Starting the Week Off Right

For most of us, the week begins on Sunday. Although many of us don’t work that day, it’s still the day to get ready for the week.

And that includes making the most of dinner time.

When I was a kid, Sunday dinner was a big deal. We went to church in the morning, and then when we got home, my mom and my aunt would begin preparing dinner.

I was an only child, so for my aunt and uncle to be present most of the day and stay for dinner was a real treat.

My favorite part was after dinner when I would get to “help” clear the table. Mind you, I was about 3 or 4 at the time.

My dad and uncle would be in the living room, and my mom and aunt would be in the kitchen.

Before I brought the coffee cups in to the kitchen, I would drink all of the coffee left in them. Wonder how hard it was to get me to sleep on Sunday nights?

It’s funny. I’ve never cared for coffee as an adult.

But sweet tea? I had that in my baby bottle. (Yes, I did.) And I live on that stuff. I think it flows through my veins.

These days, you may not prepare a big dinner on Sunday (although maybe you should), and you may not spend it with as much family as you would like. But maybe, you might want to rethink some of that.

Sundays are Special

Most of us typically use Sunday as a day to prep for the week ahead.

We make sure the laundry is done, check our plans for the coming week, and hopefully get a general idea of what dinner looks like for the week ahead.

But what if you could put an extra special dinner on the table each week, without a lot of effort, and have a few meals practically done for the coming week?

What if you could do that while you were doing other things, like laundry or bingeing Netflix?

Now there’s a thought!

Dinner for More

The first key to this is my mom’s genius plan. I don’t know why I haven’t been using this my entire life, but I have become a true convert.

Here’s the basic plan:

• You start with a big cut of meat – something you can roast. And if you’re doing chicken, find a big one or two.
• My mom used the oven when it was cool out, but in the summer, she had this huge electric roasting pan that would hold a small turkey and two sides. She would load it up, carry it out to the garage, and plug it in. No a/c at our house then.
• You could do something similar with a slow cooker, I would think, although they still make those roasting pans.
• Now make the sides, and make more than usual. You could make a big bowl of mashed potatoes, or throw some extra potatoes or sweet potatoes in the oven while it’s on. For that matter, there are a lot of vegetables that taste really good when they’re roasted.

Putting it All Together

You have a leisurely day, get ready for the week, maybe talk about each other’s upcoming plans over a nice meal.

Once it’s time to clean up, the magic begins.

Whatever you roasted for Sunday dinner has leftovers, because you planned for that. So divide up the meat into portions: enough for at least one more dinner (already done), and maybe some for lunches.

And all of those sides you made?

Well, the salad can be lunch or another side another night.

You could add some chicken to it, along with maybe a few more things, and make it a dinner.

Extra potatoes? Side dishes, hash browns for breakfast or breakfast for dinner, or mix it with the meat and maybe some gravy (you can buy jars of it if you have to), and you have stew, or pot pie or just use the meat, potatoes, gravy and extra veggies over biscuits for a quick pot pie.

Get the picture?

You’re taking the idea of prepping once for several meals and expanding it.

The Help You Need, When You Need It

You know I’m not going to leave you here, right?

I mean, I gave you some ideas of how to do things, but I’m the one who grew up with my mom so naturally I have more. (I really wish she would have taught me all she knew and I would have paid extra attention, but I’m grateful for what I have.)

So, make a visit to the Resource Library and check out all the good things waiting for you there, including a Sunday Dinner Sheet with lots of ideas for stretching those Sundays into the week.