The scene is all too familiar – kids dancing wildly, madly & loudly around my legs telling me they are hungry while I desperately peer into the pantry or freezer hoping something jumps out and says “I am dinner”. This is my ‘crazy patch’!

Often times this would turn into a quick phone call to the local Thai restaurant to save the day or in this case save the ‘crazy patch’. With recently making a goal to spend less on our food bill I knew that there just had to be another way!

Some weeks seemed to be delightfully absent of these crazy patches and I wondered why. It was on the weekends where I would find some time to meal plan, grocery shop and get ahead on some freezer meals for school lunches and our dinners that the week would roll out so much more smoothly! So now to avoid the ‘crazy patch’ I have created the ‘planning patch’ – where I deliberately set aside time on Sunday as well as during the week to plan my meals and help things roll more smoothly.

My daily ‘planning patch’ looks like this:

Get up early to pack school lunches & make a head start on breakfast before the kids wake up. If they sleep in (funny how 6:30am is now considered a sleep in!!!) then I will often try get dinner under way in the morning too! I might put a tagine on to cook while we eat breakfast and finish getting ready for the day. Then at 5pm I just pop some rice on and dinner is sorted! It’s amazing how the afternoon is always smoother when I have made dinner earlier in the day. And it means that we often can stay longer at the park which lets them build up a healthy appetite and helps avoid the common phrase “I don’t like it!” as they are sitting down to dinner…BONUS!

My Sunday ‘planning patch’ looks like this:

The Sunday planning patch is the foundation for the rest of the week. If I hope to cook dinner while the kids are eating breakfast then I need to be sure that all the ingredients are in the house and making a good plan on Sunday allows this to happen!

* Look through fridge and cupboard for what food items I already have that need using up and create a meal plan for the week. This also involves writing a grocery list for any items that I don’t already have

* Do a grocery shop for those items that I need for meal plan (and don’t buy anything thats not on it!!!!!!!)

* Send kids to the park for some quality time with their papa…

* Roughly organise pantry and fridge to throw out anything that I need to and then un-pack groceries into fruit bowl, fridge & pantry.

* Make a batch of muffins, muesli bars or biscuits for kids lunch boxes for the week!

* Make one or two meals that are freezer-friendly to turn to on those crazy afternoons instead of turning to my local Thai shop!

* Vacuum and mop floors thoroughly and do a quick once over in bathrooms…a clean and organised home always converts into a happier week in my experience!

When could you create a ‘planning patch’ in your week – I promise you that your hectic, crazy week will roll out more smoothly with a planning patch!

Below I have shared with you my favourite breakfast go to that will nourish you and your little ones and start your day off right so that you can get through any crazy patches that come your way!

DELISH overnight oats

For a delicious twist of this recipe – use orange juice instead of apple juice. It can easily be made dairy free by using coconut yoghurt.

3 cups rolled oats

500 mls milk (or nut milk)

250 ml cloudy apple juice

2 tbsp raw honey

2/3 cup of sultanas

4 tbsp dried apricots

1 1/2 cups natural yoghurt

2 medium apples (grated)

flaked almonds and fresh seasonal berries to serve

DIRECTIONS

  • Combine oats, milk, juice, honey and sultanas in a bowl. Cover and refridgerate overnight.
  • The next morning stir through apricots and yoghurt and grated apple.
  • Serve with a dollop of extra yoghurt, seasonal berries and flaked almonds.