Friday, July 18, 2014

Meal Times and Frugality

My family's situation is unique: we homeschool and Papa works close enough to home (a very short bike ride) to join us at home everyday for lunch.

For years we ate our main meal at dinner, as do most Americans. But this year I was determined to switch the main meal to lunch time and to make it work (we had failed at it a couple of years ago). This time around the guys were on board, and the switch was very easy.

Dinner is no longer my responsibility. Oh, I still know what everyone can/should eat, keeping a tab on leftovers and bread supplies, but I don't usually cook anything. The boys make sandwiches, reheat leftovers, or have refried beans in tortillas, and Papa makes big salads for everyone (he used to make salads at lunch time and this switch has helped him get back to work on time after lunch). I might cut a watermelon or pop some popcorn.

I love serving the main meal at noon; I cook in the mornings while doing other chores and helping the boys with their lesson work. After lunch (during the school year) we do more lesson work, but after that my afternoons are free!

I can tackle larger projects without the worry of needing to stop to prepare dinner; this longer block of time has translated into various frugal activities such as knitting, sewing, organizing my time, making cards, planning grocery runs, and more.

It has also inspired more creativity in the kitchen; I used to not attempt time consuming baking such as pie because I was too busy making dinner and too tired after. But today I am baking a cherry pie as my afternoon project. It smells delicious.

No comments:

Post a Comment