Meal planning

A

amanda_pennsylvania

Well-known member
So after a few months off from cooking, I am back in the kitchen. But my meal planning skills are a little rusty. I find that I often get to 4pm and don't know what we're going to have for dinner.

How does everyone plan meals? Do you gaze into your larder, pull out three or four things, and whip up a meal? (I've never been able to do this.) Or do you plan ahead and have on hand specific ingredients for specific meals?

I find I do better with a plan for the week, which really only means cooking three or four times; we can make leftovers last a while. But I seem to have forgotten how to do this...so here I am, it's 4:30-ish, and I don't know what we're having for dinner. Sigh.

 
join the club. I have some thawed chicken breasts, artichokes. I guess that's going to be it.

quick on the grill, boil and butter!!!

 
I live alone and am very fortunate in that I don't mind eating the same thing several times so I

tend to make a few things over the weekend and then heat them up during the week. I love to cook but hate cooking on a time schedule or when I'm tired at night. I also freeze part of what I cook within a few days of having made it so have that as back-up. I also like to make large pots of soup, chili & pasta sauces & freeze.

 
I sometimes buy things that are on sale and try to make multi-purpose meals using

the same ingredient but turning the leftover sale item into different dishes. I also try to use up whatever perishables I have on hand and then google for recipes.

 
This happens all too often. I need to discipline myself to get to the freezer the night

before so I don't end up thawing something at the last minute.

On a good day, I plan the day ahead. And I have far too much on hand all the time so that I don't have many limitations. I'm still disgusted with myself with how much food is here, but then we don't eat out much anymore.

Tonight it's leftover duck in rice wraps and I know that I have everything for the wraps and the dip. But what else with it? Maybe an oriental salad? Sesame fried corn? ??

 
I always buy things on sale, like fresh lamb shoulder. When it's $2.50 per lb, I'll get the butcher

to cut it into various thicknesses and to give me a couple of uncut pieces to roast or braise. I separate into 2 servings when I get home and freeze everything. So then I do Moroccan style, various Italian styles, French and so on so we don't get bored. And it will all last 2 months or more.

 
This transition became a real issue for me after I had kids - it is still an issue

sometimes almost 10 years later!

In general, I really transformed my style of cooking, because I did not have the amount of free time to devote to it as I had previously. Simpler and quicker ruled the day.

I did learn to cook more from the larder, and rely more on staple items that are flexible. Sometimes I don't have the time or inclination to cook, so having things like grain mixes, grill ready items like chicken breasts, steaks, etc, and a reasonable variety of veggies on hand (frozen or canned) will be very handy for nights like tonight.

Last night, we had breakfast for dinner - waffles with fruit and bacon.

 
I'm with Marg - I go with what's leftover in the freezer, or whatever

I have in the freezer to thaw the day or night before. There's always chicken and hamburg and usually a steak or two in there so I'm never really stuck.

Once a month or so I make several freeze-ahead main casseroles to put in the freezer for the occasion when I just want to "heat up" dinner. And maybe once or twice a week I plan to make a specific dish and buy food to make side dishes at the store just for that night or the next.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I always make sure I have a protein, potato or other starch, a green vegetable, usually another orange/yellow/red vegetable and/or a salad.

So it's a combination of winging it and planning, depending on the situation. A good idea would be to make a list of your favorite entrees and assign them to a day of the week or month, then just plan the rest of the meal around it. I often look at the "month of menus" at Woman's Day if I'm uninspired on my own.

'Hope you're doing better Amanda and howdy to the little baby.

 
I live alone also and usually meal planning is pretty much winging it. I by a protein I am craving.

and plan the meal around that. I usually have some salmon and shrimp in the freezer. when chickens are on sale put and extra in, same with lamb. Get favorite frozen veggies on sale and berries for cereal.

Even at work where I feed 25-30, meals aren't written in stone. Every four days or so I do a big freezer pull. Usually always have burger, chicken breasts and a few other basics thawed. But weather (rough seas), change in work schedule, or port calls can make a change necessary. Keep a good supple of produce and dairy. And freezer also has fruits and vegs.

So, guess I am just a mess, even paid to be one!
when I first get home from a job and need to get to store, it's cheese, crackers, olives, smoked salmon from my stash. Cold cereal and aseptic milk.
Nan

 
I keep my freezer, pantry, and refer well stocked. I have no problem prepping dinner in the morning

after breakfast. Get the meat marinated, seasoned or whatever. Wash the veggie, cut up and put back into the refer. Make a salad or prep a starch and I'm good to go. If it is something that requires more work, like soup, casserole or slow cooker meal, I do it. I dislike cooking in the afternoons and rarely do so.
I like getting my dinner thoughts taken care of first thing. Then I have the rest of the day.

 
Another thought, when we had kids at home.....

every Friday I made out a menu working around the kids activities. I posted the menus on the refer because they drove me nuts wanting to know what was for dinner. I knew what night they had basketball practice, or when skating lessons were. I'd make a casserole or crockpot meal and have leftovers for the nights we had to run. We always sat down with the kids for dinner, even if it was a sandwich night.

 
My other issue with meal planning too far in advance is that what sounds good

the day or two before might not be appealing the day of preparation.

Anyone else have this problem?

 
When I get home at 5 and haven't planned

anything, and there are no left overs, I just start pulling stuff from the fridge, the pantry, and sometimes the freezer, and let it go where it goes. I can start off going to Mexico but end up in Thailand before I'm finished. That's the fun of it. It's amazing what you can do with a potato, a stalk of broccoli, and some frozen chicken breasts or fish.

THe key for me is always having a well stocked pantry with pastas, tinned tomatoes, fresh veggies in the fridge, small portions of large packages of meat you've trimmed off and frozen for emergency thawing, a variety of roots in your root cellar (potato, carrot, turnip, celery), lots of spices, herbs, and pots of herbs, etc.

 
A dry-erase board in the kitchen helps me update what's in the pantry, fridge, and freezer.

On Monday mornings, I usually take a look at the board, update it, and see what I can pull together for the week. On the shopping list go the meats, fish, and greens to supplement things.

To be honest, I rarely look at recipes anymore, since shopping for a recipe gets expensive quickly. (I should point out that I'm out of work, which explains why I shop on Monday morning, when the rest of the sane world is making a living. Maybe I should stop using expensive recipes.)

And I normally just orbit the outer ring of the market; we pretty much skip everything on the inner aisles (except the baking and rice ones). But this concerns budget more than meal-planning, I guess. smileys/smile.gif

So, by Monday afternoon, I update the contents of the pantry, fridge, and freezer on the board again. That gives me about 5-6 ideas for dinners, which I scrawl on the bottom of the board.

Then I go have a drink. (Just kidding!) smileys/wink.gif

 
I even do that with a planned menu at work, will have shrimp out and mincing garlic, peppers, and

so forth. Look at the cilantro--o.k. and then the ginger, here must decide which continent? Realy confuses a crewmember when they walk by and ask what I'm doing with the shrimp and I give them a dazed look?

Am actually planning meals at home more now. Went through files and printed out recipes I really want to try. Am shopping so some ingredients cover a couple of recipes.
will have some reports.
Nan

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top