I love leftovers. I always try to make enough food so there will be leftovers (if there is enough left for more than 1 extra meal-BONUS!).
Why? you may ask-because it means I don’t need to come up with something new for the family to eat. It’s already there, just needs to be re-heated. Easy-peasy.
Even better, is when I come home and my husband has soup cooking, or has something in the crock pot, or is able to grill for us.
I don’t care what it is, as long as I don’t have to come up with the idea or make it. I am not one that enjoys cooking. I mainly enjoy the “eating” part. I cook for the survival of my family and I not for fun.
Meal planning is something I need to get better at. I often end up playing the “What’s for Supper?” game in front of my refrigerator when I get home from work. Seeing what is left over and what other ingredients I have on hand to make into a complete meal for 5 and that can be made in time for supper. On weekends, I get to play the game twice!
While I am standing there (cooling off the kitchen with the door open) playing the game, I think to myself, “wouldn’t it be easier to just have a plan for the week?”
Then I come to my senses and think-“If I can’t come up with one meal for now, how am I going to come up with 9 different ones!”
There are even people who plan for the entire month! These people are my heroes. Someday, I am going to sit down and try this.
A while back I came across this from Modern Mommy Madness and felt like she read my mind. (well, except my food isn’t as fancy-it’s more like: meatloaf, spaghetti, Chicken, potatoes and gravy, barbecues, frozen pizza)
How about you? Do you plan for the week or play it day by day? Share by commenting below. I’ll take any tips on the matter too. 🙂
I struggle with the exact same thing. Except, I have to figure it out twice a day every day of the week. Trying to think of meals we the adults will like & kids from age 1 to 8 will tolerate, meaning will not toss on the floor or in the trash (both equally as bad in my opinion – why did I bother cooking at all if no one will eat it?) I will periodically make a meal plan for the week but either something foils my plans (forgot to take an ingredient out of the freezer or forget to buy it, forget to get it into the crock pot in time, or it isn’t done in time to eat at a normal time) or I forget to look at the school menu & somehow coordinate my suppers to be the same thing they had for lunch. I peruse Pinterest for yummy recipes, I pin &/or print them but again forget to make them or miss a key ingredient to pull it off.
I love left overs too, especially if we can have it for supper & I can reheat it the next day for daycare lunch. I even have made a big “batch” & froze half for the future (like those first few weeks after baby is born). I too LOVE when the hubby can grill something (if I get the meat out of the freezer in time), but I still have to come up with sides so it is not quite a meal off for me.
I think cooking for the kids is the hardest part of it. I want to feed them healthy foods, minimal processed foods, but sometimes they are just giddy for a pb&J. Nothing bug me more than when that “one kid” (usually my oldest) pokes his food for 30 minutes then asks for ketchup for his cold food & makes faces for each teeny tiny bite.
The “what to eat game” is my least favorite game & I play it often.
Barb, I hear ya on the kids “tolerating” it part. Getting 3 to like the same meal on the same day is a bit of a game itself at our house. Then we throw in a milk allergy to work around to up the game level difficulty (thank goodness that is our only food allergy). And yes, Pinterest, my food board of dreams-all 186 pins (most of which I see are deserts-you can see where my priorities lie) does not always help me either. Thanks for your thoughts!
I am soooo with you on that! I’d rather sew than cook. 🙂