Day 14: Being Flexible with Your Menu Planning

I am not the sort of person who likes to plan everything in my life out in extreme detail. I know moms who plan the day down to 15 minute increments. I have tried but it really doesn’t work for us, mostly because it doesn’t work well with my husband’s ever-changing job schedule and our family’s basic personality.

I don’t like having my plans messed with. I’ve had to learn to chill out in that area.

Twenty years of marriage and eighteen of motherhood have been used of God to teach me some flexibility. . I’m still learning.

When it comes to menu planning, especially long-term menu planning (as I’ll post about tomorrow), we need to be reasonably flexible. One of the reasons why my menu plan has velcro on it, and can be moved around easily is for that flexibility.

This week, I had scheduled Spaghetti and Garlic Bread for Tuesday, but a friend of mine had emergency surgery. Our church is bringing her meals. Spaghetti is not something you eat right after gall bladder surgery (I know; I had it last year at this time), so I traded places between the Spaghetti tomorrow and Chicken and Dumplings on Friday (since that is, in my opinion, the ultimate comfort food).

Some days you may not feel like eating what is on the menu. This usually happens around here in the summer. If it’s 90 degrees outside (and inside too — we don’t have air conditioning), then we usually opt for salad, salad, and more salad….and maybe sandwiches.

When you plan out your menu, if today’s scheduled meal doesn’t work well for you, you’re allowed to switch it up with something else on the menu that does work for today.

The point of a menu plan is not to allow it to be your master, but rather your servant — something that helps you, without enslaving you.

Happy cooking,