I earned my straight A's

Family Search's question for September 23rd was: What subjects did you excel at in school? Which were hardest for you?

When I was in college I took a class in which the professor was incredibly lenient. I worked very hard in his class, and gave it my all on every assignment and exam. It turned out that pretty much turning in the final research paper was enough for him. I expressed frustration to a classmate that I had become friends with; I felt like my hard work wasn't being respected if lazier students were getting the same credit as I was. (I know, that's a pretty selfish viewpoint.) My friend said, "Well, you can take comfort in the fact that you actually earned your A."

That pretty much sums up my entire education experience. I always got good grades, but I worked hard for them. I didn't coast through school, though I'm sure it looked that way on the surface. I worked hard, I studied, my parents supported and helped me, school was important. But not every subject was created equal for me. I did have a natural ability for English and History, and I struggled with math and science - especially in the higher grades.

I started to flourish in English in 8th grade when I took my first Honor's English class. (The one and only Mr. Ricci was my teacher!) We read a lot more books, and discussed and analyzed them. My high school English classes were very similar. Because I'm such a bookworm, this kind of learning was exactly my style. We still worked on spelling, vocab, and grammar; but they were usually centered around the book we were reading. I read so many books I would have never considered without my English classes.

History classes aren't much until High School. Well, they can be in middle school with the right teacher. My love of history didn't stem from school. It was the historical fiction books I grew up reading: American Girl books (Felicity, Addy, Molly, etc.), Dear America, Royal Diaries, Carolyn Meyer's Tudor series, and Philippa Gregory's Tudor series. My high school required a full year of U.S. History and a semester long elective of either Ancient History or Modern History (which I heard should have been called Modern Wars). I picked Ancient History for my elective credit. I loved that class, and my teacher loved me. I remember one time when she was passing back a graded assignment, as she put mine down on my desk she said in a low voice, "One of the few to do this correctly." This class showed me that actual history is just as exciting as historical fiction. After that class History was my thing, and I took AP US, AP World, and then went on to major in History Teaching.

Science became hard for me in 5th grade, and math became hard for me in 7th when I took Algebra 1. My final grades would never lead one to believe that I struggled with these subjects, but I did. I used up the maximum allowable test retakes, and my dad helped me with my math homework almost every night. In high school math itself didn't become easier, but keeping good grades did. I think that the math department at my high school wanted to make it so that those who were not talented in math could still pass and get on with their lives. In every math class I took we got full credit on assignments as long as we answered every question, and at the beginning of class we would go over every problem before turning in our assignment and could change the answer to the correct one. And actually studying the study guide before a test guaranteed a passing grade. You still had to be willing to work to pass, but they did make it easier than other math classes I had taken. Science was better in high school as well. I think it's because each subject had it's own class: biology, chemistry, physics. Before it was just a little bit of each in one class. That was too hard for me, but spending an entire year on one science subject made it easier to understand and do well.

I'm glad that school wasn't 100% easy for me. I'm glad that I had to work and study hard. I don't know how my children will do in school, but thanks to my own experiences, I do know how to teach them to work hard; and that will hopefully give them a positive education experience like mine was.

Um... I actually liked school lunch

Family Search's question for September 16th was: What are your memories of school lunch?

I know that it's popular to complain about school lunch, but I enjoyed the majority of mine. The food my school district served was pretty good. We got a monthly lunch calendar, and my mom and I would go over it and circle which days I would eat school lunch. She would pay for those days and I would bring a home lunch on the other days.

One funny memory I have is there was a lunch lady who wouldn't let students say no to vegetables, and there was a lunchroom monitor who wouldn't let students leave unless their trays were empty. So I would hide the food I didn't like in my empty milk carton before asking to be excused.

At my elementary school 4th-6th grade got to rotate being lunch workers. I loved being a lunch worker and being a server was the coveted position (being a dishwasher or a table wiper were not as much fun). There were food perks to being a lunch worker, like we got left over desserts. And it was fun to leave class early for lunch, and come back late.

In middle school and high school we had a lot more food choices, so I rarely took a home lunch and ate school lunch almost every day. In middle school there was a main lunch line, an alternative line (something like a corndog or chicken sandwich), a pizza line, and a snack cart. The snack cart we had to use cash on, the other lines we used our lunch accounts. In high school we had even more options. There was the main lunch line, the burger/chicken sandwich/corndog/nuggets line (in two different areas of the school), a subway sandwich cart, a pizza cart, and the "Dawg House" (which sold pizza, hot dogs, nachos, and other concessions snacks). The carts and Dawg House we had to pay with cash, the school lunch lines we used our lunch accounts. My high school was surrounded by restaurants, so sometimes I did that.

In elementary, middle, and high school, the main lunch line was the closest to being the healthiest. In middle school I didn't do so well with that, I got pizza most days. High school was about half and half. I'm going to try to teach my kids better food choices, and hopefully they'll follow my advice.

Utah South Regional Conference 2017

This past Sunday the Utah South area had regional conference. I took my journal with me to the meeting to take notes, and I thought that I would share what stood out to me.

Elder Carl B. Cook (I think - I had kids to tend to as well) of the Seventy spoke first. He reminded us of President Monson's most recent conference address in which he admonished us to read the Book of Mormon daily. As he spoke about this I though of how I keep the Book of Mormon apart of my scripture study when I am in other books. I am currently in the Old Testament, and as I read I use the footnotes to take me to Book of Mormon passages and I connect them to what I am reading.

Elder Cook also shared with us some notes his seven year old grandson wrote about what he has learned from the Book of Mormon:

• There are many bad things, but there are more good things.
• Jesus will protect you, if you will protect him.
• The Spirit will help you grow.

He ended with his own verse of "Follow the Prophet" about President Monson. Unfortunately I missed the majority of  it, but I got these two lines written down:

"If we apply his teachings, things will turn out swell."

Elder Cook's main message throughout his talk was to follow the prophet.

Sister Christina B. Franco, 2nd Counselor in the General Primary Presidency spoke next. I missed the majority of her talk because my son had to go to the bathroom, but I did write down her quoting Elder Clayton, "The Spirit of the Gospel is optimistic." A friend of mine summarized her talk for me and said that she told the story of a remote mission area being reopened, and the new missionaries found 125 people studying each Sunday from the scriptures that they had. No one had the priesthood to bless the sacrament or hold any callings, but they still met and studied in faith. That sounds like a wonderful story, and I can only imagine that happiness those members felt when the missionaries found them and helped them form official branches and meetings.

Elder Juan A. Uceda, of the Seventy, talked about how mighty prayer can  overcome apathy. He called apathy and "enemy to righteousness." But what is apathy? Apathy is having a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern. Can you imagine how having a lack of interest or concern can affect righteous decision making? Elder Uceda said that when we "offer a mighty prayer, we spend a moment in the heavens," and that a mighty prayer can overcome apathy. He pulled out his phone and talked about how he has no idea how his phone works, but he knows that he can call people, they can call him, etc. He compared that to prayer and basically said, if a phone works, prayer works.

Elder Gary E. Stevenson, of the Twelve, was our final speaker. He started by giving a very interesting history of the creation of the wards and stakes in the Utah South area. He told us that the St. George temple was the first temple dedicated in our area. That we have seven languages in which the conference was being translated into: Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Samoan, and Tongan. And the Utah South area has three missions: Provo, Orem, and St. George; there used to be no missions in Utah!

The remainder of his talk was about three specific Christlike attributes: humility, obedience, and virtue. He said that humility is the willingness to submit to the will of the Lord. It is gratitude. It is the opposite of pride. He said that obedience is the first law of heaven, it is an act of faith.  Obedience will increase our strength and wisdom, and provide us with protection and safety. He said that we have virtue when we are clean and pure spiritually. We resist temptation and repent quickly. He suggested that we study these attributes in Preach My Gospel. (My upcoming RS lesson is on virtue, so I'm going to do just that!)

He ended by calling these three Christlike attributes the "HOV lane." He said that when we have the Holy Ghost as our companion and use humility, are obedient, and are virtuous, we will have a smoother ride home to our Heavenly Father.

This is the first time that I paid attention during regional conference, and I'm so glad I did!

I Can't Just Pick One Beloved Teacher!

Family Search's question for September 9th was: Who was your most beloved teacher? Why?

Well, because education has been such an important part of my life, I can't pick one, so I'm going to talk about three.

I'll start with  my third grade teacher Kathy Hansen. Mrs. Hansen had been teaching for a long time by the time I came to her classroom. She had teenage children when I was her student. She was just so kind and loving, and had the perfect personality to teach 9 year olds. She had these classroom dollars that we could earn on our assignments and classroom jobs. At different times throughout the year she would hold an auction where our classroom dollars could be used. If I remember correctly, the auctions usually were around the holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. She also had a classroom game of hangman up on the board. When we behaved well as a class, or the majority of us did well on a test or assignment, we could guess a letter. If we got too out of hand she would erase a letter. The word(s) usually spelled out some type of treat, activity, or party that we would get once we figured out the word or phrase. I've kept in contact with her over the years. She doesn't teach 3rd grade anymore. She was the Assistant Principal at one point, and now I believe she works at the district, or has retired.

My sixth grade teacher, Lorri Bunce is next. Mrs. Bunce taught a

5th/6th grades combination class. There were 20 5th graders and 10 6th graders when I was in her class. It was really interesting being in that kind of class. Some lessons was everyone, while others we were split into our grade level and either got Mrs. Bunce teaching us or we had to work by ourselves - that required a lot of self-control and ability to work on our own and teach ourselves, so only students who could handle that kind of environment could be in this class. One thing Mrs. Bunce

is known for is having her students write and "publish" a book. We write a story, type it up, illustrate it, sew these giant pages together and then use cardboard, fabric, and glue to make a hardcover that holds the book together. The 5th graders made an alien in their art class and wrote their story about their alien, and the 6th graders' stories took place in Ancient Egypt. If we wanted, we could make two copies and leave one with Mrs. Bunce to show future students. I chose to make two, and years later found out that my book was one of the ones she chooses to show her new students every year when introducing the project! I'm glad she liked it, because I recently reread it, and I'm super embarrassed by it. Mrs. Bunce retired a few years ago and served a couples mission in South Korea with her husband. She now is a weight loss coach. I am also still in touch with her.

My high school English teacher, Albert Ricci, and my high school ballroom coach, Angela Williams I have already written about in previous posts, so I'll just give them an honorable mention here.

The third teacher that I want to talk about is Christie Nozawa. Mrs. Nozawa was my high school Chemistry teacher. I came into her class a week late because I had first attempted physics (which I had only taken so that I could be in the same class as the guy I was trying start to date at the time - bad idea, neither worked out). On the first day of her class she has her students take a math test, if you get below an 80% she recommends that you do not take chemistry because it will be too hard. I got exactly an 80% and didn't think I could take chemistry. I told my counselor that I should just take earth science (a freshman class that upper class-men could only take if there was no way they could pass the other science classes). Mrs. Nozawa told me to  give her class a try, she was sure that I would do just fine. I loved her class. Was I perfect at it? No. But I found most of the subject matter interesting, and I loved the lab experiments. She collaborated with the chemistry department at BYU, and BYU students came on certain days after school to tutor the high school chemistry students. I stayed after every time they did that. After each test had been graded, Mrs. Nozawa would write the scores up on the board - no names -  and drew a line to separate the 90s and above, the 80s-89s, and the rest. Those who got above a 90 could get a big candy bar, 80, a little one, 70 or below, motivation to work harder. My goal was to always be on the 90s line, it didn't always happen, but it helped me work hard. At the end of the school year Mrs. Nozawa called me into her office and said, "Weren't you so worried at the beginning of the year that you wouldn't do well? Take a look." She points to all four terms: A's for each term. Yeah, I totally freaked myself out for no reason. But those weren't easy A's! I worked my butt off for my straight A's. I didn't stay in contact with Mrs. Nozawa. I've run into her twice since graduating. But I will never forget what she taught me about hard work and self confidence.   

TOPOTC Gordon B. Hinckley: Ch. 15 The Holy Priesthood

I currently teach my ward's Relief Society the second Sunday of every month. That usually lands me on the odd number chapters for Teaching of Presidents of the Church - that is, until the new curriculum starts in 2018, which I'm super excited for! Last month the chapter I taught was titled "The Holy Priesthood." The title alone sent me into a fit of nerves. I did not feel qualified to teach this topic at all: 1. because my personal knowledge of the priesthood is minimal, and I have had to be corrected in the past when talking about it. 2. the topic of the priesthood is a sensitive topic among women, and you simply don't know who might be struggling.

The week leading up to my lesson I prayed every day for help with it, and I expressed my anxiety to Gerson, who helped me feel better.  This ended up being one of the most spiritual lesson preps that I have experienced, and I would like to share some of the things that I learned about the priesthood.

When I teach, I don't always go in order of the sections in the chapter. For this lesson I started in section 2, "The priesthood is the power and authority by which God accomplishes His work," which defines the priesthood. I used the Gospel Topics on LDS.org for help and liked this definition found in the Priesthood topic:

“The word priesthood has two meanings. First, priesthood is the power and authority of God. It has always existed and will continue to exist without end (see Alma 13:7-8; D&c 84:17-18). Through the priesthood, God created and governs the heavens and the earth. Through this power, He exalts His obedient children, bringing to pass “the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39, see also D&C 84:35-38). 

Second, in mortality, priesthood is the power and authority that God gives to man to act in all things necessary for the salvation of God’s children. The blessings of the priesthood are available to all who receive the gospel.”

Section 1 briefly covered the restoration of the priesthood. I used the Doctrine & Covenants and the Student Manuel to the Doctrine & Covenants for help, and I learned some really great things. The priesthood was restored by ancient prophets bestowing their specific keys to Joseph Smith.

John the Baptist - John the Baptist conferred the Priesthood of Aaron to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. The account can be found in Section 13 of the Doctrine and Covenants. It's only one verse long and explains that power of the Aaronic Priesthood holds the keys of "the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins."

Peter, James, and John - Peter, James, and John conferred the Melchizedek priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. According to Doctrine and Covenants Church History: Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual, Lesson 8, an official account of the restoration of the restoration of the Melchizedek was not recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. References to the event are found in the heading to D&C 13, D&C 27:12-13, and D&C 128:20.

The heading to Section 13 states that John the Baptist was acting under the orders of Peter, James, and John, and that they would confer the Melchizedek priesthood at a later date. Both of the verses in sections 27 and 128 indicate that in receiving the Melchizedek priesthood, Joseph Smith was given the keys of the kingdom, a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times.

Moses - Moses committed the keys of the gathering of Israel to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. The account can be found in D&C 110:11. According to the section heading Moses appeared to Joseph and Oliver on April 3, 1836 in the Kirtland Temple after Sabbath meetings.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie said explained what these keys mean:

"...with increasing power and in great glory, we have gathered, from their Egyptian bondage as it were, the dispersed of Ephraim and a few others, initially to the mountains of America, but now into the stakes of Zion in the various nations of the earth. The gathering of Israel is a reality. When the ten tribes return they will come at the direction of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for he now holds and will then hold the keys of presidency and direction for this mighty work.”

Elias -Elias committed the keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham. He came at the same time and place as Moses. Elder Bruce R. McConkie explains what the gospel of Abraham is:

“The man Elias brings back ‘the gospel of Abraham,’ the great Abrahamic covenant whereby the faithful receive promises of eternal increase, promises that through celestial marriage their eternal posterity shall be as numerous as the sands upon the seashore or as the stars in heaven for mulititude. Elias gives the promise - received of old by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - that in modern men and in their seed all generations shall be blessed. And we are now offering the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to all who will receive them.”

Elijah - Elijah committed the sealing keys, and appeared to Joseph Smith right after Elias. This is the well known " turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers." Joseph later explained the turning of the hearts this way:

“Now the word turn here should be translated bind, or seal. But what is the object of this important mission? Or how is it to be fulfilled? The keys are to be delivered, the spirit of Elijah is to come, the Gospel to be established, the Saints of God gathered, Zion built up, and the Saints to come up as saviors on Mount Zion.

But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples, erecting their baptismal fonts, and going forth and receiving all the ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, washings, anointings, ordinations and sealing powers upon their heads, in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead, and redeem them that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be exalted to thrones of glory with them; and herein is the chain that binds the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, which fulfills the mission of Elijah.”

Section 3 was what I wanted to focus my lesson on. The section is titled, "The blessings of the

priesthood are to be enjoyed by all." In this section President Hinckley explains how the priesthood can bless each and every one of us. I felt like this was the most applicable section to women, which is why I chose to focus on it.

President Hinckley discussed six priesthood duties/ordinances and explained how they bless us:

1. Administer the Sacrament. When we accept the administration of the sacrament and partake of it, we renew the covenants that we have made with Heavenly Father. We also keep the Holy Ghost as our companion.

2. Bestow the Holy Ghost. I'm going to let D&C 121:46 explain this one: “The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.”

3. Bless the sick. Priesthood power can bless any and all people to be healed from their ailments. I imagine the majority of us have received such blessings several times throughout our lives. President Hinckley - who was Elder Hinckley at the time - shared such an experience. He was in Japan presiding over the formation of a new stake, and he asked the mission president to give him a blessing because he wasn't feeling well. The mission president was nervous and said that he could not give the blessing in English, Elder Hinckley said that Japanese would be fine. After the blessing Elder Hinckley thanked him and looked strong and healthy the next day. The mission president later received a note from Elder Hinckley that said, "I so much appreciate the blessing which you gave me. I immediately began to feel better after that. My recovery was quick and total. Sister Hinckley and I are deeply grateful for the privilege of staying in your mission home."

That story resonated with me because it teaches that all worthy men have access to use the priesthood regardless of their status or ethnicity. President Hinckley was an apostle at the time, and the other man probably felt like "just" a mission president next to him. But it didn't matter. He was a worthy son of God who held the priesthood and could use it. It reminds me of the account in the New Testament of Jesus Christ asking John the Baptist to baptize him. John didn't feel that he was worthy to baptize Jesus, but he was and did.

4. “Bless with prophecy, to comfort, to sustain, to direct.” When I read those words from President Hinckley I took that mean father's blessings, setting apart blessings when we get a calling, etc. I remember feeling incredible support and revelation when I was set apart as a Relief Society teacher.

5. Patriarchal blessings. These blessings are given to us through a stake patriarch, and they come from God. They tell us what our lineage is and gives us advice and blessings that we can receive should we follow a path of righteousness. This is a very sacred blessing, and should not be read by just anyone. My parents were present for mine, and Gerson and I have read each other's. It is a blessing that I recommend you review frequently, when I read mine I feel so peaceful and inspired.

6. Authority to seal. Of this power President Hinckley said:

“In its ultimate expression the holy priesthood carries with it the authority to seal on the earth and have that sealing effective in the heavens. It is unique and wonderful. It is the authority exercised in the temples of God. It concerns both the living and the dead. It is of the very essence of eternity. It is divine power bestowed by the Almighty as a part of His great plan for the immortality and eternal life of man.”

This is where my lesson ended, but I would like to share a few things that stood out to me from sections 4, 5, and 6.

Section 4 talked about personal righteousness of priesthood holders. In the Priesthood section of Gospel Topics I learned about the difference between the authority of the priesthood and the power of the priesthood:

“There is a difference between the authority of the priesthood and the power of the priesthood. Priesthood authority comes from ordination. Power comes from personal righteousness.”

The areas of personal righteousness that President Hinckley discusses have been placed into bullet points below:

• D&C 121:41-42
• “Flee the evils of the world.”
• “Be faithful and true to the covenants that are associated with the priesthood of God.”
• “To every officer, to every teacher in this Church who acts in a priesthood office, there comes the sacred responsibility of magnifying that priesthood calling. Each of us is responsible for the welfare and the growth and development of others.” (Does this hold true for R.S., Primary, and Y.W. callings as well?)
• Have no attitude of dominion or compulsion over wives and children.
• Be good husbands and fathers (be good wives and mothers).
• When transgressions do happen, repent.

In Section 5 President Hinckley explains how Priesthood quorums and the Relief Society are similar

and compliment each other. He said:

"… The priesthood quorum is the Lord’s organization for men of the Church, just as the Relief Society is the Lord’s organization for women of the Church. Each has among its responsibilities, basic to its reason for being, the assisting of those in need. 

When the Relief Society was organized the Prophet Joseph said of the women of the Society: “They will fly to the relief of the stranger; they will pour in the wine and oil to the wounded heart of the distressed; they will dry up the tears of the orphan and make the widow’s heart to rejoice” [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 452]. I would hope that the same might be said of the men of the priesthood."

Section 6  briefly discusses women and the priesthood. President Hinckley said:

"The men hold the priesthood, yes. But my wife is my companion. In this Church the man neither walks ahead of his wife nor behind his wife but at her side. They are co-equals in this life in a great enterprise. 

There is strength and great capacity in the women of this Church. There is leadership and direction, a certain spirit of independence, and yet great satisfaction in being a part of this, the Lord’s kingdom, and of working hand in hand with [holders of] the priesthood to move it forward."

There is also a great quote from Elder M. Russell Ballard:

“In our Heavenly Father’s great priesthood-endowed plan, men have the unique responsibility to administer the priesthood, but they are not the priesthood. Men and women have different but equally valued roles. Just as a woman cannot conceive a child without a man, so a man cannot fully exercise the power of the priesthood to establish an eternal family without a woman. In other words, in the eternal perspective, both the procreative power and the priesthood power are shared by husband and wife” 

I have a testimony that the priesthood is the power of God. I have many wonderful and sacred experiences with it blessing my life. If you want to further study the priesthood I would recommend:

Priesthood in Gospel Topics
Aaronic Priesthood in the Bible Dictionary
Melchizedek Priesthood in the Bible Dictionary

Five Meal Planning Tips

Every once in a while I notice facebook posts asking for dinner ideas. Not new recipes for a future date, but ideas for dinner that night. So I thought that I would share how I meal plan each week and hopefully help a few friends out. 😊

1. Recipe Organization

I'm not very good at just picking and choosing what to make for dinner. So my recipe book is organized in a way to choose for me.

When I got married my mom gave me a copy of her personal cookbook. It's printed pages in page protectors in a three ring binder. (That burn mark was not planned, but it sure looks cool!) Her recipes come from Betty Crocker, Kraft, and friends and family members. I have taken away and added to it over the years as well. It's divided into sections according to food type. The two sections I use weekly are: Meats and Main Dishes and Salads. Each dinner I choose a Main Dish and a Salad (fruit or vegetable, sometimes both). The Main Dishes are organized by Beef, Meatless, Chicken, and Pork (there was a fish section originally, but Gerson doesn't like fish).  The recipes in each section started out alphabetical, but as I've taken away and added, they are now just in the order in which they were received.

When I plan meals, I go in the order that they are printed in my cookbook. I have about double the number of beef and chicken recipes than I do meatless and pork, so my order pattern is: beef, meatless, chicken, beef, chicken, pork... Depending on how many servings a recipe makes, I generally make 2-4 dinners a week.

2. Visible Menu

Being able to see my planned menu out in the open makes it easier to plan for it and keep to it.

I used to write 5-7 meals on a lined peace of paper and stick it to my fridge, and as I would make one I would cross it off. Then as I memorized how many meals a dish would feed us for, and better scheduled our evenings, I started planning specific meals for specific days on my lined piece of paper. I would cross each day/meal off as we completed it.

I eventually got tired of using up lined paper. So, with the help of Pinterest, I made a weekly menu board in which I can write my meal plans with dry/erase marker. All it took was a picture frame,
decorative stationary and stickers. It sits on my kitchen table. Gerson likes having a visible menu as well because it helps him better plan his lunches and snacks at work.

3. Grocery Shopping

Having a set time to go grocery shopping and a written list has been very helpful for me.

I go grocery shopping at the end of each week for the next week - or do Walmart Pickup depending on how busy my week has been. I use my recipe book to plan my meals, then I write my shopping list. For fresh items, I buy them for that week. For canned and boxed items, I buy for my food storage rotation. And it's all based on the ingredients in my planned meals, that way I don't buy anything that won't get eaten. Of course, things get missed and I have to go back to the store, but that's why I start to prepare my meals the night before.

4. Prep up to 24 hours before

Looking at the menu and double checking the ingredients and instructions the night before helps make meal prep the next day easier.

Almost every night after I clean up from dinner, I look at the menu for the next night. If anything is frozen that needs to be thawed, I put in the fridge the night before. Also, if anything needs to be prepared earlier in the day - like a crockpot meal or a jello salad - then I write it down on my daily to-do list so that I don't forget and leave it too late. I also try to make sure I have all of the ingredients needed, and if not I have time to make a quick run to the store.



5. Set rules for new recipes 

If you are like me, you are constantly collecting new recipes. Setting rules as a family about new recipes will benefit everyone who eats at your dinner table every night.

I used to make a new meal once a week, but that became too much for Gerson. So now I only make a new meal every other week to once a month. I also avoid making new meals while I'm pregnant (of course I'll break that rule if something looks really good!). I also have what I call the three strikes rule. When I make a new meal and we don't love it, but it has potential, I'll make it again and change what I didn't like. I'll change it one more time if needed before I scrap it. Off the top of my mind, my baked Ziti recipe has benefited from this rule.

Obviously I don't perfectly keep to my menu 100% of the time. Stuff pops up in our schedule, the kids or pregnancy does something to inhibit me making dinner, etc. But having it all prepared does make it easier, and I just move all our meals over a day if something does happen. I hope this post was helpful! Following these tips has really helped my meal planning and prep be less stressful.