As I begin week 5 of my no repeat dinner game I am learning quite a bit about myself, my family and other families.

I have found we love having meals together.  My children love to sit at the kitchen table and eat our meals together.  We ask Disney trivia questions and try to redesign the parks and rides for Disney to make them better.  We talk about things happening in our lives, in our dreams and our house.

I have found out I love being organized and planning ahead.  But, I have also learned I need to be flexible or I will drive myself crazy.  I can switch meals on my plan and it is okay.  The world will not end.

When I tell other parents about my game they think I am crazy.

They ask questions about how my children feel about it.  Don’t my children want their favorite meals more often?  Maybe but they like the variety and they are learning they really do like more foods and flavors than they think they do.  I have compensated some by asking what they want to eat on certain holidays and their birthday so that I can try not to repeat those meals and they can have them on their special day.  My daughter has chosen homemade macaroni and cheese and my son has chosen garlic shrimp for their birthdays.

It is definitely budget friendly to plan ahead.  Our grocery bill is now down to about $275 for two full weeks.  That is lunches, breakfasts and dinners.  My son is gluten-free, mostly soy free and food coloring free so buying his bread, pasta, pretzels, rice milk and few snacks is a good $50-$75 of that bill bi-weekly.  It would definitely be less without the specialty foods but they help him to feel normal so I will continue buying them for him.

Overall, it is still a success.  I need to get to the computer a bit more often to post my pictures and recipes but I am keeping this game going as long as I can.