Simple Foster Family Meal Planning
In order to be effective as a foster parent, essential routines for the foster family. like meal planning, must be established. Logistics of fostering are very important. If you are brand new to fostering or haven’t even begun yet, check this post out first: https://impressingminds.com/how-can-i-foster-a-child/
What routines are essential to be efficient? With the added pressures of visits, doctor appointments, therapy and school meetings, the proper management of the home are essential.
What routines could you employ that would create systems in your life to alleviate thinking about so many things on a daily basis?
My favorite essential routine for the foster family is...
Meal Planning
The first essential routine is meal planning. With a simple meal planner in place and a plan, you can create a well-formulated system of putting nutritious, or semi-nutritious, food on the table each evening at a predictable time. A meal planner can be found online or you can create on from Word or Excel.
Nightly Themes for Foster Family Meal Planning
Think of themes for each day, like Taco Tuesday or Crockpot Mondays. Each Sunday evening, you’d fill the crockpot with the ingredients while you plan the rest of the week.
At this point, you basically have Monday and Tuesday planned. Tuesdays do not have to be Tacos, but a Mexican theme. Purchase items at the grocery store specific for Tuesdays. Think frozen burritos, frozen taquitos, nachos and the fixings, Mexican rice, and beans from your favorite brand.
Crockpot Monday and Taco Tuesday
Mondays will be your crockpot day so you can get the ingredients in on Sunday evenings. Crockpots can hold anything. Look for four to five recipes that you think your family will love and rotate these meals through your plan.
My family enjoys ham and beans; we put a ham in the crockpot and add pinto beans. Cover the beans and ham with water. It is delicious the next evening. Another idea is to put steaks in the bottom, add your vegetables on top, Italian dressing and it will be ready and delicious.
For Wednesdays, utilize leftover days from Sunday-Tuesday. Add hot ham and cheese sandwiches if there are not enough leftovers to go around. I like to buy ready-to-eat rolls, cut them in half while still together. I add any lunchmeat, peppers, cheese, etc. Then cook them in the oven for 15 minutes at 300 degrees.
Spaghetti Sundays
Try Spaghetti Sundays where you buy hamburgers, plus sauces and noodles of various types. One week you have spaghetti, the next week lasagna. Make two of these and put one in the freezer. The next Sunday, have rigatoni noodles and alfredo sauce.
Keep going until you have the themes all down for each day. We utilize a pizza Friday so I have one less day to cook. If you want some printable templates, check this lady's post for multiple, https://tipjunkie.com/meal-planner/
Meal planning is an essential routine for the foster family. This is one of several routines you need to become super-efficient in your fostering journey. Stay tuned for posts on other essential routines.
Do you have a favorite recipe or a theme? Let the readers know in the comments.