Horray for "PLANNED LEFTOVERS"

Lunch Is SERVED!

As you may have noticed I have added a "Planned Leftovers Section" to the recipes.  I wanted to take a moment to explain why I now LOVE this concept!  It wasn't until just recently that I have put this concept into practice and I can't believe how much time it frees up!  It is simple really, but it does require organised planning.  So I thought I would share with you how I make it work for me.

1. Grab the flyer's ( I am a huge flyer shopper, with 4 boys in my house I can't afford not too!) - chicken breast is on sale this week (SCORE!), start to plan the meals.
2. Tuesday dinner is Roasted chicken breast with Rosemary garlic sweet potatoes, and a side salad.  So Tuesday night I will cook an extra 2 breast and make an extra large salad.
3. Wednesday Lunch is planned as a Chicken salad (my favorite lunch) or chicken and salad wrap.
4. To make this even more efficient as I am cleaning up dinner I chop the chicken, put it in the ziploc bags, put the extra salad in a lunch container (or make the wraps and put them in the tubs), put some salad dressing in a little container, assemble everything into the big salad container (or else my husband will forget something and complain that his salad was dry, lol!) and voila! LUNCH IS SERVED!!  I even make my lunches and snack the night before, just because I am at home doesn`t mean I can`t be prepared!

I still struggle with a way to make this work for the kids though.  The only meal I have been able figure out is Monday Mac`s.  Every Monday at daycare we have a mac dish for lunch ( I usually make 4 large pans once a month and freeze them so I have 4 weeks at once).  Dinner that night before Karate is the same Mac`s.  If there are any leftovers after that, I will add some extra frozen broccoli, and make it the side dish for Tuesday`s chicken for them, and forget about spending time chopping the sweet potatoes.

I am so glad that I embraced this concept.  It may mean extra time planning meals, making grocery lists, and double checking flyers during Thurday`s nap time, but I cannot even begin to count the hours I have saved being in the kitchen.  Plus as a bonus it keeps me right on track with my menu!

Enjoy your day!  I hope to hear some feedback on this idea, and if anyone else uses it.