Menu planning ?

[Danny]

Anyone plan out the weeks or more meals? Or do you just look at the fridge and pantry and wing it nightly?

I sort of try to plan some meals, but sometimes it's a "what is on hand and how much do I feel like cooking?" thing. I currently have planned BLTS or BLATs, a unrolled cabbage roll with corn sauce hotdish, and re purposing the leftover butter chicken broth into aveggie soup and the chicken into chinese dumplings.

It is weird, but when it is hot out, I like soups, LOL, or quickie cooking things.

[Wildcat82]

I guess you could say I plan out my week's meals in advance. It's a pain to keep making individual meals with 2-3 dishes so I normally, I'll cook something then eat on it for a few meals then move on to something else. For example, tomorrow I plan to make a big pot of Thai curry and eat on that for a few days. After that, I'll make a big batch of pico de gallo and eat tostadas/fajitas for the next couple days and so on.

[pepperhead212]

That's basically what I do! Of course , I might make multiple things, like a lunch and dinner dish, but I have no problem eating curries for breakfast. I have to laugh when I hear about those people that won't eat leftovers.

[worth1]

Let's see.
Texas roadhouse hamburger on Sunday.
McDonald's quarter pounder on Monday.
Popeye's fried chicken on Tuesday.
Burger King double whopper on Wednesday.
Chinese takeout on Thursday.
McDonald's fish sandwich on Friday.
Denny's on Saturday.

[MissS]

When I had kids in the house I planned things out for a few days in advance. Now that the nest is empty I use more of what I have on hand and make whatever suits me that day. In winter I make more soups and stews that I will dine on for a few days and in summer foods are much lighter and are only good for a meal or two.

[GoDawgs]

We take turns cooking but whatever's made will usually last two days. Meatloaf lasts for three but I sure don't mind that! After the second day the question is raised, "Well, what shall we have next?" It all depends on what's on hand and/or if there's any craving for something that hasn't been made in a while. This time of year it's usually something that doesn't involve a lot of cooking or fuss unless it's a rainy day. Few of those this time of year!

[karstopography]

Plans evolve from what sounds good, how much work it takes to pull it off and what is available in pantry, freezer, fridge and garden. Old favorites, grooves and such can become ruts and we try to throw something new into the mix here and there. Easy enough, delicious, relatively inexpensive and reasonably healthy are the guiding principles. Wife is not a big leftovers eating individual. She might have last night’s dinner for lunch or dinner the next day, but nothing beyond that. The guy across the street never ate leftovers one time his entire married life and he’s in his 80s. My wife isn’t that extreme, but I’ll tend to eat up something until it’s gone and that’s not my wife. I learn to not make too much food at any one time.

[Wildcat82]

That's basically what I do! Of course , I might make multiple things, like a lunch and dinner dish, but I have no problem eating curries for breakfast. I have to laugh when I hear about those people that won't eat leftovers.

Nothing wrong with currie for breakfast. In fact I'll probably eat that tomorrow morning myself. Americans have been brainwashed by food commercials that they need to eat "breakfast" foods for breakfast like waffles, pancakes, cold cereal, etc. Most foreign cultures make no distinction between breakfast, lunch, or dinner like we do here.

[Wildcat82]

Let's see.
Texas roadhouse hamburger on Sunday.
McDonald's quarter pounder on Monday.
Popeye's fried chicken on Tuesday.
Burger King double whopper on Wednesday.
Chinese takeout on Thursday.
McDonald's fish sandwich on Friday.
Denny's on Saturday.

I'm always stunned at the number of helpless people who are incapable of doing any cooking whatsoever at home and rely on fast food.

[karstopography]

That's basically what I do! Of course , I might make multiple things, like a lunch and dinner dish, but I have no problem eating curries for breakfast. I have to laugh when I hear about those people that won't eat leftovers.

Nothing wrong with currie for breakfast. In fact I'll probably eat that tomorrow morning myself. Americans have been brainwashed by food commercials that they need to eat "breakfast" foods for breakfast like waffles, pancakes, cold cereal, etc. Most foreign cultures make no distinction between breakfast, lunch, or dinner like we do here.

I have not eaten any cold cereal with milk or a milk substitute in decades. Maybe one or two times in the last 20 years. I’m just as likely to eat a waffle at dinner as I am at breakfast.

I wonder how many people, Americans, still eat morning cereal with milk? Or regularily eat pancakes for breakfast?

I do like bacon and eggs for breakfast and those can come in a bunch of different forms. But, I like that for dinner. Eggs and bacon work for any meal.

Aside from a cappuccino I make myself, I skip breakfast more often than not.

Most cold cereal with milk is plain awful.

[karstopography]

Let's see.
Texas roadhouse hamburger on Sunday.
McDonald's quarter pounder on Monday.
Popeye's fried chicken on Tuesday.
Burger King double whopper on Wednesday.
Chinese takeout on Thursday.
McDonald's fish sandwich on Friday.
Denny's on Saturday.

I'm always stunned at the number of helpless people who are incapable of doing any cooking whatsoever at home and rely on fast food.

My wife’s coworkers eat out a lot and a lot of it is fast food. Husbands that “can’t “ cook, BS, anyone can learn to cook something decent, men included. They are all just lazy. None of them have the kind of jobs that are so awfully demanding that they don’t have the time or energy to cook.

[worth1]

Men and boys used to do the hard dangerous work on the farm from daylight to dark.
The women took care of the home built the fire baked daily bread took care of the garden butchered a chicken and all manner of things close to the house.
The idea of a man coming home from an office job flopping his butt in front of the TV and saying he worked all day and won't cook is ridiculous.
I run my tail off all day and still come home and cook.
And make my lunch in the morning.

[Wildcat82]

Men and boys used to do the hard dangerous work on the farm from daylight to dark.
The women took care of the home built the fire baked daily bread took care of the garden butchered a chicken and all manner of things close to the house.
The idea of a man coming home from an office job flopping his butt in front of the TV and saying he worked all day and won't cook is ridiculous.
I run my tail off all day and still come home and cook.
And make my lunch in the morning.

Your first paragraph described our family farm exactly.

[Danny]

Hmm, I dunno worth, I have known a lot of women working out in the fields and pastures, rounding up and branding too. We ALL learned to cook and most times I enjoy it even more now. Like cleaning the house, we all learned that too.

[worth1]

Hmm, I dunno worth, I have known a lot of women working out in the fields and pastures, rounding up and branding too. We ALL learned to cook and most times I enjoy it even more now. Like cleaning the house, we all learned that too.

There are always exceptions my family was one of them.
One of my girl friends helped her father cut and hual logs.

The sawmill across the highway had daughters sons and the mother helping in it.
About an hour before dinner the women went to the house and made dinner while the men sat around and chewed the fat.
Then the women served the men standing like servants while the men and boys ate.
Then the women would eat.
The youngest boy of around 12 was pampered so much he couldn't even pour a glass of water without spilling it all over the place.
He would literally ask his mom to get up and pour him a glass of water or milk.
His mother gave him his bath up until around 13.
I found this really strange.
None of the men could even boil water.

In my family everyone did everything excluding my sister that seemed to always have an excuse for not doing anything outside.
One time she caught the lawnmower on fire so she wouldn't have to mow the lawn.

In reality in the culture we moved to the woman's work day was always longer than the mens and boys.
Strange Texans in a new land so to speak.

Tell me which is harder.
Going in circles in a field on a tractor or standing on your feet all day cooking and cleaning.
I've done both.
But then came wood cutting season which was pretty darn hard work.
It all evened out in the end at least for my family.
There sure wasn't any special meal for the picky kid that didn't like something.
You either ate your groundhog stew or you starved.

[Bower2]

My basic plan for leftovers is to freeze portions and eat them later. I like to keep the freezer stocked with multiple choices of ready meals. Stews, curries and noodle dishes are easy to reheat and add fresh vegetables. Chicken legs, salmon steaks or chunks of roast make a quick sheet pan dinner. Frozen pizza is even quicker. Now and then I'll make the kind of meal that doesn't freeze well, even then I usually make enough for two days, and just reheat. Pork chops, fried rice or stirfry, liver and onions, those are the kind of things I just double up and don't freeze.

With the weather turning hotter, my plan is to cook a few things at night, and freeze extras that I can just thaw out and eat cold.
Last week on the too hot days I made chicken apple salad with some lemon pepper chicken breast I had frozen. I just chopped the chicken into cubes, carved off a like amount of big chunks of ambrosia apple and a dollop of Hellman's to dress it, then sprinkled with raw bits of gailan and purple sprouting broccoli.
I liked it so much, I may just make fruit and meat salads the hot weather theme...