I love a New Year as much as anyone. In fact, I think it’s one of my favorite times of year. I love the New Year because it’s filled with hope. It’s a blank slate of opportunity and possibility. It may take flipping the calendar to give you the confidence to try a new job or hobby. I feel the same about mornings. The night can erase the disappointment of yesterday. And the morning brings a chance of something better.
At the end of the year, my husband and I have a meeting to review the goals we had for the year. We discuss the successes, the failures and sometimes, just progress made. I have a reoccurring goal every year to be a better manager of our home. I am a firm believer in the motto, “there’s always room for improvement.” My desire is to be the best steward of the resources God has given to me to care for my family and others.
To be a good steward, I look to the old ways. In the old days, when women didn’t have an abundance of money, technology, or shopping options. Groceries couldn’t be ordered with the stroke of a keyboard and delivered to their doorstep. Women had to meal plan based on what they had available from their pantries, smokehouses, barns, coops which were stocked with living, preserved or in season food. And they didn’t require a special planner, binder system, or notebook to complete this. Their minds were filled with inventory because the women were submerged in their home life on a daily basis. They used what they had well.
For 2025, my desire is to change my mindset. To intentionally use home inventory first. I am meal planning with the purpose to use my home canned food items and freezer stock. I do require a dry erase board and a good recipe box for this task. I don’t like to cook every day. I choose to cook enough today to have leftovers tomorrow. This allows me to cook 3-4 times a week. And I like to take Saturdays off. We do dine out. The goal is to keep that to about once a week but some weeks it’s more as we are traveling or have events.
Below is a sample calendar of our meals:
Sunday 1.5 Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
Monday 1.6 Leftovers
Tuesday 1.7 Homemade Sourdough Pizza-Cheese and Pepperoni
https://www.farmhouseonboone.com/sourdough-pizza-dough/#wprm-recipe-container-38875
Wednesday 1.8 Leftovers
Thursday 1.9 Pork Nachos
Friday 1.10 Leftovers
Saturday 1.11 Leftovers from the week
Monday 1.13 Dine out
Tuesday 1.14 Homemade Sloppy Joes
https://www.sipandfeast.com/sloppy-joes/
Wednesday 1.15 Leftovers
Thursday 1.16 Leftovers
Friday 1.17 Dine out
Saturday 1.18 Dine out
I also like to bake items to eat for breakfast and for snacks. I made sweet potato bread from home canned potatoes and Sourdough Orange Sweet Rolls. Move over cinnamon rolls, there is a new sheriff in town. The orange flavor in those rolls were amazing!
The plan for next week includes recipes for Drip Beef Sandwiches and Italian Tortelinni Dinner. Additional items are Sausage Hash Casserole, Healthy Muffins, and Oatmeal Berry Bars.
Stay tuned for more meal plan ideas and recipes!
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