i suck at picking out meals for the week.
Posted by longer_look on Jun 03, 2010 · Member since Feb 2010 · 369 posts
it is the bane of my existence.
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it is the bane of my existence.
so do I. Every time I do, I end up spending WAY more than I would have if I hadn't made one, AND by the time that nights meal comes up, I either don't feel like eating that or am just to tried to cook it.
well, I'm awesome at it - I even do it for 2 weeks at a time, rather than just one!
well, I'm awesome at it - I even do it for 2 weeks at a time, rather than just one!
please share with your family as to how you're so allsum at it...
i just gave each kid in my class a sticky note and asked them what i should make my family tonight. i don't even know what some of this is. but i can make it all vegan.
-pop tarts
-macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dog's. yummy.
-cheeseburgers
-u should take them out to eat. i know you can't cook.
-steak with mac and cheese
-potatoes and calbasa
-a casroll
-cobstew
-popsickles
-grilled tilopia with seasoned shrimp on top of a mozzarella drizzled to top all of with a side of brocli.
-ster fry with shrimp and ice cream
-pasta
-spagetti w/o meatballs (just sauce with meat in it), with texas toast garlic bread.
-kids (steak)
-bbq pizza
-pizza rolls
-hot pockets
-enchiladas
-homemade mac and cheese
-grilled cheese and tomato soup
-yummy food
-a goober sandwhich
-steaks are yummy with mashed potatoes and corn. yum.
-turkey, mac and cheese, and green beans
how old are these kids?
13-14
well, I'm awesome at it - I even do it for 2 weeks at a time, rather than just one!
please share with your family as to how you're so allsum at it...
I dunno, I just make a list of 12 or so meals I wanna make over the next two weeks, then make a grocery list of everything I'll need - minus some produce because it would surely go bad before 2 weeks was up....I have a notebook solely for this purpose...
some good suggestions...BBQ pizza is my husbands fave!
I write a list of recipes I want to try. I start off with something I have most of the ingredients for, and write something with similar ingredients underneath it. I keep this list on my fridge, and I go to the grocery store for 4-5 days and I pick up ingredients for 3 of those meals. I cross them off my list as I make them, and add new recipes as I find one that sounds appealing.
I'm great at making menus. It's usually meals for about ten days or so.
I leave it open and chose what we eat the night before, from the list. I also make sure to have at least three very simple recipes for those days that I don't feel like making supper. Another good thing is to anticipate that, make a meal on the weekend that is easily freezable and do so in single servings, (so it thaws more quickly). << That is good for taking out the night before a very busy day.
Then there are a few go to recipes that make cameo appearances throughout the week without even being on the list, or more accurately, they are on a back up list.
As far as breakfasts and lunches, that comes from things we always have in the cupboard/fridge.
So as you see, it's not set in stone, it's more of a guideline with recipes that I really would like to make/eat. It works quite well.
My best success has come from keeping a decent stockpile of about 30 core ingredients on hand ranging from things like Miso, tofu, salad greens, and tahini in the fridge/frozen vegetables and cooked beans in the freezer/bulk flours, dried fruit, and grains in the cupboard. Based on that, I have certain amount set that I can go spend on unique ingredients to make other things during the course of the week. That has seemed to work the best at keeping the food budget down and wasted items at a minimum.
so do I. Every time I do, I end up spending WAY more than I would have if I hadn't made one, AND by the time that nights meal comes up, I either don't feel like eating that or am just to tried to cook it.
Same! Seriously,every time I try to plan meals out, I spend more by I swear a factor of two. And so often by the the time that I do feel like making it, half the ingredients have gone bad or been used in something else.
-u should take them out to eat. i know you can't cook.
Ahha.
i suggest eating goober sandwiches every day
that will take out all the guesswork and give you primo water cooler chitchat
popsickles! lol. good for when you're sick on a hot day.
I also am good at making recipes for the week, but only for one week. I go grocery shopping weekly so I make my menus weekly.
I have about 10-15 recipes that I choose from for the most part, occasionally I try something new. I love it, it saves boocoo money, and I don't get that frustration as to "what should I make for dinner tonight?" I hate that. Part of the trick is to make each night a specific thing, for instance, Monday are tofu and rice reicipes, tuesdays nights are some sort of bean with rice recipe, Weds is pasta with sauce, Thursday is a different bean and rice recipe, Fridays is leftovers, and Saturday is pizza, sunday is leftovers.
For instance next week it is:
Monday: tofu stirfry with rice
Tuesday it is Chana Masala
Weds it will be pasta with cashew alphredo sauce
Thurday it is going to be ABC lentils
Friday, leftovers
Saturday Pizza with homemade pizza dough and whatever veggies I have in the fridge.
Every week the general theme is the same but the recipes may change a bit, for instance, the following week Tuesday night may be black beans and rice and Weds pasta with tomato sauce.
Works really well for me. But it took some getting used to. But I was able to cut my grocery bill in half doing this.
Oh and hey longer_look, polaska keilbaska with mac n cheese is one thing I REALLY miss from non-veg*n days... :'(
I can't really meal plan well either... I just have necessities around and just go with it... I tried the whole planning thing and just wasted money and forgot what the hell recipes I bought weird ingredients for... This is probably my fault BTW... But I plan on making a real recipe maybe once or twice a week... The rest of the week I whip up random stuff from my stocked pantry... I always have tons of veggies in my fridge too
I tried the whole planning thing and just wasted money and forgot what the hell recipes I bought weird ingredients for...
Totally the same. I cleaned out my pantry yesterday. I have a whole pile of stuff on the counter now that I still have no idea what I planning to make them with, or what in the world I am going to make with them now.
well, I'm awesome at it - I even do it for 2 weeks at a time, rather than just one!
please share with your family as to how you're so allsum at it...
I dunno, I just make a list of 12 or so meals I wanna make over the next two weeks, then make a grocery list of everything I'll need - minus some produce because it would surely go bad before 2 weeks was up....I have a notebook solely for this purpose...
some good suggestions...BBQ pizza is my husbands fave!
similar thing. I write down recipes I want to make on a notepad (usually lasts about a month when filled up), with the ingredients that I'd have to buy (e.g., i exclude garlic and carrots and soy sauce, etc, because i always have those). At the beginning of the month I get all the less perishable stuff, and get the perishable stuff every week. I decide what I'm going to make the following week just by picking 5-7 recipes (i usually try to balance it out, like not too many bean-type recipes or just enough so the last week isn't filled with them). As I make things, I cross them off the list.
I've been doing that for the past year, and it's worked pretty well for me. I don't really buy things I don't already have on the list, so I don't wind up with a ton of extra stuff in the cabinet unless I really had to buy a whole package of something that I didn't use all of.
i like the kid's response who says you can't cook. more entertaining than another "yummy steak and pre-packaged food."
similar thing. I write down recipes I want to make on a notepad (usually lasts about a month when filled up), with the ingredients that I'd have to buy (e.g., i exclude garlic and carrots and soy sauce, etc, because i always have those). At the beginning of the month I get all the less perishable stuff, and get the perishable stuff every week. I decide what I'm going to make the following week just by picking 5-7 recipes (i usually try to balance it out, like not too many bean-type recipes or just enough so the last week isn't filled with them). As I make things, I cross them off the list.
I've been doing that for the past year, and it's worked pretty well for me. I don't really buy things I don't already have on the list, so I don't wind up with a ton of extra stuff in the cabinet unless I really had to buy a whole package of something that I didn't use all of.
yep, this exactly!
I don't have a lot of cabinet space, so planning is key.
i should change the title of this thread to.... i suck and picking out what i want to eat. i can stare at 13000 recipes all day long and not decide.
make the lentil tacos! seriously, do it.
I'm a total planner! I make my menu out a week in advance so I know what to shop for. My husband thinks I'm crazy and always asks "how in the world do you know what you want to eat NEXT Wednesday?!" He has the hardest time contributing, hehe. I also have a notebook for planning purposes, and I write down ideas for new things. Lately, I've been trying to plan using the food pyramid as a guide and that has been interesting! DH can't believe that he's supposed to eat like 3.5 cups of veggies a day, lol.
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