Question for you memu planners

HOW THE H3LL DO YOU PLAN LIKE THAT

Are you SAHM? Cook over the weekend? Have personal chefs? Are they WW frozen meals?

Re: Question for you memu planners

I take out a couple of cookbooks one day (mostly over the weekend) and write down what I feel like making (sometimes I consult DH) and then I write what I need on a shopping list for the store, do the shopping and make sure I defrost what I need the day before or so...if I know one night is late/busy, I make it a quick, go to meal but on other nights, I tend to get adventurous...

Re: Question for you memu planners

I work full time and don't get home until at least 6pm (I leave the house no later than 7am most days).

I look at it like this... we have to eat. I have 2 little guys and I am responsible for their health and well being.. so we have to eat moderately well. It's a priority - so I find a way.

I plan it out on Saturday or Sunday, shop for what I need and make sure that the meals I plan can be made in under an hour during the weekdays.

Sometimes it requires a little prep work in the morning or the night before... but generally speaking it usually is done the day I make it.

It's not that bad.. I check the backpacks, get the homework started at the kitchen table and get to work cooking! I take help where I can .. "Robbie! Crack open 2 eggs in that bowl on the couter. Noah! Go pick some Basil for me outside!"

I guess it comes down to the fact that I really enjoy cooking. It helps me unwind - so I actually look forward to doing it. I get a huge satisfaction out of cooking, plating.. and eating!

Re: Question for you memu planners

Posted by rojerono



I work full time and don't get home until at least 6pm (I leave the house no later than 7am most days).

I look at it like this... we have to eat. I have 2 little guys and I am responsible for their health and well being.. so we have to eat moderately well. It's a priority - so I find a way.

I plan it out on Saturday or Sunday, shop for what I need and make sure that the meals I plan can be made in under an hour during the weekdays.

Sometimes it requires a little prep work in the morning or the night before... but generally speaking it usually is done the day I make it.

It's not that bad.. I check the backpacks, get the homework started at the kitchen table and get to work cooking! I take help where I can .. "Robbie! Crack open 2 eggs in that bowl on the couter. Noah! Go pick some Basil for me outside!"

I guess it comes down to the fact that I really enjoy cooking. It helps me unwind - so I actually look forward to doing it. I get a huge satisfaction out of cooking, plating.. and eating!

Re: Question for you memu planners

I am with Jeannie (rojerono) minus the two kids (though I have one that should be coming down the pipe any day now...right..Newton *expectant mommy tapping foot* )

I work full time and get home anywhere between 6:30-7:30. I actually JUST started planning my meals for the week like this, before these past few months I'd go to the market basically every day and just cook what I was in the mood for.

I realized I needed to change that pattern once the baby came, and also I was really spending A LOT more money going every day.

the menu planning allows me to work with similar ingredients in different meals so there is minimal waste AND I can just get home and get to cooking.

I can usually get dinner on the table in an hour and we do eat later than most people...but that is more b/c we've been just the two of us with no one to get to bed by 8pm and dh runs after work most days, so I plan our dinners around when he is home and settled.

but like Jeannie said, food and healthy food at that is my priority. having as much control possible over what we are eating is extremely important to me.

and I really LOVE to cook. it's not that I think I am good at it. it's that I really enjoy it.

ETA: what I do know is look at the circular. I see what fresh veggies and meats are on sale and work from there.

I usually have one night of fish, then the rest split between chicken, beef, and pork. (we can't have a meatless dinner. it does not compute for my husband )

there are nights when it is UBER simple...but really none of it is that difficult. I think just the terms sound fancy and daunting to some.

Message edited 10/6/2009 12:31:04 PM.

Re: Question for you memu planners

we go food shopping on saturdays, so usually that morning i'll sit down with my recipe books, current magazines, and DH and plan out what we'd like to eat for the week.

i cook 6 nights/week so we try plan based on:

3 chicken
1 meat
1 fish (now that I'm PG, this has become 1 "other" - meaning something meatless like black bean quesadillas, homemade pizza, soup, panini, etc.)
1 pasta

then i look for recipes based on those ingredients.

i'm lucky to work as an SLP in a school... so i do get home nice and early which leaves me plenty of time for cooking.

anyhoo - we make the weekly menu, write down all of the ingredients we need, check the fridge and pantry so that we don't buy things we already have, then we make our shopping list.

once you get into the habit of doing that, it's really not too hard! believe me, sometimes my meals are not elaborate at all.. but they're still home-cooked and DH and I still get to sit home with a glass of wine (for him) and eat together... which we love.

Re: Question for you memu planners

some weeks are not planned to the "t"
and some weeks i have some sort of mapped out menu of what i want to make and then every so often i'll have a weekly menu that i follow.

i find that if i know what i need to make ahead of time, i can start cooking as soon as i come home as opposed to staring in my fridge. it takes the guess work out. and this saves soooooooo much time!! believe me!

i LOVE to cook! i am still learning and i still follow recipes but add my 2 cents in. and like the others mentioned, i too love to cook healthy nutritous meals from scratch. that is my priority. granted we eat at 9pm most nights but i know that what we are eating is good for us and homemade!

i take inspiration from this board, from food network, the rachel ray show is on inthe background at work so i get to see what she is making...

when i get my circulars on thursday i buy what is on sale and pretty much go from there.

Re: Question for you memu planners

Re: Question for you memu planners

I just plan what I want to eat. I come home from work and cook. I shop on the weekends and try to make large enough batches so I have leftovers/lunches.

Re: Question for you memu planners

I work full time but from home so I know I have a lunch hour, (1/2 hour or 15 minutes depending on the day) to throw dinner in the crockpot.

On Thursdays I usually make a list of dinners I want to make for the next 2 weeks, write a list of what's needed and not in the house and then I look through the flyer. We usually do the food shopping on Friday afternoon.

I can cook 3 maybe 4x a week and thats good for 7 days. Leftovers are a blessing!

Re: Question for you memu planners

I have DS every other weekend - I'm going to try to make an effort to cook on off-weekends and freeze for on weekends. ( I have week-days too)

Re: Question for you memu planners

I use my down time at work to find recipes that seem simple and healthy. I then add the link to an ongoing list I have. Then when making my shopping list, I choose the ones I will make for the week and make my list off that. I try to choose a couple with common ingrediants, like the veggies, so I can use up everything before buying more.

Re: Question for you memu planners

i think it sounds harder and more overwhelming than it is. LOL just don't get scared of the word "MEAL" LOL it doesn't have to be gourmet every night... even just throwing some chicken breasts on the George Foreman grill for 5 minutes and serving them with a bag of those frozen Steamfresh Veggies...
seriously, once you start doing it- it gets easier.
we go shopping on sundays, so we'll sit down sunday morning and just talk about what we want to eat that week (really only takes like 10 minutes)
i buy all my meat in bulk and freeze it- so i always have chicken, ground beef, pork chops, etc in the freezer. so i really just have to buy veggies or certain things to go with the meat.
also, start by cooking on the weekends- then you'll find a few recipes that you get good at making, and it'll be quicker making them during the week.
we love rachael rays recipes- most of them are quick and easy.
also, we'll make a big pasta dish one night, and then have the leftovers another night.. so its not like we have a completely new meal every night.

Re: Question for you memu planners

Well, we do what we can. Since it is just DH and I we only need to make a few recipes a week. We aim for 3 or 4, but usually it is 2. Then the other days we eat leftovers or frozens or pasta.

We find recipes we want to make then make a grocery list based on that. In the fall, he works late so I do more cooking. The rest of the year we share, so nice! But a lot of times we help each other prep. We are still new to real cooking so the help is appreciated!

I also try to make a homemade dessert once a week at the very least!

I am working on shopping sales and having more on stock, etc. Slowly working on it

Re: Question for you memu planners

I have no kids and I work full time, go to the gym after work 4 days a week, have a late class one night a week, DH works long hours and I get home around 8ish every night, except Tuesday when I get home at 10.

DH and I do shopping for fish and meat on Sundays. We then buy the ingredients for the first two meals from the supermarket. We live right next door to a supermarket so it is really easy to run next door.

I plan out the meals on Sunday, make a list, then decide who will do what and what can be cut the night before. Each meal we make makes one dinner and one lunch for each of us. Usually it is fish or meat with a veg. It is really easy to make baked fish with some steamed veggies if all your cutting is done the night before. With a little bit if planning it gets easier, just start out slow.

I figure the extra time is worth it b/c we have some healthy meals. In the past we would just get take away and that was really unhealthy.

Good luck!