Sometimes I think the hardest thing about cooking is deciding what to cook. Take last week for example. I wanted to bake something, particularly something bread-like (is that a word?), but realistically if I had made everything I wanted there was no way we could have eaten it all. As it is I put half the buns in the freezer and gave a way several of the scones, we just simply cannot eat that much!
One way I have found to prevent the last minute decision making, and frustration of not having what I need in the cupboard, is meal planning. Sometimes I am very formal about it and write down exactly what we are having for dinner every night and the types of things I expect to have for breakfast, but other times I just keep it in my head.
I notice an obvious difference in the flow of my week nights when I have it written down! I have an amazing husband and I think he gets as much pleasure out of "following my plan" as I get out of making it. On several occassions I've come home after him to find that he has consulted my list and started things accordingly. I love it! I am a blessed woman to have a husband that is so helpful!
I find that when I write out my meals in advance it also helps me come home from work and allows me some time to zone out for a while before I have to pay attention. If the list says spaghetti and meatballs then I know I need to start the water and collect those ingredients. If the list says stir fry then I just need to find all the vegetables I can and start chopping. The list tells me what to do and prevents any further decision making on my part, which is good because by the time I get home, I am ready to stop making decisions!
Did you know that teachers generally make 1,500 decisions every day? I learned that in college and just never forgot it.
Back to our topic of meal planning, I know many women keep their meal plans in a binder and cycle through them every so often and just pull out an old menu and beging the cycle again, but I don't think that would ever work for me. We enjoy a variety of food and I work hard to buy our food on sale so that often determines what goes onto the menu plan. In addition, we like to try new recipes and I don't think cycling through a constant rotation of spaghetti, pizza, calzones, stir fry, and baked chicken would satisfy my husband.
Anyway, thats how my meal plan saves me and if I am smart, I will remember this advice and be more purposeful about creating my weekly or biweekly meal plan.
Dinner Tonight:
Tonight we are going to enjoy some leftover Chicken Cacciatore, salad with sweet peppers and tomatoes, and warmed whole grain bread. It should be a simple, tasty meal in only about 15 minutes.
How about you, what do you do to make the most out of the food you buy?
No comments:
Post a Comment