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It’s time to check back in with your family/roommate and really figure out this whole meal planning thing. Hopefully there has been continued discussion since the last meeting, but if not, no worries. You can fill them in now. If you live alone, you can still participate today by thinking more about how much you are going to eat out and how are you going to accomplish eating at home (making double amounts and eating for several meals for example).
Today’s challenge: Call a family meeting and review the progress that you have made so far. Talk about your recycling efforts and your set-up. Does everyone know where and how to recycle what you can? Next topic – meal planning. Yesterday, you looked at your eating out habits. Now is the time to officially establish a family goal. Determine when you are going to eat out and make a pact to stick to it. If you are going to be eating out less, you also have to have a plan for eating at home. Answer the following questions:
- Who is going to plan the weekly meals and snacks?
- Who will do the shopping?
- Who will do the cooking?
- Who will do clean-up?
Each job will require time and the person responsible needs to be given that time to complete the task. The same person can be responsible for the same job each week or it can rotate. In my family I do the planning and shopping, but not always the cooking. Whoever cooks, gets the night off from clean-up duty. Get the whole family involved with a job so that they are invested. Even my littlest kids help with picking out foods they like and help cook and clean. This is one area where I believe that, like it or not, everyone has to participate. Food is a need. It deserves to have a prime spot when you budget your time and money and all family members have a responsibility to make sure that healthy food is prepared. I also believe this is how you pass these skills onto future generations. And most importantly, in this day and age where most families have two working parents, it is essential that one parent isn’t stuck doing everything or it just won’t work. How do you divide meal duties?
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