Dinner - the WORST part of my day

Have you ever had those days where you just want to go home, sit your you-know-what on the couch, and NOT MOVE? Yeah, that's pretty much every day for me. By the time I work all day, pick up the kids and go home, I don't want to do much else. BUT, there's laundry, bath time, swim lessons, oh yeah - and DINNER. I truly dislike this part of my day... the kids are "starrrrrving" and I struggle to come up with what to make that doesn't take four hours to prepare/cook.

While reading one of the blogs I follow, Centsible Savings, I am across a post from Living, Laughing, and Loving that has changed my outlook on dinner! It's called 5 Dinners - 1 Hour and IT IS FABULOUS!

The general idea is that you spend one hour preparing your meals for the week, up to the point where you actually cook the food. ONE HOUR! I can do that! She even gives pictures, great printouts (like the free meal planner printable which allows you to write the menu and your shopping list all on one page).

Here are my top five reasons I love this (so far):

1) It avoids the, "I don't know what to make for dinner so let's just go out" excuse, which in turn, saves money!

2) I avoid the stress of having to come up with meals on the fly, or, spending a ton of time to prepare the food once I get home (all the while trying to deal with two starving kids who have to wait another hour for the meal to be prepared/cooked).

3) It is forcing me to try new recipes from the 5,000,000 cookbooks I own (perhaps a slight exaggeration), rather than serve my family the same five meals week after week. :-)

4) Preparing the meals is actually quite therapeutic!

5) Hot, delicious meals - EVERY NIGHT! Even when we have swim lessons to get to!

I tried this plan for the first time yesterday, and the only tip I can give you, do it when the kids are sleeping. For real. Seriously though, it was super easy, and really fun! I'm telling every one I know to try this method... I love it that much! Hopefully I'll stick to this! ;-)

This week's menu:

Monday - Balsamic Chicken

Tuesday - Tangy Meatballs

Wednesday - Ranch Pork Chops

Thursday - Broiled Steak Bites

Friday - Blues, Brews, and BBQ Festival (I CAN'T WAIT... Jamie and I work this every year since my Bank is one of the main sponsors. It's SO much fun and SO yummy!)

If you give this a try, please let me know your thoughts, and be sure to share your recipes!!!