Do you plan for a different dinner each night? - Page 2

[Chicky2]

I cook something new 5 or 6 nights a week.  I cook enough for a meal plus at least 3 lunches, some of which get eaten as breakfast by the preteens.  Anything else left over either gets repurposed in some way or occasionally gets overlooked and fed to the pigs.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by Chicky2 

some of which get eaten as breakfast by the preteens

Ah, yes.  I am often teased in this house for eating roast beef and mashed potatoes or chicken casserole or some other dinner leftover for breakfast that is not your quintessential breakfast fodder.  I figure, "what's the diff?"  I sometimes eat eggs and bacon for dinner, so who says you can't have a "dinner" for breakfast?

[freestylemama]

We're fine with leftovers, but we've noticed that as DD grows a lot of our meals that used to last us two suppers are down to a supper and a lunch. 

Either way, lately I've been making a list for the fridge of at least 14 suppers.  These are different things that we have everything for.  Some are crockpot meals, some are very easy things like pasta and a veg and other things are more complicated.  There's a variety and the most important thing is that we have all of the ingredients for all of them.  This has worked really well for me.

I don't plan lunches or breakfasts.  Most weekends I do something like baked oatmeal or waffles but during the week we eat simple things like eggs and muffins or cereal and fruit.  DH takes his lunch to work.  If we don't have leftovers he takes a salad or a sandwich.  DD takes her lunch to school sometimes and I just keep a variety of easy lunch stuff to make hers.  It's usually simple stuff like fruits and veggies, cheese or yogurt, nuts or crackers, hummus and a sandwich or a wrap.  I usually have a sandwich for lunch.  Snacks are things like crackers, boiled eggs, fruits and veggies, etc.  A huge part of our grocery budget goes to fruits and veggies.

[Chicky2]

No kidding!  I love soup for breakfast, or baked beans on toast.  

Originally Posted by velochic 

Ah, yes.  I am often teased in this house for eating roast beef and mashed potatoes or chicken casserole or some other dinner leftover for breakfast that is not your quintessential breakfast fodder.  I figure, "what's the diff?"  I sometimes eat eggs and bacon for dinner, so who says you can't have a "dinner" for breakfast?

[Angelette]

Well, I totally get you! Meal planning is just not that easy, especially with my kiddos! Because I'm not the best cook in the world, and winging it is just not easy for me, i plan out my dinners a month at a time. I have the menu posted on a bulletin board with the name, what recipe I got it from etc. for each month. I usually take one day or so like a Sat. and just plan meals, make up the grocery lists for each week of the month( to be added to and tweaked when I actually get to that week). Planning meals on a weekly basis was just too stressful for me, so planning by month has been easier. I also plan at least 3 big meals a week, to have leftovers for me and the kids and hopefully hubby's lunches too. He also works outside, so everything he eats is cold leftovers. For all of our lunches, I usually buy a rotisserie chicken (that lasts for days worth of lunches) tuna, quinoa, or PB+ Js for lunch. Occasionally i buy lunch meat as well, and sometimes we eat leftover dinners for lunch. 

[newmamalizzy]

Just want to thank everyone who's responded to this because it's been really helpful.  I do love to cook, and do love food variety and trying new recipes, but it's very different when you add a toddler (and one with lots of tricky food issues, at that) into the mix.  I guess I'm just still struggling to adjust my usual leisurely, haphazard enjoyment of cooking to the kind of responsible cooking you have to do for a family. 

[sewchris2642]

I do both.  I plan 5-6 meals a week but several of those meals incorporate things from another meal.  Pork roast with boiled potatoes and broccoli one night; sliced pork with gravy, fried potatoes with bell peppers and onions, and peas another night.  And there was pork for sandwiches in between.  I don't plan what days I have each meal weekly but the list of meals goes up on the fridge to remind me what is available that week.