Dinner with ADD

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Yes, even those of us with ADHD have dinner most days. And those of us who are ADD Moms not only eat it, we have to plan for it and then prepare it too.

Do you have a plan for dinner each day? Or are you the way my mom was?

Every day about 2 or 3 o’clock, my mom would start to wonder what was for dinner. She’d search the fridge, the cupboards and the freezer and come up with an idea. It almost always involved running to the store for an additional item or three. My mom could manage money better than anyone, but I’m sure she spent way too much on groceries. I know we spent too much time at the grocery store.

The inspiration that sent me down this particular road is a woman named Leslie Chisolm. Leslie was recently featured on her local news show because she plans a year’s worth of meals at a time. Yes. A year.

Leslie has been doing this for a couple of years now and she says it helps her save money on groceries, plus it makes her hectic life easier.

Can you imagine? I try to plan dinners for the week myself, but I still end up wondering each day what I’m going to cook that day.

I don’t know that we ADD Moms can manage a plan as ambitious as Leslie’s, although she did share last year’s menus, if you’re interested.

Instead, here are a few baby steps that might help:

Come up with a few pantry meals that your family likes – things that keep well in the pantry and are easy to prepare. Spaghetti noodles and a jar of sauce, for example. Make sure you have the ingredients always on hand and be sure to stock up when you find a good sale.

If you make something like a casserole or a big pot of soup, double the recipe and freeze half.

Give each day a theme: fish on Fridays, roast on Sundays, leftovers on Tuesday.

Put your kids to work coming up with ideas for dinner or actually cooking dinner. The first time we tried this, we had two really great dinners cooked by Sarah and Caitlin. Andy’s dinner was hot dogs and salad in a bag. Hey, at least I didn’t have to cook.

Sign up for a service that plans meals for you. There are a lot of them out there and a lot of them are owned by other moms.

Oh, and if you decide to plan a year or so’s worth of meals, share it with the rest of us!

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle is the writer of Lacyestelle.com and the Podcast host for An ADD Woman.

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2 Responses

  1. I actually plan 2-2.5 weeks worth of meals, mostly dinners, at a time. I try to keep lunch foods on hand, but, the family is quite picky so it can be difficult. For example, I’m the only one that will do lunch meat. Sigh. Anyway, I have a Franklin Covey planner and use the menu/shopping list pages to keep my menus and lists. I shop with cash only, and am able to get necessities once in a while when I’ve stocked up during the previous trip. I still have days when I am at a loss, but, I have something to count on making or serving every day. It’s also helped improve the quality of our diet overall, so a double bonus. 🙂