I got a kick out of Tricia’s comment requesting the menu for the week.? As a matter of fact I find it fascinating that you guys love to know what we are having for dinner.? Since this has been going on for a while now I thought I’d give you some insight on meal time or rather my meal time planning.
First, breakfast and lunch.? The boy gets to pick what he wants for breakfast and lunch.? For breakfast he is given a set amount of choices.? Usually the list is limited by what I know he will eat, what day of the week it is and what is on hand.? As of late the list consists of scrambled eggs or “cereal” which is actually cream of wheat.? It also may or may not include oatmeal depending on the week and his recent history of oatmeal flingage.? Tomorrow his breakfast choice may be narrowed down to one thing: eggs.? That’s because of his request for cereal and subsequent hucking of the spoon across the room.? Oh yeah, we still deal with some residual food throwing.? I eat whatever looks as if it is going to make me least sick.? I need to eat breakfast, but hate doing so.? The trusty husband eats the same thing every day.? Cheerios and peanut butter/honey toast and coffee.
For lunch the boy also is allowed to pick lunch.? His normal choice is mac n’ cheese.? So I have it on hand.? Mac n’ Cheese revolts against my digestive system so I eat leftovers.? However the boy will occasionally select something else.? Today it was peanut butter & jelly sandwich and chips.
I am the dinner dictator.? I pick the main dish, side dishes and vegetable.? This is mainly because the rest of the day I don’t care what I eat.? I make sure the majority of the food groups are represented in my dinner selections.
You will notice that this week’s menu looks eerily similar to last week’s menu.? This happens periodically.? Last week I didn’t cook 3 out of the 5 days.? Tuesday, well I can’t remember what happened Tuesday, but I didn’t get the planned dish defrosted in time.? I made Elle’s version of spaghetti instead.? Wednesday I put the Crock Beef and Peppers into the crock pot, but they smelled like Swiss Steak and I HATE Swiss Steak so I made the trusty husband go get pizza.? I don’t know about Thursday either, but I didn’t cook there.? Friday, Derek was golfing and didn’t get home until later in the evening so we went out to a Thai restaurant.
As a result of my laziness I have food that I bought for last week and we didn’t eat.? Ergo the majority of the menu from last week gets moved to this week.
Subsequently, why don’t I plan meals for Saturday and Sunday.? I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but I don’t always know what we are doing on the weekends.? So I don’t plan.? Plain and simple.
Long time no see, stranger.
I love the menu planning. I used to do it religously. Then I stopped for some unknown reason, but you have inspired me again. 🙂
Believe it or not, I actually do something very similar. I know, its shocking. But, I do it more for budget purposes than nutritional purposes. (See, it makes sense now.) I go to the store once a week, get my groceries, and hang the recipes on the fridge. That way if Brian decides to get crazy and cook dinner, the recipes are there. But, I’m like you, and sometimes I carry over recipes if we decide to eat out. I hate it when my produce goes bad before I get a chance to use it. Especially mushrooms. They have such a short shelf life. However, I do cook on the weekends, but I only do crockpot recipes.
This week, I am going to try out a menu from http://www.savingdinner.com. If I like it, I just might subscribe, because I am really getting tired of always trying to come up with new recipes. Plus, she makes your shopping list. I hate compiling shopping lists after I’ve put the recipes together for the week.
A free sample of her weekly menus are here:
http://www.savingdinner.com/menus/free_menu_BCMM.pdf
I wonder if the food is good. I guess I’ll find out.
I made my paella tonight but it was just OK. That’s our dinner for Tuesday as well. I think it’s fun to see what you are having… gives me some ideas and inspires me to try something new at least once per week.
I’m beginning to understand the brilliance of menu planning… I guess standing over the kitchen sink eating out of the frying pan ISN’T the best is it?
I thought so.
Wait, planning? You mean some people think about dinner before getting ravenously hungry on the way home from work? This is a stunning revelation.
I could learn from you people. The local Thai restaurant would be spinning from the loss of revenue however.