As any homeschool mom will tell you, homeschool kids are always hungry. We eat every three hours from 9 AM to 6 PM and they still complain between mealtimes. Hobbit much? Anyway, keeping up with the kids’ insatiable hunger is no small task. Over the years, I’ve developed this simple homeschool meal routine to keep them from complaining (too much) and keep me from being in the kitchen all the time!
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Keep things simple
One tried and true trick (I love alliteration) I’ve learned is to keep the meals simple. We have the same breakfasts on the same days all week. The same goes for lunches.
I keep track of what we’re having for meals on my Google calendar. That way I can easily pull it up on my phone or laptop.
Here’s a screenshot of what May looks like for us.
As you can see we have the same thing every Monday through Saturday for breakfast and lunch. Sundays do vary. Sometimes the kids have homemade cereal (granola) or I might make oats or smoothies or something.
What about supper?
Tuesdays are always tacos and Friday is always homemade pizza. Which leaves me with only four meals to have to figure out each week because one night is always leftovers.
I plan our suppers monthly, planning to have each meal twice. So, really, I only have to plan for 8 different meals each month when it comes to suppers.
Does that make sense?
I either do one big day of freezer cooking where I get most of it done ahead of time OR I just cook double when I make supper. That way we have one to eat and one for another meal.
Update: I now offer Large Family Frugal Meal Packs. Check them out here.
Simple saves time, money, and sanity
By having this simple homeschool meal routine . . .
- grocery shopping is SO MUCH easier than it used to be
- the kids know what to expect, so there are no unwanted surprises (plus they thrive on routine)
- taking inventory is a breeze because I know exactly how much of everything I need
- meal planning has never been simpler
A few of my favorite helps in the kitchen
Smaller Round Foil Pans for Sides
Heavy Duty Foil (both this and the plastic wrap below last a LONG time)
I love how simple this looks. Great idea knowing what you are going to have each day by keeping it the same on each day of the week. With us it’s more or less, peanut butter and jelly with fruit, veggie and something to go with it for lunches, but then a few times a week I will change up and do tuna or chicken. Breakfasts are mostly cereal, with the occasional eggs or oatmeal.
You’ve definitely given me some ideas on how to change things up for the kids now and then.
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I was unable to view Update: I now offer Large Family Frugal Meal Packs. Check them out here.
Sorry about that. I’ve updated the post with the link to our Large Family Frugal Meal Packets. Thanks for letting us know!