Building a Village
Tackling everyday struggles together - Meal Planning.
Let’s be real…a village is not just necessary to raise children. It takes a village to live life. No matter our age or child rearing status, having others to share the load is part of what makes life enjoyable and altogether easier.
This isn’t just true for the hard moments. It is true - maybe even more so - in the everyday, seemingly mundane, repetitive tasks that fill our days from one to the next. One such task is eating. Even if you’ve figured out that frequently filling your plate with a variety of rainbow foods and good quality nutrition is the key to being the healthiest version of yourself, walking that out - actually planning that out - can be a real struggle.
Now before you go thinking I’m telling you to prep every meal ahead of time, give me a second or two more.
The other day I was reading about a well known king from Bible times. In the midst of elaborate details about his wealth and prosperity was an interestingly mundane tidbit that stood out to me for its practicality. In a kingdom where silver was so abundant it was considered virtually worthless, this man had the wisdom to practice delegation. More specifically, he did not demand that any one person organize and provide the food needed to feed his household - no small task since there were enough people to eat over 6,000lbs of flour every single day! Instead, he directed each of his 12 governors to organize and supply food for the palace household one month out of each year. While I was reading this, I had a total “Ah-ha” moment.
If such a great ruler used delegation to create opportunities for shared responsibility, why shouldn’t that work for us less-than royal people as well?
Obviously we are likely not trying to figure out how to feed thousands, but even just getting food on the table three(ish) times a day for our six-person family can seem like feeding an army. Typically, though, it is not the prep that is a challenge for me. Instead, I struggle to decide what to fix. That’s where my lightbulb moment comes in. Rather than planning for a month at a time, what if me and a few friends (like say you lovely peeps in our livableYOU community) got together and simply planned one meal and shared that with each other? Kind of like those cookie exchanges at Christmas, but instead of cooking the meal for each other (which is definitely an option as well if you have a crew close enough to you), we simply provide the grocery list, pantry list and recipe.
Eating well doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. So, how about you join me and see what we can come up with? I will get us started with a recipe below and then you shoot your own recipe over to livableYOU@gmail.com. Keep it simple. Follow this guide and join in sharing the load:
What meal have you made that makes you smile when you look at the plate because you know you are treating your body well?
What meal do you enjoy that is deliciously colorful, tasty and simple?
When you make it, what usually needs to be picked up at the grocery store and what usually is hanging out in the pantry?
Is it a quick fix, a slow and steady cooker, or a no-bake meal? (All are great options!)
We want to hear from you and benefit as a community from sharing the responsibility of feeding ourselves and our loved ones well.
written by Kelli Keller
Here is a quick meal our family enjoyed just recently.
Baked Chicken Legs, Corn and Lettuce Salad
45 minutes from start to table
Grocery List
1 Chicken leg per person
1/2 - 1 corn cob per person
Lettuce salad of your choice
Dressing of your choice
Pantry List
Olive oil
Salt, Pepper,
Onion Powder, Paprika, Garlic, Chili Powder
Foil
*Remember, leftovers make for easy lunch the next day.
Prep twice what you need and have another meal all ready to go!
