Menu Planning?

Christine Dabney said:

Christine, who thinks apartment designers don't cook.

I know exactly why my apartment kitchen is so tiny and lacks counter and
storage space. When it was built around 1982, this was a "singles or
couples only" complex. No kids. Pretty much designed for roommates. If
they were anything like the younger folks I see moving in here, cooking was
the last thing on their minds. More like *party!* The patio in the back is
very spacious, but it's nowhere near the kitchen which isn't very convenient
if you decide to grill; you have to carry the food through the dining and
living room area which isn't very convenient. I do grill frequently, but
the architects of this place didn't have cooking in mind.

As for menu planning, I don't really plan. I look at what I have, then
consider what I'm craving, and go from there.

Jill

On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 23:15:33 -0700, Serene <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Damsel in dis Dress said:

On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 21:46:50 -0700, Serene <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

http://www.reluctantvegan.com/2005/11/this-weeks-menus.html

Those are great pictures! You make vegan meals look downright
appetizing!

Pictures? Sure you're not hallucinatin' again? I warned you about
them magic mushrooms, darlin'.

Dunno. Somehow, I wound up on a page full of pictures. The only one
that wasn't vegetarian was pork chops and sauerkraut. Does that sound
familiar? I have no clue what I clicked on.

Carol
--

Some people are like Slinkies... they don't really have a purpose but
they bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

Stolen from "traid" on the IRC

jmcquown said:

Christine Dabney wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

As soon as I get this kitchen all "unpacked", I will take a pic for
you all.

Christine

I wouldn't unpack too much (like all your books) if you're still planning to
continue looking for a house to rent 🙂

Jill

Yeah, I know. I am going through this dilemma of how much to unpack.

Unfortunately, I am not sure how long it will take me to find a house
to rent, that I like and can afford. It could be one week, it could
be a month or two. I don' want to have everything still in boxes and
me still be here in this apartment two months down the road. It gets
really frustrating for me to live like that.

What to do, what to do.... 😉

Christine

Christine Dabney said:

On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 17:00:55 GMT, "Gregory Morrow"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

The thing is, this apartment doesn't have any, and I mean ANY pantry
space. It barely has space to put dishes, glassware, and pots and
pans. The freezer in this fridge has an ice maker that takes up half
the space...

I did bring my cast iron shelving unit, so I am using that for pantry
storage, but even then, it gets jammed with what I use: vinegars,
oils, spices, and the other usual staples like sugar, flour, rice,
etc. I barely have any room for any sort of canned goods.

The onions, celery, garlic and carrots, I usually have.

As soon as I get this kitchen all "unpacked", I will take a pic for
you all.

Christine

Our canned goods live in a big plastic tub in the bottom of the
livingroom closet - there wasn't ANYWHERE to put them otherwise! Our
kitchen is very short on storage space. Half the rest of our kitchen
stuff also lives in that closet because there just isn't room for it
in the kitchen. 🙁
One day I'll get really efficient and buy a real bookshelf to hold our
books (which share the closet shelves) and I'll set up a better pantry
space in the closet. For now it's a mishmash and an incredible mess.

Anthony said:

For those who cook for the household how do you plan menus?

I'm not really into menu planning. When we go to the store I look at
what's on sale and think 'that would make a nice meal' or 'I'd like to
have lasagna this week' so I buy the required ingredients and bring
them home and put them away in the freezer/cupboard and that's about
as far as it goes. Then when I want to make it I know that they're
there...

When I come to cook I'll think 'what do I feel like eating tonight?'
or 'what would DH really like?' or 'what can I cook inside 30
minutes?' etc depending on how much time I know I have. Our staple
thirty minute meal is chicken breast fingers thawed in the microwave
then fried up while some potatos or sweet potatoes nuke, and then
frozen vegetables of some kind take their place in the microwave. The
whole meal is on the table in 30 minutes flat.

If I'm really uninspired I'll ask DH what he wants for dinner and his
answer is almost always chilli or hamburgers. If I really don't feel
like it I say no, or I'll just make it for him. He refuses point blank
to eat leftovers so we usually have something floating around that I
can finish up. We don't have the freezer space to store more than one
or two cooked meals, so if I don't eat the leftovers they end up being
tossed out.

The other consideration is what do we have in the fridge that needs to
be used up, like grated cheese or roast chicken or lunchmeat...

I don't plan lunches - DH has a sandwich or a hotdog if he's home
early enough and otherwise we try to eat dinner before six.

Breakfast depends entirely on DH's plans for the day - if he has to go
early he doesn't have any and I have a bowl of cereal. If he has a bit
more time I make us some toast with lunch meat. And if he has a lot of
time then I cook eggs and bacon and french toast.

Our last weeks' menu was:
Saturday night - frozen lasagne and a bowl of salad, baked at the same
time as I roasted vegetables for Sunday lunch at Church.
Sunday - Easter luncheon at church, so DH had a hotdog for dinner and
I didn't need anything. I took chicken pot pie and roasted vegetables
to the luncheon and everyone ate very well.
Monday I made a baked potato salad because we had a bunch of canadian
bacon that needed to be used up and I knew we had lots of potatoes in
the cupboard. And we had another bowl of salad to go with it.
Tuesday - chicken fingers, sweet potato and frozen California blend.
Tonight - Chilli
Tomorrow - probably pork chops, baked potato, green beans and
applesauce
Friday - something with chicken.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Dee Randall said:

Quoted message said:

I am not sure that modern house designers cook either. Some friends
of ours have a nice big, sprawling house, that has an apartment sized
kitchen. 🙁 They have six kids.

Kids came before or after they bought the house? :-)))

Long before. 🙂 Their most recent is three this year, and they
moved in when he was a baby.

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

Damsel in dis Dress said:

On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 23:15:33 -0700, Serene <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Damsel in dis Dress said:

On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 21:46:50 -0700, Serene <[email hidden]>
wrote:

>http://www.reluctantvegan.com/2005/11/this-weeks-menus.html

Those are great pictures! You make vegan meals look downright
appetizing!

Pictures? Sure you're not hallucinatin' again? I warned you about
them magic mushrooms, darlin'.

Dunno. Somehow, I wound up on a page full of pictures. The only one
that wasn't vegetarian was pork chops and sauerkraut. Does that sound
familiar? I have no clue what I clicked on.

Ohhh, I got it. Maybe *I* need to lay off the mushrooms. :-)

( http://pics.livejournal.com/serenejournal )

serene

On 18 Apr 2006 08:49:38 -0700, "Anthony" <[email hidden]> wrote:

I cook for 4, only evenings (nobody's home for lunch). I plan once a
week, on Friday, since we go to the farmer's market on Saturday
morning, and I buy my vegetables, fruits, meat and cheese there. I
plan by taking a couple of cookbooks or cooking magazines down from
the shelf, and browsing through them. So sometimes we have a "Spanish
week", or a "Greek week", or a "Steven Raichlen week" :-). I don't see
the need to cook meat or fish at every meal, I also cook a lot of
vegetable or pulse or cheese-based meals.

Nathalie in Switzerland

In article <[email hidden]>,

Karen AKA Kajikit said:

He refuses point blank to eat leftovers so we usually have something
floating around that I can finish up.

What is his reason for refusing reheated food? I'm curious.
One of my late BsIL was like that. A real picky SOB and my sister's not
a particularly gifted cook (that's being kind -- really). If she
prepared chicken, say, twice in three weeks, he'd say, "Chicken?! We
just HAD chicken." Meal planning was very difficult for her. Ida let
the SOB fix his own meals. But that's another story.

(Hey, Karen -- Minicon was last week. The weather was gorgeous! How's
your mom?)
--
-Barb
<http://jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 4-17-2006 with Easter stuffs.
"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

Karen AKA Kajikit said:

Anthony said:

For those who cook for the household how do you plan menus?

I'm not really into menu planning. When we go to the store I look at
what's on sale and think 'that would make a nice meal' or 'I'd like to
have lasagna this week' so I buy the required ingredients and bring
them home and put them away in the freezer/cupboard and that's about
as far as it goes. Then when I want to make it I know that they're
there...

When I come to cook I'll think 'what do I feel like eating tonight?'
or 'what would DH really like?' or 'what can I cook inside 30
minutes?' etc depending on how much time I know I have. Our staple
thirty minute meal is chicken breast fingers thawed in the microwave
then fried up while some potatos or sweet potatoes nuke, and then
frozen vegetables of some kind take their place in the microwave. The
whole meal is on the table in 30 minutes flat.

If I'm really uninspired I'll ask DH what he wants for dinner and his
answer is almost always chilli or hamburgers. If I really don't feel
like it I say no, or I'll just make it for him. He refuses point blank
to eat leftovers so we usually have something floating around that I
can finish up. We don't have the freezer space to store more than one
or two cooked meals, so if I don't eat the leftovers they end up being
tossed out.

That man needs serious retraining. What is wrong with leftovers? A lot
of dishes are most conveniently made in quantities that will serve four
or even six people, and will if anything improve by being stored in the
fridge for a day or two. If I understand you correctly, there are days
when you, in the interests of domestic economy, eat the leftovers and
you prepare something special for His Majesty. I suppose it's nice to
know he feels you can afford to throw out perfectly good food, but it's
still a wicked waste.

Perhaps you should get a dog. :-)

Quoted message said:

The other consideration is what do we have in the fridge that needs to
be used up, like grated cheese or roast chicken or lunchmeat...

Ah yes, the good old bottom of the fridge frittatta!

Quoted message said:

I don't plan lunches - DH has a sandwich or a hotdog if he's home
early enough and otherwise we try to eat dinner before six.

Before *six*! Good grief, I don't even start cooking until after six
most days.

Quoted message said:

Breakfast depends entirely on DH's plans for the day - if he has to go
early he doesn't have any and I have a bowl of cereal. If he has a bit
more time I make us some toast with lunch meat. And if he has a lot of
time then I cook eggs and bacon and french toast.

Our last weeks' menu was:
Saturday night - frozen lasagne and a bowl of salad, baked at the same
time as I roasted vegetables for Sunday lunch at Church.
Sunday - Easter luncheon at church, so DH had a hotdog for dinner and
I didn't need anything. I took chicken pot pie and roasted vegetables
to the luncheon and everyone ate very well.
Monday I made a baked potato salad because we had a bunch of canadian
bacon that needed to be used up and I knew we had lots of potatoes in
the cupboard. And we had another bowl of salad to go with it.
Tuesday - chicken fingers, sweet potato and frozen California blend.
Tonight - Chilli
Tomorrow - probably pork chops, baked potato, green beans and
applesauce
Friday - something with chicken.

That all sounds not bad! We're having chicken tonight, one of my easy
standbys. I got the butcher to joint a chook for me since he didn't have
any thighs. Slice a chorizo sausage (I've always got one or two in the
fridge). Dice a red and a yellow capsicum, finely slice half an onion
and a garlic clove. Mix a tin of chopped tomatoes with 1/3 cup white
wine, 1 tsp paprika (preferably smoked) and 1 tsp sea salt. Add the veg
and sausage and tip into ovenproof dish. Arrange the chicken pieces on
top and drizzle with 2 tbs EVO. About 50 mins in a moderate oven and
it's done.

Because I'm using a whole chook there will certainly be leftovers (I
normally use four thighs, bone in and skin on). These are probably
destined for the freezer.

Christine

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Old Mother Ashby said:

Before *six*! Good grief, I don't even start cooking until after six
most days.

Before we had kids, and even when we had just one infant who nursed
and went to sleep when he felt like it, we usually ate between 7:00 and
8:00. Now that we have four little ones, with two in school, and early
morning waking. dressing, getting ready for school for the children as
well as ourselves, and the evening hours give us some adult time, we eat
between 5:30 and 6:00, sometimes as late as 6:30, so we can have the
kids in bed at 7:30.

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

Ranee Mueller said:

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Old Mother Ashby said:

Before *six*! Good grief, I don't even start cooking until after six
most days.

Before we had kids, and even when we had just one infant who nursed
and went to sleep when he felt like it, we usually ate between 7:00 and
8:00. Now that we have four little ones, with two in school, and early
morning waking. dressing, getting ready for school for the children as
well as ourselves, and the evening hours give us some adult time, we eat
between 5:30 and 6:00, sometimes as late as 6:30, so we can have the
kids in bed at 7:30.

Regards,
Ranee

We were the same when the kids were little. We ate at about 5.30pm
once the kids were up to eating what we ate. The time advanced out as
they got older, but we almost always ate by 6.30-7pm while they were
at school. Mind you, in those days I finished work by 3pm. Today I
finish at 5pm and could not manage that. You need your evening time
once the kids are in bed for yourself, not for cooking.

Kathy in NZ

"Kathy in NZ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

. You need your evening time
once the kids are in bed for yourself, not for cooking.

Sometimes. Many of us enjoy cooking. It is something we do for pleasure,
not just to eat.

I'm one who hates to plan meals. I never shop for more than three main
meals at a time. A mental block, I think. I like to cook but not
every day, so we make a lot of meals which can be recycled, like bean
or vegetable soup.
Eat out on average twice a week.

For a while, I kept track of every main meal we had for a few months,
then relied on that for ideas. Red meat - never more than once a week
and that includes lunches. Heavy on the poultry, seafood, fish and
meatless.

We have maybe 30 tried and true meals we like to rotate. I once tried
following those menus you see in magazines and cookbooks- but the
portions were never right for 2, plus they tended to be heavy on the
fat grams.

Quoted message said:

I'm one who hates to plan meals. I never shop for more than three main
meals at a time. A mental block, I think. I like to cook but not
every day, so we make a lot of meals which can be recycled, like bean
or vegetable soup.

I usually go out at the beginning of the month to stock up on meat, which
is particularly good, and economically priced and packaged at one
particular store. It goes into the freezer, and from then on it's basically
meat roulette until I go out and stock up again. I will have enough
chicken, steak, pork, veal etc. to offer some variety. That is about as
planned as it gets here.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

I'm one who hates to plan meals. I never shop for more than three main
meals at a time. A mental block, I think. I like to cook but not
every day, so we make a lot of meals which can be recycled, like bean
or vegetable soup.
Eat out on average twice a week.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

We have maybe 30 tried and true meals we like to rotate. I once tried
following those menus you see in magazines and cookbooks- but the
portions were never right for 2, plus they tended to be heavy on the
fat grams.

I'm wondering if the tendency to plan has something to do with family
size. If you live alone, or it's just you and one other person, it's
not such a big deal not to plan. You look and see what's in the fridge,
you decide to go out to eat, whatever. When you're cooking for four or
five or six or seven people, most of whom have early bedtimes and school
in the morning, a budget to go with that, you don't go out to eat as
often, and if you don't plan meals at least some of the time, you end up
eating junk or eating at 10:00 at night.

When we were first married, even though we had less money, we also
had more that was expendable. It also wasn't as large a splurge to get
some expensive meat or fish or vegetables or whatever for the two of us
as it is to get it for six of us. You can get away with more when there
are fewer people in a household.

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

In article <[email hidden]>,

Edwin Pawlowski said:

"Kathy in NZ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

. You need your evening time
once the kids are in bed for yourself, not for cooking.

Sometimes. Many of us enjoy cooking. It is something we do for pleasure,
not just to eat.

Do you have young children?

I love to cook, it is one of my favorite parts of being a homemaker.
However, little children are lots of work, and they are exhausting.
Even things I enjoy are not what I want to do at the end of the day when
I am drained and physically worn out. Those hours with the kids in bed
give Rich and me a chance to unwind, reconnect and catch up on the
other's day. I already spend too much of my evening doing laundry and
dishes, I don't need to be doing it at 11:00 pm on a regular basis,
after having done the cooking and helping wrangle the kids into bed.

For holiday meals, I do tend to stay up late several days cooking
things that can be prepared ahead, or doing other prep/cleaning, but I
take a day or two of rest after that, and it takes its toll. I would
hate to do it on a regular basis.

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

"Ranee Mueller" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:raneemdonot-> When we were first married, even though we had less
money, we also

Quoted message said:

had more that was expendable. It also wasn't as large a splurge to get
some expensive meat or fish or vegetables or whatever for the two of us
as it is to get it for six of us. You can get away with more when there
are fewer people in a household.

Yes🙂 When I look back into the far distant past it was the same for us
too🙂)

Once the children came along I, the same as you I think, made everything
myself🙂 I still make bread for the two of us but now I use a breadmaker.
That wouldn't have been viable when the children were home even if I could
have found such a thing🙂 I used to have one day for breads, one day for
cakes and sweets, one day for pastry🙂

Of course the children (and their children) come home often but I just rack
up the amount of loaves I make and put them in the freezer. They still
prefer that bread to bought bread🙂 In mitigation I have to say I do work
full time🙂

How are you doing Ranee? I often think about you🙂)

Ophelia

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ophelia said:

How are you doing Ranee? I often think about you🙂)

I'm doing alright. 🙂 Baby is doing acrobatics, and we're enjoying
the spring weather. We've been able to be outdoors so much more lately.

Regards,
Ranee

Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/

"Ranee Mueller" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ophelia said:

How are you doing Ranee? I often think about you🙂)

I'm doing alright. 🙂 Baby is doing acrobatics, and we're enjoying
the spring weather. We've been able to be outdoors so much more lately.

Wonderful🙂)))