TCO Menu Planning Checklists!
NEW FREE CHECKLISTS FOR MEAL PLANNING! 
We have said it in the Meal Planning Podcast and we’ll say it again.. One of the best ways to eliminate the “What’s for Dinner?” stress during the 4 o’clock hour is to plan! It takes a little time at the beginning, but once it’s done, it saves you time, stress, and money!
That’s right, even money! If you plan your meals, you will only buy what you need to make the meal… No more food going to waste in the refrigerator!
TCO is very excited to bring you Three New Forms you can get for Free from our Resources page!
Master List of Meals – What I love most about this checklist, is it does the thinking for you! You add your favorite family main dishes, side dishes, fruits & vegetables, and desserts. When you start to plan for your week, you can reference back to this sheet and decide what to make. It listed in a way where you can mix and match. It’s a great reminder without having to think about what your family likes.
Weekly Menu Planner- This is the checklist that will be hanging on our bulletin board every week! It will have what we are having for dinner for each day with what sides, etc. Remember when planning your menu to take into account your schedule. Who has practice or meetings and when? How much time do you have to cook that day etc….
Grocery Checklist- This will also be a staple in the house! The grocery list! When you find you are out of something, quickly grab your sheet and write it down in the category it belongs! Make sure to not leave any ingredients out from the menu’s you just planned!
These are all great forms and can be used together as a package or used separately! Print off several Weekly Menu Planners at one time, and you can plan for more than just one week at a time, or maybe you prefer to go week by week… Just having a plan in writing will eliminate the stress and time you may be wasting!
We always want feedback.. tell us if you love the forms or let us know if they need improvement! We want to know!
To print out these forms and others like our Daily Checklist or Vacation Checklist, please visit the Resource Page on the Website.
Happy Organizing!
Packing School Lunches!
Organized.com Lunch Box!
To continue the theme of Meal Planning from our podcast on Monday, I wanted to share with you some tips and ideas in preparing and planning school lunches. I have come across some great products and websites I wanted to share!
Goodbyn.com
Tip#1 – Have a bin ready to go for all your lunch ingredients! I have one bin that includes; bread, peanut butter, and snacks just designated for the school lunch. This bin is so handy, instead of grabbing all the ingredients and wasting time, you just have to grab the bin with everything in it, make the lunch and place back into the pantry until next time!
Tip#2 - Go green with your lunch box! There are wonderful products out there to use in the lunch box, get rid of the plastic sandwich bags and go green… Have a few containers on hand, so you are not having to do the dishes everyday. Pete Wright from Taking Control, The Home Organizing Podcast highly suggests Goodbyn.com. This product looks great! Instead of having a lot of different pieces, you have one box, one lid! Check it out!
Tip#3 - Have a drop off for the lunch box! Just like the backpack, make sure your kids know where to drop off the lunch box! It saves time in the morning looking for it and then finding old food! Yuck! It’s happened to us and it’s not fun! Make sure they drop off the box after school, so you have plenty of time to clean it and get it ready for the next morning!
Tip#4 - Explore different recipes and get out of the rut of PB & J! I have found some great websites with different recipe ideas and tips for healthy lunches. It breaks the monotony of the same old, same old stuff! Here are my favorites!
If you have any additional tips that makes your life easier, please share! The more the better!
Happy Organizing!
Ep 18: Meal Planning Success
Is meal planning a source of stress in your family? Do you have trouble coming up with new and clever ideas for great meals that are popular all around your table? This week on the show, Nikki Kinzer and Pete Wright share valuable meal planning tips and give you the system you’ll need to make mealtime fun at home!
End of Summer To Do’s!
"Charlie" - The Newest Addition to our Family!
What’s on your list of to do’s before summer ends?
I have a few projects around the house that need to get finished. The school supplies have been bought and as I mentioned in my last post, I am waiting to buy any new school clothes. Overall, I feel pretty organized for the upcoming year. I have systems in place to help with the incoming overflow of school papers and artwork! We will have our family meeting soon to explain the upcoming schedule changes, chores and responsibilities. The calendar and bulletin board are ready to be filled!
The most important item on my “To Do List”….. is to just enjoy these last couple of weeks of summer and live in the present!
I want to appreciate each day I have with my children. I know it’s easy to get wrapped up in the freedom we get when our kids are in school.. I get that… There are definitely pros on the kiddo’s going back to school!
But I must admit my heart is a little heavy!
My children are now reaching an age where their independence is getting stronger and I know as each summer passes, playing with mom and dad is not going to be their top priority! Time goes by so fast, and I just want to sit back and enjoy these last few moments we have this summer!
My to do is list for the rest of the summer is to hear my kids giggle, take a few trips to the park, get ice cream on spur of the moment, maybe have a few more camp out’s in the backyard and teaching them about our new puppy… Yes, we got a new puppy this summer! Charlie! And he has been a great addition and certainly has made this summer one not to forget!
In a couple of weeks, our lives will change and we will begin in a new chapter. I will have a second grader and a pre-k student in the house, both will be involved in sports and other activities, and these moments of just playing in the backyard will quickly be filled with game schedules and recitals.
Which are all great things too…
But for now, I am going to enjoy where we are right now, right at this moment!
Closet Organizing for Your Kids!
Here we are just a couple of weeks away from the kids going back to school! I went to the mall last Saturday and saw several kids with their parents shopping for school clothes. This brought back a lot of memories of when I was kid! This is a big deal! I remember how exciting it was to pick out what to wear on the first day!
I never did understand why my mother would only buy a few items prior to school starting, then we would get the rest as we needed it. She would say it would give me a chance to see what I really wanted and needed! Now as I parent, I get it! It was really about saving money! Things go on sale as the season goes on and you will most likely always get better deals after school as started! So the tradition now has been passed on… I only buy what they really need right now, and then wait until the sales start coming!
On this weeks podcast, Organizing Closets!, we talked about several tips and ideas to get your closets organized! As with our own closets, the change of season is a great time to go through your children’s closet as well! It’s time to see what fits, what doesn’t, what can be handed down to a sibling or taken to a charity. It’s also time to take inventory on your winter gear, like coats, mittens, gloves, hats, etc. Don’t forget the shoes! Our children grow fast and so do their feet!
**Remember to have a landing spot for all of the outerwear, I have found a hanging sweater organizer works great for hallway closets. Each person as their own cubby for the gloves, hats, etc.
** During the Closet Podcast, we talked about Huggable Hangers! They have these for kids too… You can get them at a variety of different stores. Heres a few links to check out: Target, The Container Store, HSN.
Last summer I wrote a blog post about how to organize your children’s closet. Click here, to read the entire post. It gives great ideas on product and how to most efficiently use your space!
Enjoy these last days of summer! They go by fast!
Happy Organizing!
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