meal planning?

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yeah that. i USED to love to meal plan, heck, i used to love to cook LOL. well, i still love cooking, but my appetite is still not good. i just switched prenatal vitamin brands, so i'm realllllly hoping that will clear up my issues so that i can get cooking and eating again!

i am definately going to meal plan for when after baby is born.. i will make a list of everything that is in my freezer, plus everything that is fast and easy in my pantry, and come up with a bunch of simple meals that i can make one handed, or hubby or a visitor can get started for us. i plan on freezing ALOT of food this fall!

When I just get back into the swing of it, I use cookbooks to pick dinner stuff. I stock my cravings in the house for during the day (Indian food, dandelion greens, etc). After a few weeks my "culinary memory" seems to re-establish itself and I don't rely on the cookbooks as much, but they still give me great ideas or remind me of foods I haven't touched in a thousand years. Rachael Ray's 30 minute meal cookbooks are great for variety and ease, but if you have a big family and are doubling the meal, sometimes you end up doubling the meal time, too

We have been SO meat-hungry, which is bizarre because I got so "meated out" in my first trimester...but cutting down on the meat has made me feel bad during the days, so I can't do that. I at least have to have it at 2 meals or I start to zombie out and get very lethargic....sooo at the grocery I got--

turkey meatballs to have with spaghetti
an eye of the round roast which I cook with fennel, parsnips, mint, and anise in beef broth
a pork tenderloin
chicken and chorizo sausage to fix as quesadillas
smoked sausage to have with beans and rice

and we had fish in the freezer already. Other than that, we're craving anything GREEN! So I have tons of collards, field greens for salad, sugar snap peas, dandelion greens for meeee ...

To balance all that out the kids get pretty monotonous breakfasts and lunches, but the dinners are super! I think they'll live. With all these people to feed you have to plan meals. We used to be very "fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants" people where food was concerned., but less so now. One day it'll be just dh and I again and we'll get all our food at farmers markets and health food stores.

ETA: I also second doing lots of freezing in the fall. My parents are going to buy us a freezer so I'm *thrilled!!!* I can also store donated EBM for baby!!!! Wahoo!!!

I plan meals every week. I sit down and decide on meals and then make a shopping list. It sounds like a lot of work, but IMO it's a lot easier than the "what's for dinner?" discussion every night. Sometimes I plan it out by the day, depending on what ingredients will be fresh (like salad or French bread) or when I'll have leftovers (like I'll grill a whole bunch of chicken at once and use it for several meals that week to save time). But lately I have been a little more finicky, so I just pick a meal from the week's list, whatever I feel like eating that night.

If I didn't plan meals, I'd eat cereal every night, so it's healthier for me and the babe!

I plan to make 2-3 weeks' worth of dinners for the freezer for when the baby comes. Last time I waited too long--DD was born 5 weeks early and I didn't have any meals, so I'll start early this time.