My name is Leticia. I'm a nurse, wife and mother. I live in a house with three VERY picky eaters (my daugher, Lila, aged 4; my husband, Andy; and myself). Our tastes overlap only a tiny bit (basically frozen pizza, chicken strips, and Kraft mac & cheese). As you can imagine, meal planning is a chore. I can often be found staring into my refrigerator/freezer/pantry thinking "what should I make tonight?" only to give up and say "whatever, I'm getting cheese fries" and going out.
Not only are we all picky eaters, we are also very busy. My husband works at an ethanol plant and has possibly the worst schedule ever devised: 12 hour swing shifts. That means he works 7am-7pm two days a week and every other weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) for two weeks. Then he works 7pm-7am for two weeks. I'm a registered nurse (RN) and work full-time day shifts (6:30-3), including the same weekend as my husband. I also get up at 4 every morning to feed the baby and try to get in some housework. My daughter is four and very active. She's a tornado--she leaves a disaster everywhere she goes. She starts school three days a week in the fall, along with one night of dance and two nights of gymnastics.
As you can probably see, this lifestyle makes it difficult for us to all sit down for a regular family dinner every night. Some weeks we eat at 5, some nights we wait and eat as a family at 7:30. And the last thing I want to do after running for 15 hours is plan a home-cooked meal. To remedy this situation, I have a plan: I will follow the Woman's Day "What's for Dinner?" calendar. They promise I will be able to "make a delicious, nutritious meal every night of the week." I'm not completely convinced--of the 31 meals scheduled in August, only seven sound appealing.
I have three goals I hope to complete by following this plan. First, to expand our taste buds and try new foods, resulting in a (hopefully) healthier and happier family. Second, eating out is an expensive way to live and hopefully by staying home and cooking we can save money (we need new windows and siding!). My third goal is to lose my extra "baby weight".
And so it begins...
Not only are we all picky eaters, we are also very busy. My husband works at an ethanol plant and has possibly the worst schedule ever devised: 12 hour swing shifts. That means he works 7am-7pm two days a week and every other weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) for two weeks. Then he works 7pm-7am for two weeks. I'm a registered nurse (RN) and work full-time day shifts (6:30-3), including the same weekend as my husband. I also get up at 4 every morning to feed the baby and try to get in some housework. My daughter is four and very active. She's a tornado--she leaves a disaster everywhere she goes. She starts school three days a week in the fall, along with one night of dance and two nights of gymnastics.
As you can probably see, this lifestyle makes it difficult for us to all sit down for a regular family dinner every night. Some weeks we eat at 5, some nights we wait and eat as a family at 7:30. And the last thing I want to do after running for 15 hours is plan a home-cooked meal. To remedy this situation, I have a plan: I will follow the Woman's Day "What's for Dinner?" calendar. They promise I will be able to "make a delicious, nutritious meal every night of the week." I'm not completely convinced--of the 31 meals scheduled in August, only seven sound appealing.
I have three goals I hope to complete by following this plan. First, to expand our taste buds and try new foods, resulting in a (hopefully) healthier and happier family. Second, eating out is an expensive way to live and hopefully by staying home and cooking we can save money (we need new windows and siding!). My third goal is to lose my extra "baby weight".
And so it begins...
