Meal-time Tips for Large Families

Having a large family can be quite costly.  I won’t even mention the clothes that is needed to keep 5 children looking somewhat decent, I will keep that for another day.  Today I will focus on FOOD.  Yes, something that was always running out in our home until I developed a system.

Having a family of 7 is a great task, a challenging one and and rewarding one.  Home schooling my children is wonderful, but having them home all day can wear a mom/chef out.  At first I was trying to make 3 to 4 meals a day and going just a little crazy, to say the least.  That quickly stopped when I started getting my children involved in the kitchen prep and cooking.

The first task was determining a weekly menu that consisted of breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Once the menu was determined, I wrote out the grocery list and stores next to particular items.  We usually shop in 3 to 4 different stores and it is actually great on our budget.

For snacks and some spices we go to our local Dollar store.

For fruits and vegetables we shop at our local produce stand; perfect for fruits that are in season and we are supporting our local farmers too.

For bulk items, such as toilet paper, paper towels, and cleaning supplies we go to Sam’s Club.

For other food items we go to our local grocery store.

I always carry my coupons and circulars and compare prices with other small shops in the area.  I figure out the price of gas and time and if it is actually worth saving the extra 50cents.

The kids love developing the menus because they are actually learning to budget as well.  I believe this is a lesson that will stay with them forever.  We decide the meals, and what ones they will cook and ones that  Daddy  or I will cook.

Since I am also a work at home mom, my children have learned to help out as much as possible.  For the most part they will make their own breakfast during the week and I will make special breakfast meals on the weekends.  We have sandwiches, leftovers or quick meals for lunch.  Dinners are planned in advanced and usually frozen with labels indicating the days to cook.  This has helped tremendously with a large family that is very active.  There are times that we are running with different children and activities 4 to 5 days a week.

We have a large chalkboard in the kitchen indicating what is on the menu for the day and we pretty much stick to it.  There are times that we are running late and will go off schedule but for the most part we are pretty diligent about our menu plans.

We have designated days and meals for those days for instance, Mondays is Pasta night, Tuesday is Taco night, Wedesday is Potluck, Thursday is Ethnic night, and Friday is Special Treat night, Weekends we usually barbeque or eat light.  The family enjoys our theme nights and we vary it all the time, making it a bit unique some weeks.

Some tips that have helped our family and have saved us money are the following:

• Make a list and keep a running list in your kitchen
• Buy in bulk especially for large families like ours
• Make extra portion of meals and freeze for later date
• Always, always clip and use your coupons
• Purchase fruits and vegetables from local farmers
• Shop at Discount Shops like the Dollar store
• Plan your meals and take your menu with you when shopping
• Stick to your menu and avoid eating out
• Try a Healthy Menu Planning guide which will give you great ideas and is extremely cost effective

This has worked for us and I hope that some of our ideas will help you too.

The Chronicles continue….

Tags: breakfast, budget, dinner, food, grocery, grocery list, large family, list, lunch, menu, organize, plan meals