Look at the Calendar!

Look at the calendar!

In the last post, I said "you never know what you are going to get." That's not actually true. At my house, you always know exactly what you are going to get. 

True confession time: On the door into Ty's office, there is a beautiful 31 organizer (if you need a 31 organizer or any other 31 products, let me know. I will hook you up with my friend Kathryn.). In that organizer, there are two calendars. One is filled in with soccer games, field trips, project due dates, meetings, BUNCO, vacations, etc. Everybody has a calendar like that. 

But there is also a calendar of the current month filled in in pencil with every single dinner and side dish that we will have on every night for the entire month. 

No, really, there is. 

 If you call me, I could tell you what we are having for dinner any night of the month. 

Now true, it is written in pencil. Sometimes it has to change. Sometimes you end up eating at a friend's house or going out to eat. But then that's night's meal can be erased and moved to another spot on the calendar. Seems a little, I don't know, OCD, maybe. 

And maybe it is. 

But it works for us. 

Meal Calendar Benefits

1. When you know you have soccer practice at 6 and you don't get home til 5, you can choose a crock pot meal for that day. That way when you walk in the house, dinner is done. Feed them. Shin guard them. Walk out the door. Plus its still warm in the crock pot 30 minutes later when your husband gets home. 

2. Planning side dishes ahead of time keeps you from the dreaded "can of green beans, can of corn" because that's all that you have in the house because you did not plan ahead. Instead, when the calendar says "Chicken stirfry", it also says "fried rice" (and yes the rice was cooked ahead of time and its in the freezer) and it says "egg rolls" (and yes they are homemade and are in the freezer). 

3. With all the side dishes planned, you can minimize those last minute "oh no, I don't have trips to Walmart." It really is those trips that eat away at your family budget.

4. If on the calendar it says you are having BBQ Pork Sliders on the 24th of the month and your husband chooses to go to Full Moon BBQ that day for lunch, you can still serve BBQ Pork Sliders for dinner without guilt because its been written up there for 23 DAYS!! Its not like he did not know what was for dinner.  He just gets to eat BBQ 2 times that day. Look at the calendar!

Now the following recipe is not a freezer meal, but its just so stinking cool that I have to tell you about it.

Caramel Pie

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

2 graham cracker pie crusts

Cool Whip or Whipped cream

1. Place cans in crock pot and cover with water. Cook on low for 8 hours. (I know that everyone always boils for three hours and you have to watch it and keep adding water, but this way it manages itself. That is just so stinking cool.).

2. Take out of crock pot and let cool.

3. Open and pour in pie crust. Chill. Cover with whipped cream. 

Yummo! 

And I know you are asking, why make two?

More on that another day!