I was asked recently about menu plans and the benefit they provide for my family. Besides the obvious, knowing ahead of time what I am going to cook just seems to make my week go a little smoother, I have also found many other blessings and a much greater purpose for doing this.
Several years ago my husband and I decided to capitalize on this time we spend together at the table. We realized that gathering together for a meal was our opportunity to not only feed our children's physical body, but also one of the few times in the day that we could gather together as a family and talk about our spiritual bodies. We also realized that we are sitting next to or across from one another and it was our opportunity to teach them how to serve, show kindness and compassion towards one another. We can sense when someone has had a difficult day and needs encouragement from those who love them most.
My plans and preparations for our family meal time have taken on a high and holy purpose. We always try and celebrate one another! When someone has had a difficult day, this is the place where they can receive restoration. Several years back some of the networks ran a "family table" advertisement. Even the world recognizes the reality of how seldom families were gathering at the table. As I shared a few weeks ago, the plan serves me. We don't always eat together and life sometimes totally interrupts my well intended plans. But our goal is to come to the table as often as we can.
Here is what I have planned to serve my family this week:
Monday: Chicken in Alfredo sauce with penne pasta Salad and bread
Tuesday: Tacos with rice and beans
Wednesday: Stove top Pot Roast with vegetables and rice
Thursday: Chiken Tetrazzini Salad and rolls
Friday: Southwestern Chili and Corn Bread
Saturday: Chicken Quesadillas with leftover chili
For more great menus go to I'm an Organizing Junkie
15 comments:
Chicken Alfredo! yUMMY! Have a tasty week!!!
sounds like a yummy week!
i agree with the need for family table time. especially as my kids get older and our lives get more chaotic, it's important to have some time together! (unfortunately this week will be one with few nights together.)
Looks like a yummy week! We've always made meal time important in our home, too, and now that my dh is a pastor, we eat 3 meals a day together - it's great!
I loved this post!
Your menu sounds great! I hope you have a wonderful week.
I agree with you. I know my children love the time at the table and I do too. It is so much more than just food.
Have a great week!
blessings~
Annie
This was inspiring to me...I have not planned meals and I realize it causes stress to myself not knowing ahead of time what I'll end up fixing.
And I love that you use the time around the table as a way of ministering to your family.
Blessings!
Yum! I so agree with you Chris. And I find the older the kids get the more important this becomes as they have so many activities that can take up their time. We always have held meal time as family time and the kids have grown to just know that that is what we do. We rarely get them making plans over the supper hour unless it is one where there is team practice.
since i have been reading, we have tried to be more intentional at meal time, what a treasure it is in the chaos! thanks for sharing your heart on this!! have a great day, is your computer fixed???
You are SO WISE to be so intentional. We are down to 4 at the table now and only several nights a week. I so miss the days of all the kids around the table most nights. Life is TRULY a vapor and as soon as you blink, they will be grown. Savor the chaos!
And could you pass some Alfredo???
I posted, last week, about the importance of eating dinner, as a family, at the table. We hadn't been doing it for quite some time because I would be working. But I decided to stop scheduling myself during dinner time.
I love our time around the dinner table.
Did you know that it's Mother-In-Law Day?
I love this post, and how it capitalizes on the real meaning for planning our meals and preparing a special time in our day for gathering together as a family. My husband and I have *drastically* cut down on the number of evenings a week our family is "out," and even on those nights we usually try to eat together (either really early or somewhat later.) God has really blessed our efforts in this area, which shows me that it was important to Him, too. :)
Your menu for the week looks great, and your heart for your family is beautiful.
Hi!!!! Don't you think Home is more like "home" when you sit and eat as a family??? I do! great post.
I want to come to your table too! That's a great menu plan.
I completely agree with the family dinner. I'm pretty adamant about that here. While I know it's pretty easy right now with my children being smaller (oldest is 5), I know it's so important to share that time together.
I just need to implement the weekly meal planning and I think my life would be a lot easier.....especially around 4:00 when I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to cook.
You're absolutely right. There is much more than physical nourishment at the dinner table :)
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