New Year's Resolutions 2011 Part 5: First Goal

Using my goal writing tips I will work on my first goal:

Creating a Family Meal Routine

1. We would like to develop a way to plan our menus and set times for our meals.  Initially we would like to try to have Breakfast at 6 am,  Snack at 10:00, Lunch at Noon, Snack at 3:00 pm, and Dinner at 6 pm.  I hope to have a workable routine in place by March.
2. Now   Our meals follow this schedule much of the time, but not all of the time.  Strengths  We have two adult cooks, I have time to menu plan and shop, we are motivated to try this, our work schedules are planned in advance which allows us to plan who will cook when, we have been experimenting with freezing meals, we have a number of quick meals in our repertoire  Weaknesses  Our 4 year-old often wakes at 5 am, although our work schedules are planned in advance they are not always convenient, our kitchen is cold and uncomfortable in winter (so we eat in the living room often), our son is becoming a picky eater lately---maybe because of haphazard meals in the living room with distractions, we have two very different eating traditions (the African way of eating 2 meals a day, on the floor, with a communal plate, with our hands, and the English style of eating 3 meals a day, at the table with a knife and fork), different food preferences (i.e. spicy vs. plain)  Research/Help  We could explore more quick recipes as well as meals we can freeze in advance
3. For this week, I will plan the menu on paper.  I will focus on quick and easy rather than cordon bleu because I would like to work on the times of meals.  Both adults are off work this week and so I hope this will make our task easier.
4. I plan to evaluate how we are doing on Thursday, when I will make the new menu and shopping list.  We will have groceries delivered next Friday as usual.