This weekend was my husband’s birthday, and Italian Cream Cake is his absolute favorite.  In the olden days, I made the original version, but many moons ago I found this lighter version of Italian Cream Cake in Cooking Light Magazine and we loved it.  It’s a more than acceptable substitute.  My only change:  I still make the original icing, with full fat butter and cream cheese.  The texture and taste are worth it!

I thought I’d focus this week on organizing life with kids—it’s something we all seem to struggle with.  I love reading Laura’s tips at I’m an Organizing Junkie but I don’t know how she does it.  I just keep trying!

One of the things I have found, without question, to be the most helpful for our family is menu planning. 

Yuck, I know!

For years I have vacillated between having a great weekly plan and going out to eat four times a week because I don’t even look in the pantry until it’s already time to eat.  Last January, I was fed up with the kids complaining about not liking dinner, so I sat down and started making a list of the meals they like, that we liked, too.  When I finished, there were about 17 meal ideas, and I thought, “Hey, that’s more than half of the month!”  I decided to plan the weeknight meals for the entire month of January, which meant I only had to come up with 3 more.  I printed the menu, posted it on the fridge, and lo and behold, it worked!  The biggest surprise was that on the nights I made something the kids didn’t particularly care for, they stopped complaining…because they knew we were having something they liked the next night.  It was beautiful!

I suppose the bigger surprise is that I’ve kept it up.  I took July and August off—we grill most summer nights anyway—but I’ve printed a menu every other month.  I know, shocking, right?!

I keep all of the past menus for future planning, rely on Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday (and her participants) for some new ideas, and love to Google a few ingredients I have on hand to see what ideas pop up.

So if you’re among the many who find ourselves foraging the pantry at 5PM, give it a whirl. 

Other ideas?  Bring ‘em on and post ‘em here!