Busy-Mama Meal Plan Hacks

Do you ever feel overwhelmed and trapped by the responsibility to feed your family food they can all agree on? Do you struggle to keep the right ingredients on hand to pull together nutritious meals? Does all this stress keep you from preparing dinner at a regular time each day? If you have experienced any of these frustrations you’re not alone. 

Home is a safe place where our family members can gather after a long day of work and school to feel loved, validated and nourished. Food is at the heart of that feeling of comfort we all associate with being home. 

thenourishedchild.com argues 10 benefits of having family dinners together including the fact that research shows children who eat dinner with their families get better grades. It also states that children who eat dinner with parents can be more confident, learn better manners and can cultivate a positive relationship with food. Knowing the importance of creating a family culture of eating together, It’s no wonder that moms feel the weight of the importance of providing tasty nutritious meals for their families and to keep a regular meal time each day. 

As a young mother with 3 small children I dreaded meal times. As dinner drew nearer I felt a pit in my stomach growing as I raced my mind through all the possibilities of what I could make for dinner that day. Tacos could work but did I have the right ingredients? Tuna casserole is fast but my baby won’t eat it....and on and on.

One day while talking to a neighbor she mentioned that someone she knew had a theme for each day of the week for her dinners. This intrigued me so much that I decided I needed to try it. Any plan was better than no plan right? 

So I thought about meals that I like to make and I began to make my categories.

Monday- Pasta

Tuesday-Mexican

Wednesday- breakfast for dinner

Thursday-meat (in the winter this is soups or meat and potatoes and in the summer it’s something on the grill)

Friday- Pizza

Saturday-leftovers

Sunday- crockpot

These themes work great for me since we have several meals that fall into each category that we like. For your family the themes may look completely different. The point is to create your themes around meals you know you all enjoy. 

Once you’ve created your themes brainstorm meals that would fall under each theme that are winners for your family. Here is an example of what my Monday meal options are:

Pasta Options:

Spaghetti 

Tuna casserole 

Beef stroganoff 

Alfredo with chicken

If you can come up with at least 4 meals per category that your family likes then you will be able to come up with 1 month of meals without repeating a meal. In my family we don’t mind eating the same meal after a couple of weeks so I usually repeat the meals I know they enjoy and I don’t worry about making a perfectly unique meal for every day of the month

Here is what a monthly calendar would look like in our family.

Once you get into the rhythm of using your daily food themes shopping becomes so much more regimented. You’re not wandering around the store piling things into your cart without a purpose. I have a specific route that I take and I know where everything is on that route that I need for each theme. I often don’t even need to make a list because I just go through each day in my head and quickly grab the ingredients I don’t already have on hand. 

If you’re wanting to create a storage of food for an emergency or you just like the idea of going shopping less frequently then you can compile a list of all the ingredients you need for one month of meals each time you go shopping you can get all those items at once and then you’re only having to run to the store to grab milk and and maybe fresh fruits and veggies on the off weeks. 

Better yet you can buy all the non-perishable items on your shopping list for several months ensuring that you won’t need to worry about these items for many weeks. Our grocery store has times of the year when they offer case-lot sales. During these times. We like to take advantage of buying items our family loves in bulk so that we don’t have to worry about buying them each time we go shopping. 

Having a storage of food staples bring peace of mind during unpredictable times. It also saves money because we all know that when we are going to the store every few days we end up buying things we weren’t planning to buy and may not really need. 

How does this schedule work for picky eaters? We’ve all had kids that refuse to eat certain meals. If there are meals that multiple children don’t care for I try to stay away from those meals. But if there is a meal that everyone loves but that one child complains about you could try an idea I heard from a friend who has a meal planning day where all her kids get to decide what they’re going to eat on a given day of the week/month. Once each person has given you their choices explain to the family that they all got to have a say in what you’re having for dinner. There will be days when you may not love what is being served but remember, your day is coming up and then we will all eat what you chose. 

 I have a child with high-levels of anxiety. He likes to be able to know what’s going to happen next and doesn’t do well with surprises. The meal themes give him a feeling of security as he can know exactly what type of food he will be eating each day.

Sometimes I come across a new recipe that I just have to try. I like to remind my kids that they’ll not always live in a place that has predictable food options and learning to try new things is a good practice for being a successful grown up. When we find new recipes we all enjoy we add them to our menu. 

Start today by making your own themes. You don’t need to change the way you shop all at once if that feels overwhelming. You’ll find a system that works best with your family and your budget. Remember the heart of the home is the kitchen and the heart of the kitchen is the table. Happy meal planning!

2 secrets for rekindling love in your marriage at any stage!

Have you ever wanted a secret formula for rekindling love in your marriage?

Has your spouse or someone you know ever asked you what your perfect day would look like and you struggled to even know the answer the that question?

Are you surrounded by opportunities to help others so much that you forget about your own needs? 

skip to the end to read the secrets or read my journey of how I discovered them for myself!

A few years ago we decided to expand our family. It was exciting and also scary since we had planned to be done having kids quite a few years before that. After much pondering, prayer and consideration We decided to have one more baby. Then we discovered that the one baby we were planning for was actually a set of twins! Both twins were boys joining their 4 other brothers and 1 sister. In a last attempt to get a sister for our single daughter (now with 6 brothers!) we tried one more time and had another sweet son. So we went from a family of 7 to a family of 10 in a matter of months! This period was one of the sweetest of my life! 

   

I was giving everything I had for those 3 babies. Then I started to realize that days and days would go by without my getting dressed or even taking a brush to my hair. 

One day I asked my husband if there was anything I could do to make his life happier. His answer shocked me. He wanted me to love myself enough to invest some time into me. 

How could loving myself help me love my husband more? This has been a question I have been on a journey to discover. I’ve still got a long way to go but what powerful lessons I’m learning about myself, my husband and our partnership. 

About a year ago I realized that 2019 would mark 20 years of marriage for us. Being owners of a wedding venue, we get to work with couples and families and watch them in the beautiful process making the most important decision of their lives. We get to meet people when they are full of life and full of love; taking on a new adventure with faith in God, faith in their companion and faith in a future that is unknown and uncertain. 

20 years of marriage for us has seen the most incomprehensible joy as well as plenty of heartache and sorrow. We supported each other through 5 combined university degrees, living in various homes in 3 states. We’ve had 8 beautiful children together and I am constantly amazed by them! Together we’ve both laughed and cried bitter tears. We’ve rejoiced over births, unions and successes and mourned over the loss of dear ones and other devastating trials. 

As a way to honor all that 20 years has meant to me I longed to do something different, something, bold and amazing. My idea was a little quirky but as soon as I thought of it I couldn’t let it go. I was going to set up a photoshoot that would mirror our wedding of 20 years before. I would need to revive my outdated dress, do my hair, and of course make a bridal bouquet (no problem since I do that for other brides right?) the idea was beautiful, but I soon encountered all sorts of roadblocks....

Trying to run a household of 10 people and run a family business takes up most of my energy. When there’s not much time or energy left in the day it feels really uncomfortable to take any time for myself. When my dress was taking longer to update and my hair and makeup helpers became unavailable, I had to take time out of my day for a solid week to focus on getting ready for this photoshoot. I felt pangs of guilt. My negative self talk was pulling me down: “you’ve got more important matters to attend to than working on this old dress....why would you care about this shoot when you’ve got so many other things going on at home?”....and on and on. 

I called my sister for moral support. She said the most profoundly beautiful thing to me that changed my perspective completely. She said: “Derek can only love you as much as you love yourself”. Wow. I began to remember his request all those months before to take time for myself. This was all he had wanted!. That week I did take time for myself. I colored my hair, I fixed that dated dress and made it photo worthy and I made myself a bridal bouquet.

We would do the shoot in our brand new venue location that we had worked with our own hands to renovate from top to bottom. 

This venue to me symbolized our family and all the work we had put into loving and shaping our precious children. When we first purchased the building, it was old and dated and needed a ton of love, but with consistent hard work and care we were able to make something beautiful out of it. Isn’t that just how it is in a family? Everyone has great potential for good wrapped up in weakness and difficulty. It’s the persistent work that makes a family beautiful. 

Finally the day came for the shoot. It was magical. I seriously felt as though we were getting married for the first time. The photographers were incredible and knew just how to pose us to make us feel amazing about the whole presses. I seriously felt butterflies standing there with my husband of 20 years as though we were just starting out.

Why am I sharing all of this? Because having that experience taught me that it is not just OK but it is vital to take time to love yourself. Yes, we all have demands placed upon us by our busy lives. The people we love and care for (little and big) are of such great importance to us that we fear to take our focus from them, even for a moment, but as we take time for self care we magically become more capable of caring for others! 

The other valuable lesson I want to share is that by doing something a little crazy and out of the ordinary with your spouse you can rekindle your love in ways you never knew possible! Maybe a wedding photoshoot isn’t your thing, that’s ok! Think of something crazy that would unite you with your husband! What did you both love doing together when you were first dating? Maybe you’ve only been married 5 years or even 1 year, perfect! 

Remember: 

Good things take time! 

And

Nothing worth anything ever comes easy!

So let’s review those 2 secrets one more time.

1-You can’t love your spouse fully until you take time to love yourself.

And 

2-Do something every so often that is so out of the ordinary that makes you fall in love with your spouse all over again.

Even the strongest marriages need a boost now and then. So, after taking care to love yourself, do something with your companion that says: I love you even more than I did the day we were married! Go on, do it! I challenge you! You won’t regret it!

Photo credit: Brooks Mcfadden Photography brooksmcfaddenphotography.com
 & 3183 photofilm  3181photofilm.com

Being Clasped in the arms of Jesus; finding peace in Christ while battling depression and anxiety

“Hello, Sara, This is President Erickson calling, could you please call me back?” It was one of those messages you’re not sure if you want to respond to...why would President Erickson call me? A few minutes later I called President Erickson back as I drove to the temple. “Hi Sara, you’ve probably heard about the special stake conference we’re having here in a month”...my mind was racing, conference?  Special conference? “Well, we’d like to ask you to be a speaker at that conference.” 

“I’m willing for sure! I can’t say I’m happy to because that’s really scary but I’m willing! So what would you like me to speak about?” 

“Well, we don’t have a topic for you actually.” 

Oh, no topic, yeah ok. I mean I will pray about it and I’m sure I will figure it out...”

“Great, thanks so plan for about 10 minutes.”

As I continued on to the temple my mind continued to race....What can I possibly say?...Why did they choose me? At that time I was struggling with Depression and anxiety brought on by a long, dark Rexburg winter, stress from our new family business and many other factors. I didn’t exactly feel like I was in a good place for inspiring anyone at stake conference. 

As I entered the temple, my anxiety began to melt away and I felt peace. I still didn’t know why I should speak but I knew I would be given the strength to do it. As for a topic, there was no clear and official title that came to my mind, all I felt was that I needed to tell my story. The story of my journey of motherhood, the real story, not the version where everything is amazing all the time, but the real, raw, super exposing myself version. I had a month to do it but even if I had had a year it wouldn’t have been easy.

Right at that time I had been given the most amazing opportunity to travel to Italy, Paris and London on a very special trip to see our dear exchange student be married. All this was happening while I was supposed to be writing this talk. 

The trip was made possible by my amazing parents who (I believe) were divinely inspired to offer to watch our 8 children for 6 days....Talk about loving kindness!!! It couldn’t have come at a better time. 

I began to reflect on what I might share in my talk. In an earlier post I describe the certainty I felt that there was a sister to come to our family for Adelaide. And that when both twins were boys I tried again to bring this sister here only months after giving birth to the twins. I was able to conceive when the twins were only 8 months old, but just 7 weeks later I lost the baby. Feeling that I was maybe getting old to be having more kids I decided to give it just one more try. Miraculously I conceived again almost immediately making a total of 4 babies in my tummy in one calendar year (the twins were born in January, and the two babies were conceived later in the year)!!! When we learned that baby #8 was not a sister for Adelaide but a 7th brother, I wondered if the baby I had lost was the sister or not. I knew God loved me but I was confused by what I had thought was clear spiritual guidance. I had promised Derek that this would be our last baby and I was so happy to have a little brother coming but I had to seriously mourn the loss of never getting that little sister I had been sure was coming.

The birth of little Benjamin was a shining spot in all of our lives. A few short weeks after Benj was born we discovered a location that I thought would be perfect for our wedding venue we had dreamed of opening. Only the timing was incredibly bad. I was still recovering from childbirth and had no plans of jumping into a business start-up for a while. But the opportunity was there and we prayerfully took the opportunity hoping it would give our boys some valuable work experience.  Still in recovery mode, I worked alongside my boys with a newborn by my side for many weeks to get the venue ready to go.

When things didn’t go as smoothly with the business as I had dreamed they would I began to blame myself for any failure I felt, knowing that I was the one who had drug my family into this venture and I would be to blame if it failed. 

I started 2018 with one-year old twins, a newborn and a new business. A few weeks into 2018, Derek’s Dad passed away unexpectedly. Jack had been everything to us. He supported my kids in literally every activity they participated in. He never missed a special event. A councilor by trade he exuded a calming peace that we all desperately craved to be able to deal with his loss. 

Feeling helpless to relieve Derek’s pain while trying to process my own pain was so hard. If I had been stronger emotionally I may have had more to give Derek but I felt so vulnerable and weak myself. Then my closest friend told me they were planning to move. It seemed that all that was safe and familiar to me was crumbling away. 

Those winter days were long and difficult trying to love and keep up with little boys dumping, breaking and scattering things all over my house, and the older kids dealing with their personal struggles. I felt myself getting less and less able to cope with life’s daily challenges.

During that time I attended a fireside with my children on mental health issues. They began the fireside by singing the new theme-song written for the youth for last year called “Peace in Christ”.  As they sang the words, it’s message filled my heart:  

“when there’s no peace on earth, find peace in Christ” 

The fireside was beautiful. I came away knowing that 1.) I needed to go to that fireside to learn that I was I was not in a healthy place emotionally and 2.) I could find peace in Christ. 

That day God gave me an opportunity to find my pathway to peace in Christ. Through inspired council from church leaders at a ward conference, I made a game plan to strengthen myself and my family and find peace in Christ.

I kept feeling like I should share my personal journey to finding peace in Christ through all the crazy trials, the diapers and running a family business. I had so many thoughts and feelings swimming around in my head. 

One day on our trip as Derek went to the Paris Opera house, I stayed behind and wrote down all of my thoughts. I just wrote from my heart sharing my crazy life and how following council from church leaders had helped me to find peace and face the depression and anxiety I was experiencing.  So many times I questioned myself: was I sharing too much? Was there any value at all in what I was sharing? I knew if I thought too hard about it I wouldn’t be brave enough to give the talk at all. So I decided I wouldn’t change it. After we landed in the states I got another call from president Erickson, this time he was letting me know the lineup of speakers. It turned out that besides the mission president and members of the stake presidency, I was the representative “normal” person to speak. Oh yeah and there would be a visiting authority there as well. The Newly called (newly as in called 3 days prior) apostle  Elder Soares. Wait, what? I’m going to speak alongside an apostle? Me with my stories about all the babies and the diapers, the feeling overwhelmed and sad and anxious and searching for peace?  

If I had felt self conscious before, this news took things to a whole new level. If I started over I could rewrite the kind of talk everyone would expect to hear at stake conference, but how could I come up with a new topic and a whole new talk with so little time left? I knew I had to give the original talk. Surely if I had been given the strength to process all these crazy emotions I could be given the strength to share them with a few thousand people right? 

The day of my talk arrived. Much of the conference had to do with new procedures pertaining to the adjustments our wonderful prophet had made concerning the new ministering program. Then there was a testimony from the Mission president and it was my turn. I stood up. I couldn’t really see out to all the people. I usually don’t struggle so much while speaking in public but the circumstances made all my emotions heightened.  

I shared it all. I cried, but only a little and then it was over. I sat down feeling exposed but relieved. 

Elder Soares gave a beautiful, humble talk. What an amazing man. When it was over we all stood to allow elder Soares to exit the building ahead of us, he wouldn’t be able to stay to greet people. As he passed the leaders on the stand he shook each of their hands. When Elder Soares approached me the warmth of his smile gave me the assurance that I had craved that I was enough, that what I had shared was in fact what the Lord had wanted me to share. With all my weakness and my faults and my anxiety, I did have a story to share however unorthodox.

As I anticipated a firm handshake from this giant of a leader he did something that I will never forget. He opened up his arms and gave me a warm Brazilian hug. This tender servant of God, a very ambassador of Christ had taken a moment in his rush to get on the road to remind a small unimportant person that what she does every day matters to God. That raising the babies, the littles, the middles and the teens although unglamorous in the eyes of the world was exactly what God wanted me to be doing. He didn’t say any words to me but I felt all those things in his simple embrace. Why Elder Soares took a moment to give me that hug in the midst of all the handshaking that came before and after will never be fully known to me but I felt that day  (as Mormon describes) that I was “clasped in the arms of Jesus”. (See Mormon 5:11)

In that time of darkness I felt peace in Christ through one of his anointed servants. There have been many hard days since that day. I have tried many things to improve my mental health, some have worked better than others. I know that no matter how hard life gets there is always peace that can be found through following God’s chosen leaders. It doesn’t take away depression or anxiety, it doesn’t make our hard times go away, but I’d does give us a sure path to hope and peace. Peace in Christ Is definitely a journey not a destination. It’s a road we travel every day. It’s impossible to say we have “arrived” on our journey toward peace in Christ because just when we get comfortable with the way things are God gives us another opportunity to grow and come even closer to Him if we allow ourselves to.                                                                       

Live like you were dying; a tribute to my Dads

Sometimes it takes an extraordinary experience to recognize the magic in the ordinary. Sometimes its losing someone you love so dearly that makes you realize the gift it is to have each day with the people you take for granted. 
Today my Dad turns 81 years old!  One year ago on this day I was in New Zealand with my parents and siblings for the trip of a life time. My amazing Father served a mission 60 years ago in New Zealand. I grew up hearing his missions stories of this amazing place and attending mission reunions where we would hear more stories and get a small taste of this beautiful culture. I longed to visit there one day and my Dad promised that one day we would go. Growing up the very middle child of 10 children we never had an abundance of money, just an abundance of love. I never imagined how this dream of seeing New Zealand would ever come about.  25 years later, my Dad was turning 80 and my brothers decided this was the year for our family to finally visit New Zealand together.

 They offered to pay for the trip as an incentive for people to feel like they could make it work. It would be a dream come true but Benj was still so little and the thought of leaving him was excruciating. One night I prayed a very specific prayer explaining to God How much I wanted to go on this trip and fulfill my childhood dream but that in order to feel like I could go I would need to have another mother somehow be willing to take Benj while I was away. As I prayed I felt like the person who would be the best match for my wish was my dear friend Teresa.  How on earth do you ask a person to take your baby so you can go across the world for several days? I knew I couldn’t consider asking her! As it turned out I didn’t have to ask, the very next day I saw Teresa and she said: what if I took Benj so that you won’t have to worry about him while you’re gone. It was as if the very longoing of my heart had been whispered to hers! 

What pure miracle to have such a heartfelt prayer be answered so quickly and perfectly! The timing for this miracle couldnt have been better.  With 1-year old twins, a newborn and 5 older children my days were filled with diapers, dishes and disciplining and my nights were spent loving my baby (which didn't leave me much sleeping time). To add to that we had just opened our wedding venue and the stress of how to manage and run a small business was weighing heavily on my mama heart. This escape from reality is just what I was craving.
The day before I departed I had the thought to live my last day at home for my family as if it were my last day with them so that they would have no doubt that their Mama loved them. When my daughter asked me to play a game with her I took the time to sit and play it. I went to my son’s basketball game even though there were plenty of other things I could have justified doing instead. I loved my babies more and just enjoyed the ordinary sweetness of being the Mom to my family. It was a perfect day. It was a perfectly ordinary perfect day. I remember wishing I had the strength to live every day like that day. 
The trip to New Zealand was beyond magical. My brothers went to great lengths to make it in every way the most amazing time of all our lives. From meeting precious Maori people to hearing of stories of my Dad designing the landscaping for the famed hill of the Hamilton NZ, Temple. 

From singing Christmas songs to residents of the local rest-home(just like we had done all growing up) to going to Hobitton (the set of the famed Movie Lord of the Rings), the glow worm caves and even Bungee jumping with my Dad for his 80th birthday (My Mom went too!!!). 
  

Can I just pause this story to say, I couldn’t possibly love my Dad any more. I can barley write this without crying. He has lived his whole life as a sacrifice for those he loves. When I was struggling to know how to best share some research I had done in grad-school he spent hours asking me questions about it so that he could understand it well enough to advise me on how best to present it to others. Just a few weeks ago he came for a very short visit to Rexburg to attend a Veterans Day program. As a retired military veteran, he attended my daughter's program, then with the remaining hours he had left in the day he worked tirelessly to help me finish a making some tables for our venue that I had been longing to finish. We worked into the night. Finally after 1:30 AM we completed the job. I had so much weighing on my heart that day and I wanted to ask him to give me a Father's blessing.  I felt so much guilt to ask him for anything since he had just sacrificed so much time to bless me already. I reluctantly asked him for a father’s blessing.  In the darkness of the night he counceled with me and laid his hands on my head to bless me through the power of the priesthood with words of wisdom and comfort. The next morning there was a funeral they had wanted to attend so without hesitating, or even stopping to rest he packed up his clothes and left. I got into my warm bed as he drove straight home through the night in order to attend the funeral the next morning. My 80-year old father had pulled an all-nighter to serve me and my family. Although these examples are of extreme circumstances I could tell hundreds more stories of perfectly ordinary perfect moments with my Dad. He is brilliant, full of integrity, hard working and fun. I have never managed to beat him in tennis but he always applauds my efforts in trying. He serves his community in countless ways. He is currently serving his 3rd full time mission for the church with my angel mother.

How special it was to be in such a place to honor my Dad for his birthday. While we were there, one lovely Maori woman told our family that for the Maoris the most important thing in the world is: People, people people. 

The trip was so unreal that even as I write this I almost can’t believe it ever happened. Perhaps the most lovely part of it all was experiencing the miracle of having my baby taken care of and the miracle that happened inside of me as I realized how much I loved my own family I had left behind. Having that perfectly ordinary day before I left made it such a pleasure to come home to my perfectly ordinary life after such an unreal adventure away from it. I felt such a sweetness about being home and such a love for those I had left behind. I thought so often of the Maori woman's words: "What matters most is: people, people, people."

A few weeks after our trip to New Zealand my dear father-in-law passed away unexpectedly. The sting of having him leave us so abruptly left me crying my eyes out for weeks at every thought of him.  As I reflected on the life he had lived and the many accomplishments he had made, what stood out to me the most was all of the ordinary things he did. Not the awards or special honors he had received from his 40+ years as a faculty of UVU, head of the wellness center and trusted counselor to hundred of grateful students. No, what made my father in law great was how much he loved people. Just like the Maoris, he loved people.  He loved my husband. He was his best friend, he loved my kids and he loved me. He showed his love by being present at all of our important life events. He was there for every baby blessing, ordination, and even special sporting events. He traveled hours and hours to watch a game that was minutes long. He wasn’t a man of many words but he didn’t have to say much to make you feel like a million bucks.  I’m not a great connoisseur of country music but I love the song by Tim McGraw called: Live like you were dying. Truly, my father in law lived like he was dying. 

 Of course, you don’t have to go across the world to discover how perfectly wonderful it is to live your ordinary life. We don’t have to feel the risk of losing those we love to realize how precious they are to us. We don’t have to be given a few months to live in order to see life as the precious gift that it is. In order to live like we were dying, we just have to choose to live that way. To choose to make the people that are the most important part of your ordinary life feel like they are the most important thing in your world because in the end, that’s all that matters, people. People are what matter. Your people are what matter. God's whole work and Glory is people. shouldn't our glory be the same?  people, people, people.   
Moses 1:39