planning meals that have extensive prep on days I am not going to be home until late or huge meals that require a lot of clean up on nights the kids have activities I have to take them immediately after dinner.

This menu also helps me figure out if I am missing any ingredients for a meal and creates a shopping list for me if I need to pick up certain things for a specific meal later in the week.

The prep column helps keep me organized with what I may need to pull out of the freezer or put in the slow cooker before I get started with my busy day.

I have found that taking 15 minutes on Sunday evenings to plan my menus for the week and posting this form on the refrigerator has helped get rid of a lot of stress at dinner time and allowed me to make the healthy meals for my family that I want to make.

I have included a copy of my Busy Mom’s Menu Guide for you to print off and use. If you can’t access it in this format you are using, go to http://www.coachcheri.com/pages/contact-us.htm and request it and I will email a copy to you.

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Coach Cheri Alguire has partnered with hundreds of busy moms (and dads!) who are Small Business Owners or Real Estate Professionals. Check out her Real Estate Moms Blog at http://www.RealEs tateMoms.com or find out more about Cheri at http://www.CheriAlguire.com