Anyone meal plan like me?

[PollyannaMom]

DH is on a "heart-healthy" diet, so I cook from scratch more than I used to. I usually plan 2-3 days in advance, but I agree the clean-up is the worst part!

 

[LilyWDW]

I try to eat at home as much as possible due to financial restraints. Normally I make 2-3 meals a week and then have leftovers the other nights. It's just me, so if I make soup or something it can last me a long while.

 

[mombrontrent]

I don't meal plan at all. I usually just wander through the grocery store and buy what's on sale and what looks good at the moment. I work at a grocery store store so usually I'm picking up something or another on the way home. My Dh works nights so it's just me and the kids here at dinner and just before 4:00 when my shift ends I start getting texts from the kids asking can we have this or that for dinner and I grab what I need for it.

Weekends I cook bigger meals when we are all home and me and dh use leftovers for our lunches (if the kids don't devour them before we can get to them). The kids make their own lunches or buy, meaning the 10 year old throws a few snacks in her lunch and the two teens either go hungry because they are too lazy to make something or buy something if they have money.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

DH is on a "heart-healthy" diet, so I cook from scratch more than I used to. I usually plan 2-3 days in advance, but I agree the clean-up is the worst part!

Any "heart healthy", quick & easy recipes to share? Due to health & time constraints, I don't have much time to cook, but I like to cook healthy, when I can.

 

[kimblebee]

I have nothing to add, but I just tried to like your new tags LOL

Mine is from the actual tag fairy and carried over from the old boards. Man, you should have been around in the days after the switch

 

[ols386]

Yep, I think about planning and that's about it. Like Low-key after being at work for 9 hours then coming home and working out, it's whatever is easiest. I hate to cook and that doesn't help. We grew up living from pay check to pay check, my mom was a stay at home mom (the 50s) and we had 6 kids (5 boys) she was a master at meal planning. Daddy got paid once a month so she planned out a whole month worth of meals and boy she stuck to her plan. She did love to cook though and could cook hamburger in a thousand ways.

She sounds like a talented lady. So you had 5 brothers?

 

[Canooknic]

I love cooking so 99% of the time have plans, I'm panicking a little though because we got home from POR early (early, early!) this morning so I've not had time to plan anything and I start my new full-time job on Tuesday!!!
10 years of complete organization and now I actually NEED to be planned it's all gone out the window!!!

 

[CdnCarrie]

I can say that we have never had popcorn for supper. And we really don't do takeout much as that is gross and expensive. We eat out maybe once a month and order pizza in once.

Now I have tried so many times over the years to meal plan as I'm sure it would cut down on costs but just can never be that disciplined. The rule of thumb around here is one spouse cooks (first one home) and the other cleans up. We always have easy to heat up stuff for those days you really don't feel like doing much cooking - farmer sausage and perogies, chicken fingers and frozen fries (good chicken fingers from butcher), bagels and tuna to make tuna melts. Simple things.

 

[Skippy918]

That meme is dead on. I don't mind cooking if someone else decides what we are having. I hate that figuring out what to cook always falls on me, meanwhile dh and the kids are all finicky. Its annoying when you make something you've made before and then your child says they don't like it.

 

[jevs]

That meme is dead on. I don't mind cooking if someone else decides what we are having. I hate that figuring out what to cook always falls on me, meanwhile dh and the kids are all finicky. Its annoying when you make something you've made before and then your child says they don't like it.

Especially when you made it last week and they thought it was the best thing ever.

 

[wishesuponastar]

I feel your pain. My kids are always complaining about food that they used to eat and now don't want it. Very frustrating

 

[LovesTimone]

Meal planning was necessary thing to keep in the budget, when I was a single mom, with dinner and making/taking lunches for DD and myself, Then I just kept up with it when I got remarried and now that we are empty nester I still meal plan.

I do a lot of 2 for 1 meals, and then once a month a go all out and make freezer meals. Which helps when you get to the end of the week and don't want to cook you just take something out of the freezer, put it in the frig to thaw, in the oven when you get home and presto dinner is served...or if you need a pot luck dish for work, church, or get-together.... easy peasy.

It is hard to get started but once you do you can really see the rewards, which helps you keep focused, then become routine.

At our church we are going start some cooking classes, and we have had such a huge response that we are now going to offer some classes, on stocking a pantry, couponing, getting the most from the sales flyer, warehouse shopping, then the actual classes in cooking, the top three request were for meal planning, freezer meals, and 2 for 1 meals/ leftover options. We will also be offering a basic cooking and college dorm room cooking. I am going to be leading and helping with several classes. Honestly we were shocked by all the interest. We thought at first it would be very casual but with the response we are having to rethink how we are going to work it all out.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Any "heart healthy", quick & easy recipes to share? Due to health & time constraints, I don't have much time to cook, but I like to cook healthy, when I can.

One of my favorites is to stop and grab salmon on the way home. Preheat to 425 degrees, line the baking sheet with foil, and brush the top of the fish with a mixture of olive oil, balsamic dressing (I use Olde Cape Cod because it's lower sodium) and a little lemon juice if I have it on hand. It only take 22 minutes in the oven, and I do frozen veggies and rice in the microwave. (My DS loves the minute rice cups, but you can use plain, too - just not the bag/box mixes if you're watching salt.) It's yummy, and the best thing is very little clean-up!

In the summer, I'll grill a big package of chicken, and use it for several meals - plain the first night, sandwiches another, cut up in sauce with pasta another, etc. (Silver palate makes a low sodium marinara if you don't like to make your own.)

If you like salads, you can also buy the premade in a bag and top it with leftover salmon or chicken for really quick nights.

 

[loves to dive]

She sounds like a talented lady. So you had 5 brothers?

Yep, 6 kids, 5 boys and one girl (me) I'm the youngest.

 

[Micca]

Looking at @jevs menu we only have a Monday/Tuesday type of meal on special occasions. Our evening meals are basically one portion of protein with a side dish like vegetables. I'd love to prepare elaborate meals and don't even mind the cleanup, it's just not worth the money or the calories to do it on a regular basis. We should have a Dis co-op: You buy the ingredients, I'll cook & cleanup (and eat!)

 

[kimmar067]

LOL

lately ours has been like that. There's a lot of popcorn for supper LOL

....it's SOOOOO versatile!

 

[ronandannette]

Especially when you made it last week and they thought it was the best thing ever.

Hi jevsie - whatcha makin' for supper tonight? Possum pie??

 

[jevs]

Hi jevsie - whatcha makin' for supper tonight? Possum pie??

Prawn and vegetable stir fry with rice. I'm trying to use up all the crap in my chest freezer before buying more. I went through it a couple of weeks ago and found 16 bags of various types of frozen vegetables, no wonder I can't fit ice-cream in there!

 

[ronandannette]

Prawn and vegetable stir fry with rice. I'm trying to use up all the crap in my chest freezer before buying more. I went through it a couple of weeks ago and found 16 bags of various types of frozen vegetables, no wonder I can't fit ice-cream in there!

Good job! I have a fairly set patter of: buy it, take it home, refrigerate or freeze it, don't use it, throw it away, buy more, repeat. Gawd - we are so wasteful...

 

[jevs]

Good job! I have a fairly set patter of: buy it, take it home, refrigerate or freeze it, don't use it, throw it away, buy more, repeat. Gawd - we are so wasteful...

That's why I stopped using the vegetable crisper in the fridge, they were just turning into compost bins