With this crazy elimination diet, it feels like my whole day now revolves around finding or making food that I can actually eat! I am always hungry and I wish I could just stuff my face with any old favorite snack (like cookies. Mmm! One day, cookies. One day, I will return to you.) Basically, if I don't cook...I don't eat. Processed and packaged foods usually have one of the 6 forbidden foods that I have to stay away from for the sake of the baby boy's tummy.
I've found that an actual meal plan is essential to avoid the stressful 5:00 "What's For Dinner?" scramble. This planning concept still feels really foreign to me (since I used to just fly by the seat of my pants) and I'm trying to improve on this skill since I know it makes life so much easier!
My normal process goes as follows:
1 - Realize that I've used up most of our groceries and don't have any ideas for dinner that night. Lots of staring into the fridge and pantry in confusion.
2 - Take 2 days to write a comprehensive list of essential items while family scrounges hungrily at meal times. Write corresponding dinner ideas on the back of the shopping list.
3 - Finally get to the store and feel extreme relief at having a week of meals planned out.
4 - Forget what I'm supposed to be making for dinner, and frantically search for that shopping list with the dinner ideas.
5 - Family eventually gets fed. Miracle!
5 - Family eventually gets fed. Miracle!
I think I'll try using a page protector and hang this up in the kitchen. That way I can use a dry erase marker to adjust as needed...because let's be honest, sometimes plans change.
How do you control the dinner chaos?
