Meal planning in our house

About three weeks ago, I began going back to meal planning.  I did really great for two weeks, struggled for a week, and I'm trying to get back into it.  I find I'm much better about it if I think about it ahead of time.  Now, I'm sure this is true for most people, but it's not how I've always done things.  I used to do it such that I would cook whatever sounded good that day.  It was workable when I was home all day, but doesn't not so much when I work outside the home.  It was also very challenging (and unmotivating) when the kids were at swim every evening from at least 5:30-7:30, especially since Thomas wasn't done with basketball until 5:00.  Family meals were non-existent, and we just had a freezer full of things that were easy to microwave.

Now though, we are able to do family dinners again and I want to take advantage of the final few months we are still a family of five around the dinner table.  By using the calendar, I am able to make sure that I have the things we are going to need on hand, and also that we don't keep having the same things over and over again.  I even tried a new recipe last week, and while none of us loved it, we did all appreciate something new.  I am cautiously optimistic that I will be able to keep this up for a time!