That's usually what I ask myself about three in the afternoon, when I'm tired and the last thing I want to do is prepare a meal. If it was just me, I could live on salad and soup...(or chocolate, but that wouldn't be wise!) BUT, I'm not the only one who lives here. My better half really appreciates a full course meal when he gets home at the end of the day. Unfortunately, he's not one of those husbands who loves to putter in the kitchen and creatively whip up some mouthwatering dish for the two of us to enjoy. It seems that that has been (and will always be) my responsibility, unless we are barbequing. He happily does that! Thankfully, he is easy to please and rarely complains when my meals are simple and even a little boring or questionable.
I fondly remember, when the kids were little, serving homemade fruit salad and popcorn for supper on Sunday nights. That was a big hit back then. Easy for me and yummy for the kids. Don't know how healthy it was, but it could have been worse. I could have fed them Kraft dinner. Oh wait, I DID sometimes feed them Kraft dinner. Yikes, I'd never do that now!
I need to get that cooking spark back! Been thinking about how to organize my meal planning a little better, now that work once again keeps me busy most of the day. I like to use fresh, whole, rather than prepared/boxed foods, as much as possible, but I do give myself slack and will buy prepared foods (like Delisio pizza) once in a while, especially on the days when I REALLY don't want to cook!
Well, I had a little brainwave today (that happens now and then!). I grabbed a notebook, my iPad, and a pen. I opened my Pinterest Tasty Dishes board and began to plan for at least 6 meals. I'm wrote them in my notebook - the meals on the left hand page, and the grocery list on the right. Then I photocopied the grocery list and tucked it inside my purse. Ready to go shopping!
The notebook will become my meal planning book. Not too planned (no specific days), but enough, so that I can choose my recipes on a daily basis, knowing that the ingredients are in the house. And, the great thing is, once I have a number of pages completed, I can go back, photocopy the ingredient list, and start over! Saves planning every week ad nauseum! The trick is to do this regularly, so the book fills up!
Do you have a system for meal planning, or do you fly by the seat of your pants? Been known to eat breakfast cereal for supper? Or something stranger? Do share!
I do have a system for meal planning, shopping; did blog the list a few entries back and plan to blog my dinner planning in the near future, but it does take planning like you said. I do like your system and I like that you will eventually go back and repeat those items; I told hubby I need to do something similar, write down the menus on the calendar and then repeat them month to month :)
ReplyDeleteI do find planning and organizing it does make things so much more easier and run more smoothly.
betty
I am terrible at planning meals (which is ironic, because that was my job for 3 months this year). When I grocery shop, I buy all my staples and then wander through the store for something to catch my eye to fill in the blanks.
ReplyDeleteSince I no longer have car I put off grocery shopping until the weekends when I can borrow Paul's. That didn't happen last weekend, so I have been eating a lot of yogurt and cereal. I even had a whole mashed yam for dinner once!
Flying by the seat of my pants...oh yeah!
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