"P-day"

P-Day

(Preparation Day)

Somethings I will never change, even after five years of being home from my mission.

P-Day.

P-day is when missionaries will spend the day doing their laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, writing letters to home, and preparing for the week. We also looked at our weekly agendas and figured out where we were going to go, who we were going to teach, and what lessons we were going to teach. I loved it and have since then, decided to continue to apply this lesson into my own life. So far, it's been a time saver!

So to get started,

I pick a day during the week (usually a Monday). Then, I plan everything out. Menus for the week, plan out days, activities, kid's crafts and learning times. I ask my husband what he has going on that week, and try to work everything around everyone's schedule so that we're all on the same page.

Then, I make a ton of food this day! First, I go through my cupboards and fridge and see what meals I can make out of them. Second, I make a list of foods I can make: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and since I still have Jaiden who eats somewhat of a "baby food", I make another section for his meals. I also make a list for "Ronny's Lunches" he can take to work. Third, if I know there are days where we will be out to Dr's or running errands, I will try and assign meals to days: for example, I know we have a Dr's appt. on Monday at 4:00pm. I know that by the time we get back, there will be no time to be making dinner, so I choose a meal that can either be DONE BEFORE we go, or that can be cooking WHILE we are out: (crock pot meals!)

By making a list of meals, it helps me cut down on thinking time during the week and panicking that I don't have an ingredient, or having kids be screaming in the background because it's 5pm and they are dying of hunger, with me running around trying to figure out what to make! I simply look at the list and decide what to make!

(I have a great big white board that I have hanging where everyone can see)

This also cuts down on going out to eat!!

(which is caused usually by not knowing what to cook, or being too lazy to cook!)

Cooking P-day:

Not only do I make lists of meals for the week, I usually will set aside a day (again, Monday works best for me) to cook up a few meals. Freezer friendly meals are great to cook up this day, but even baby foods that have to be refrigerated and eaten within a few days are great too. For example, I will cook up enough chicken breasts for chicken enchiladas, chicken salads, chicken noodle soup. Here, I can boil noodles for the soup, for casseroles, and noodles to grind up with cooked veggies for Jaiden! I also cook up a lot of rice too, and will make fried rice, spanish rice, rice with veggies for baby food (grind up or eat as it is). For breakfast foods, I like to make up french toast and freeze them, or muffins and do the same. I even wash and chop up veggies that I know I will be using (dice up green peppers, celery, carrots, slice scallions, etc). By cooking a few meals and splitting them up into containers during the week, all I have to do is last minute arrangements and heat up! It all tastes great!

Baby Foods:

Baby food is so easy to make, I can't believe I used to spend the money buying them! Anything goes for baby food! Just mash/blend it!

Ideas:

Rice with broccoli and carrots (boiled veggies)

Boiled veggies with Noodles

Potatoes with veggies

Noodles with spaghetti sauce

Soup with lots of veggies and some type of carb (rice, pasta, beans, etc)

Really, anything that has only a tiny bit of salt/flavor (just not as much as adults) is great to dump in the blender and serve! Make a few big batch and serve throughout the week! Even "adult" left overs are great too, if it has a bit too much flavor for the kiddo, just add milk or water when blending to tone the flavor down!

Bills:

take some time to prepare your bills and finances during the week!

For me, it works that I review what I'm able to spend during that week and remind myself to stick to it. It's nice to send a text/email to your hubby to remind him/her and get them to be on the same page as you too!

Laundry:

This is a great day to get all your laundry in order too, so that you're not searching through dirty piles of laundry for something to wear during the week!

Cleaning:

Cleaning is a Must! Get everything sparkling so that you don't have to worry about it during the week as much!

Crafts/activities for the kids:

(I like to do this on Sunday)

Now is the time to get all the craft ideas and activity ideas together on a list! Make plans for activities for your kiddos so that you're not finding yourself setting them down in front of the TV so much during the week! Hey, it's going to happen (the T.V. part), but why not cut it down!?

Shopping lists:

Get all this done too, so that when time comes and you decide to it's time to GO, you're not forgetting things last minute. I like to prepare specific lists for different stores: Target, Walmart, Kroger, etc. etc. This doesn't mean that I HAVE to head up these stores each week, but I keep a list handy so that if I'm out and close to a store, I have them handy.

By doing these things, I have found that I am less worried for what to make for each meal, and I can spend more time either with my family or doing things that I truly enjoy!

Do you have a P-day?! Have fun with it!