So, I am in the same boat as most. I am home. Thankfully, for me, my kids are grown...I live rurally on 1.5 acres and my house is big. I, recently, thought...it is just too big. But, my heart goes out to those who are in Apartments or live in a neighborhood with children, or who are afraid of the future...the $...the food supply holding out etc. So, I figured I would blog through this crisis...if even one person sees this and it helps them I will be happy.
FDR said it best. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." This was 2 years into the Great Depression...businesses closed, life savings were wiped out, there was no help for the Government because the Federal Government was set up to allow the American people to make it or break it on their own. That was their freedom. THAT is not what we have today. Has your life been altered forever?? Probably! But we have a government that is working diligently to help the American people. We have grocery stores that are still open and DO have food...maybe not what you are used to but my mom said she basically lived off of baked bean sandwiches when she was a kid and my step father couldn't stand tomatoes...not Italian food, not tomato soup or salads with tomatoes because his mother grew and canned so many tomatoes during the Depression he had his life's fill of them. But they made it and you will too!! If you sit and keeping spinning in your head all that is happening and the different scenarios of the possibilities of what CAN/MAY happen you are going to make yourself crazy. "Take every thought captive" You have the power to control your thoughts and keep yourself from being paralyzed by fear. You can only think of one thing at a time, whether it feels like your mind is racing over everything at once. THINK ON ONE THING! ONE CHORE you need to accomplish. ONE BOOK you have been meaning to read. Now Go make your bed or do the dishes. :)
Most people have enough food for a few weeks before they went shopping knowing you may not be getting to the store again for awhile. I don't know what is in everyone's arsenal...if you comment below to ask specific questions I will answer them the best that I can.
But...I looked around at what I had and saw that I had quite a bit of stuff I bought that I have never used but thought it was interesting stuff...or reminded me of when I was a kid, like canned Poppy seed filling. LOL I am sure I am not the only one that has done that. I decided I was going to use that stuff up first. I will find recipes and plan out a menu for them. The other thing I noticed was that I have a glut of other items. I have 3 large bags of Cornmeal in my freezer. WTH? So, I will try to figure out what I can do with that. My first thought, because I also have a ton of beans, is to make Vegetarian Chili and Corn bread. I have a random pint of Blueberries in the fridge I bought because they were on sale so before they go bad I will make blueberry corn muffins for breakfast. Look to use what has been sitting around for awhile and what you have a ton of. If you overstocked in the Beans and rice department Make sure you have at least one Beans and Rice meal a week or maybe twice a week. What you don't want to happen is you eat everything else and ONLY have beans and rice left for every day. I had bought a jar of BBQ sauce on sale for just an addition to one beans and rice dish...so it isn't just plain. I will add whatever vegetables I have on hand to it and it will be a tasty substitute.
I raised 6...homeschooled the last 4 and am a firm believer that they can entertain themselves. But, I also know these are odd and extenuating circumstances.
This idea has to do with food also.
We are going to have them play restaurant.
Have them list their favorite meals and dinners. Have them take a piece of Construction paper, fold in half, this is going to be their menus. Let them decorate the front of the menu. On another piece of paper, Have them write down boldly using one line per meal, from their list of favorites.
SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS
MACARONI AND CHEESE
CURRIED CHICKEN
With a space in between for cutting.
Now make a list of food that you plan on serving through this time in the same way leaving space to cut between
Also, a list of Desserts you plan on having available in the same way
Now have them cut out a circle or oval in a bright colored paper and write the word "Special Today" on it.
On the right side of the inside of the menu. Have them list all the beverages in the house. They can add pictures of these drinks if they like.
Leave room at the bottom of that same page and title it DESSERTS:
If you have a laminator you can laminate this menu to make it last. I know a lot of people do have these but if you don't it is fine...If you have packing tape you can use that for the inside of the menu...maybe even scotch tape. With Packing tape of Scotch tape cover the inside of the menu. We are looking to make this a page they can remove and repaste different menu ideas for different weeks. The glue stick used will be somewhat temporary on this surface.
Below is a Restaurant order form. Print out a number of these...you can staple the top to make a pad...or you can even stack a bunch of them and have a line or two of hot glue to the top of the stacked pages...spread with a knife or putty knife so it covers the top all the pages and that will make a pad also. Most printers ask you what size you want so you don't waste a whole sheet of paper per one. Another thing that you can do is open up Microsoft Word, new document and get rid of the margins on the page. Then use "insert picture" and add this picture. You can right click on the picture that you just inserted and choose copy. Than click on a spot on your page and right click paste and there is the next order form. Fill the one page with them. You can also adjust the size of the picture before you start copying and pasting
Okay back to the menu. Cut out all your menu items and dessert items.
Make a weekly menu and with a glue stick add that menu to the left side of the menu (the reason you want to cover that side and the dessert part with something that you can remove these choices and use again)
Choose a day that you have a number of leftovers in the fridge and you aren't cooking that night. Put your special today sticker on the one that you have the most of or oldest in the fridge. Let them take turns being the waiter and the another child can be in the kitchen. Both working together. They take the drink order and dinner order. The two kids can plate and microwave the leftovers and serve the family.
You can also make menus like this for kids just to play restaurant without any real food involved at all. If you have aprons they can use, even better.
And here is a printable foldable chefs hat. You probably need to print 2 of these to get it around a kids' head.
I am going to try to do this every other day. If you have suggestions, questions, stuck on something just comment. You can also follow this blog, if you want or just come back to see what is up.
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