I just love it when all I have to do after work is reheat the food for dinner. Tomorrow I think it will be frozen pizza; my son will be happy about this. But for Thursday??? At least Fridays are designated as pizza night from wherever we decide; Dominos, Pizza Hut, etc.
Do any of you plan your dinners in advance like a week in advance?
Are you kidding? It's a standing joke in our house of "You're married to a caterer ..... your mother is a caterer.....of COURSE there's no food in the house! That's why we live on fast food!"
Tuesday is American Idol and Hot Wings night (they are cheaper on Tuesday so that works out). That's pretty much the closest we get to "planning" dinner around here!
I plan out my dinners but im one of those insane list makers. I find it easier to sit down and write out what im going to cook and what I need to make those meals so when I make my weekly trip into town I get everything I need instead of having to run to the local overpriced store daily. But very rarely do I ever make what I planed on the days I planned it for.
I meal plan before I go shopping, I plan 5-6 meals a week 1 leftover night and one possible take out night if I am too tired to cook .... then I create a shopping list off that. It is so easy and less stressful wen we do it that way so I am not scrambling last minute wondering what to cook and stressing about how much takeout will be, and we do not eat fast food so that is not an option for us.
I just can't do lists because HOW can you know what looks good at the market that day?
I do only grocery shop once a week and buy all my fruits and veggies fresh, but what I DECIDE to make for the week is usually decided on while grocery shopping once I see what's on sale and what looks good - they don't always go together.
I "try" to make meals that can be reheated the next day - at least the meat part. Like If I'm going to make schnitzel (breaded pork or chicken) I make a LOT and heat them up in the toaster oven the next day. When I make lasagna, I make a HUGE (and I mean HUMONGOUS pan) and very deep and we eat that for two days and then I'll freeze about 5 meals from it (or more!).
One of our favorite leftover meals is great becauase it's NOT the same every night. I'll roast a chicken and make roasted potatoesthe first night, next night we'll eat the roasted chicken with rice or something else, and the third night I've now taken every little bit of chicken left and I cook that with carrots and celery, turnip, onion and a tomato and a bit of chicken stock (better than bouillon) and then make farmer noodles/spaetzle/egg noodles to mix with it to make chicken and noodles.
When I make fajitas, I make for two days, just make the salsa each day and so on.
I guess I should learn to make some new things, but part of the beauty of KNOWING how to make a fair number of things by heart is that i can go to the store and decide then and there what I need and not have to think "Oh, what can I make with eggplant - they look so nice today and they're on sale".
We still order pizza about every 10 days just because I don't feel like cooking though because even with leftovers, you can run out! LOL
Melissa
I make my list and decide what we're having for the week. That is the only way I can keep to my grocery budget! I do buy fresh fruits/veggies, and don't know what they will be til I get there, but the main things, I know. I always buy bananas, grapes, apples and my boys will only eat fresh brocolli, so most of the others are frozen. I don't see how pwoplw can stick to a budget without planning for the week. If I didn't plan, I would be at the store every other day. I also like planning ahead, because I know what choices I have for dinner, and don't have to worry about figuring it out that day or the day before.
I make my list and decide what we're having for the week. That is the only way I can keep to my grocery budget! I do buy fresh fruits/veggies, and don't know what they will be til I get there, but the main things, I know. I always buy bananas, grapes, apples and my boys will only eat fresh brocolli, so most of the others are frozen. I don't see how pwoplw can stick to a budget without planning for the week. If I didn't plan, I would be at the store every other day. I also like planning ahead, because I know what choices I have for dinner, and don't have to worry about figuring it out that day or the day before.
Well, it's true, we don't have a tight budget for groceries. Money is tight, but we have always felt that buying good food is better than buying the cheapest food (just our personal decision). We don't got out to eat or buy other unnecessary things so that we can enjoy good food always.
With that said, my grocery bill is almost identical every week, so I know if I've bought the "usual". At the grocery store for a family of four for all meals (we don't buy lunches out). It includes anything from the grocery store including diapers/wipes, cat litter cleaning supplies, etc. My bill weekly is about $200 and that even includes some baking supplies.
we live in an expensive area too so food prices are a bit higher than some other places we've lived.
Melissa
I also do my grocery shopping once a week. I like to plan out about 2 - 3 dinners a week and the other days are either leftover days and we probably get pizza or take-out once a week. My husband is a firefighter and works 24 hr. shifts so we don't have as many family dinner nights as a lot of other families do. When he is at work, it is only me and my 17 mo. son so I might make something small for my DS and then I have whatever is around.
I also do my grocery shopping once a week. I like to plan out about 2 - 3 dinners a week and the other days are either leftover days and we probably get pizza or take-out once a week. My husband is a firefighter and works 24 hr. shifts so we don't have as many family dinner nights as a lot of other families do. When he is at work, it is only me and my 17 mo. son so I might make something small for my DS and then I have whatever is around.
Why are we like that (I am the same way). When DH is gone, or kids are gone, we don't make a meal for ourselves? I NEVER cook if DH isn't going to be home - we make that a special night out or ordering in (which we rarely do). It's not that DH hates food out, but that the "production" of a meal isn't worth the effort for just me or me and the kids (might be differen tnot that there are two kids to cook for instead of just one). I know I'm not alone in this either!
Melissa
...Why are we like that (I am the same way). When DH is gone, or kids are gone, we don't make a meal for ourselves?
Oh so true! When I had those 3-4 day catering events, and we were on-site all day, my son and almost-daughter-in-law worked it with me. My son finally said, "Mom, we notice that you don't eat when you do these, but we're kinda used to 3 meals a day!" The next day, they brought their own food for lunch! hahahaha! So I had to make sure to tell them when it was ok for them to take off and get some lunch! I just get so engrossed in what I'm doing that I eat later.
On weddings day, my 14-yr old is always telling me "You have to go to Wendy's and get something to eat mom". When I tell her I'm not hungry, she tells me "At least get some nuggets ... .you need the protein!" (How'd she get so smart?)
when I worked my dh and I ran through a different fast food place each night ... since I was let go and just stay at home we go grocery shopping every single Sunday and we buy dinners until the following Sunday. Now usually once a week we say ... egh lets just get a pizza but for the most part I have dinner on the stove when he walks in from work and we really like it that way ... its A LOT cheaper now then what it used to be!! Also the dinners taste so much better!!
I never said I buy cheap food, I just said I have to make a list to stick to my bufget. Just because something isn't fresh, and it's frozen, doens't mean it's cheap or isn't good. There are some times in the year when it's better to buy things that are fozen than fresh. I cook healthy, balanced meals for my family. Just beccause I make a list to stick to a budget doesn't make me cheap, it makes me smart. I don't have $200 a week to buy food!
I never said I buy cheap food, I just said I have to make a list to stick to my bufget. Just because something isn't fresh, and it's frozen, doens't mean it's cheap or isn't good. There are some times in the year when it's better to buy things that are fozen than fresh. I cook healthy, balanced meals for my family. Just beccause I make a list to stick to a budget doesn't make me cheap, it makes me smart. I don't have $200 a week to buy food!
I wasn't implying YOU bought cheap food, just that we/my family doesn't buy cheap food and that's our choice of where to spend the money. Our clothes? from second hand shops for the little one and ebay and Marshalls, yet our food? 'nother story! LOL
And I do list, but mentally - I always need bread, milk, juice, eggs, some meat, some veggies, diapers, etc. ONCE in awhile I'll forget something, but not usually. I have a really good memory. Only for new recipes and holidays do I need a list to remember it all.
Also, in the DC area this is the most expensive area I've ever been for food. Unsalted butter when not on sale is $3.99, Organic milk 1/2 gallon is $3.99, Tropicana 1/2 gallon juice is $3.69 and sometimes higher. Bananas 69 cents a pound, green peppers usually $1.99 a pound, Gala or Fuji or Granny Smith applies $1.99 a pound. Organic free range eggs $3.99 a dozen, and so on. As I said, Ihave a good memory!
Melissa
melissa
I like using leftovers and I like picking up food bargains in the reduced section (but still good quality) - but only if I know I will definitely be using them up. When I'm in the mood for cooking I try to plan and cook so that a meal will last over two days.
On Sunday we had a leg of lamb (reduced to less than half price), homemade gravy made using meat juices, Boulangere potatoes (made from scratch) fresh carrots and then frozen beans and broccoli - frozen green veg are a much better bet nutritionally than the supermarket stuff around here, unless there is a Farmers' Market. Monday we had lamb sliced in gravy with the remainder of the Boulangere potatoes and fresh vegetables. There was enough lamb left over to make lunchbox sandwiches. Tuesday I made an Italian liver dish with lambs liver that had been reduced to a ridiculous 30p for 12 oz. This made 2 meals' worth. Tonight we had a meat-free meal - a vegetable bake with plum tomatoes. Tomorrow we're having fish pie with a creamed potato topping and vegetables.
I buy organic milk and freerange chicken. We occasionally buy ready meals to put in the freezer, but again, only if they're heavily reduced in price as both of us were bought up in families that made most meals from scratch and I suppose it goes against our 'inherited' home-cooking ethic, plus our income is modest and also I cannot bear to look at the ingredients list printed on the sides of some of the prepared meal packets. I have a breadmaker (a great standby for when I forget to pick up bread and for making pizza bases). If I'm not in the mood for cooking then it will be a case of potluck. We have a takeaway meal about twice a year, if that.
Sometimes the best meals are the simplest such as poached eggs, or beans on toast.
At school in our home economy lessons we were drilled in the delights of 'rechauffee' cookery -how to make four meals from one small chicken - rissoles from roast leftovers, and so on. Our teacher was a demon as she began her teaching career at the school during the 2nd World War and many of the quantities of ingredients in the recipes we learned harked back to the days of food rationing at its most stringent. Macaroni cheese to serve four using 1oz of 'mousetrap'... springs to mind. These days it seems it is rare for children to have the same grounding in cookery that we had. Home Economics how has a technical modern name (which escapes me) and rather than concentrating on food and nutrition and how to plan meals and prepare food, children do things like design packaging for a ready meal. It's all beyond me.. Sorry to have gone off topic.
I am one of the weird ones, lol...I'm obsessed with list-making.
I live in a large family (10 in the house), and I'm in charge of a LOT of the cooking. So we have a calender we made up with the meals (well, dinner anyway) for the entire month posted on the refrigerator. We buy pretty much everything in bulk, we have to. But it lasts us a while, where we don't have to go major grocery shopping every week, except for produce, obviously. It ends up saving us a lot in the long run.
I also try to make a menu for the entire month but do the grocery shopping once a week. I like not having to think about what we're having for dinner every night. I can just look at the calendar in the morning. I have found that by planning ahead we do less eating out. Of course, the calendar isn't set in stone and we do stray from it at times.
Why are we like that (I am the same way). When DH is gone, or kids are gone, we don't make a meal for ourselves? I NEVER cook if DH isn't going to be home -
Melissa
I know I do it because I get so tired of cooking!! I used to be really good at planning meals for two weeks at a time. But I still have to go back for fresh stuff. But lately I feel in such a rut. I've got 3 kids and I baby-sit adn I'm just plain tired at the end of the day and dread making a mess tha I have to clean up, kwim? So when my DH is not home for supper, cooking is the last thing on my mind!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%