So I probably should have this figured out already, but I wanted to get some feedback about meal preparation. As I've said earlier, Tim makes most of our dinners because 1) he's a really good cook, and 2)I'm a really lousy cook and I just don't like cooking much. But it's not fair that he has to work hard all day, then come home and make dinner, then give Kaylin her bath and get her ready for bed, with no break until like 8pm. So, I know I need to step up and start doing my wifely duties (okay, just kidding, but you know what I mean). But really, I want Tim to be able to rest a bit and have dinner made when he gets home so he can have more playtime with Kaylin and we can have more time together to just be together.
I don't have a lot of experience planning and cooking meals (It didn't help that growing up wasn't much different--my mom didn't cook much, we usually had the same meals over and over--or frozen food, so I didn't learn much in the cooking department). One of my frustrations is that I never plan ahead, and usually start thinking about it only about an hour before Tim gets home. Because I don't plan ahead, we usually don't have much on hand and because I don't have a lot of experience anyway, I scramble around trying to come up with something. I've tried before to plan out meals a week at a time, then go to the store and shop for it all, but it always ends up being so expensive and I never know for sure what we're going to do for the week and a lot of the food ends up going bad and is wasted. Kaylin's allergies is an added complication and most of the time we have to prepare two meals, which is tough too.
It seems like it shouldn't be as complicated or stressful as I feel like it sometimes can be, women (and men) cook everyday, and seem to have plenty of variety in their meals.
So what do you guys do? Do you plan out meals a week at a time, or a few days, then go shopping? Or is it a day-to-day thing? (Like me?) What do you find helpful--using cookbooks, the internet, etc. What does your planning look like and could you give any tips? And how do you keep your children (if you have any) occupied so that you can cook? (I know, probably another blog topic altogether.) When I'm attempting to cook, Kaylin's either eating her meal (by herself, which I don't like) or wandering around "exploring" as she likes to do so much.
Sorry for the long post, but I'd love to hear how everyone else handles this part of their lives. It's too bad that something that seems so unimportant, (but I know it isn't) can be stressful and cause for dissatisfaction. Hope this all makes sense!
5 comments:
hi Al,
I usually like to choose three big meals a week, and then have leftovers in between. Lots of times it helps to see what kind of meats you already have in the freezer and plan around that. It's always good to keep simple things on hand like chili for the last minute meals- throw it in bread bowls and yumm. I start defrosting around mid-afternoon. You'll get the hang of it! Good job, AL!!
yeah meal planning and prep, not my strong suit, but i've got several mouths to feed so i have no choice! :)
i do like cookbooks, and allrecipes.com is awesome. also get recipes from friends, that have worked for them, because even a good cookbook will have some recipes in it that don't turn out so well.
i try to plan by the week in terms of meals. sometimes i'll make a list of meals, then write down what i need for each meal. i'm totally with you; sooooooo frustrating when stuff goes bad!!! there are things i like to always have on hand. i'll buy a huge pack of chicken breasts and ground beef at costco (gotta love buying bulk), divide it into ziplock bags and freeze it.
occupying the kids during meal prep can be tough. sometimes i'll put a video on that they enjoy, or they just play. other times they drive me nuts. :)
i'd also love to be more organized with all of this and look forward to hearing others' ideas.
Allison! This was a huge problem for me when we first moved to Mississippi (back in CA we just ate at my parents house a lot =)). I was so stressed out at dinner time, so I started making a weekly meal plan and shopping according to what I was planning on cooking. Now that I've gotten the hang of things I can do more of the planning in my head and I usually go to the grocery store at least twice a week to avoid spoiling vegetables and so I only have to plan a couple of meals at a time (I agree with Kelly, left overs are a good thing!). And I make sure I always have the ingredients for chili and tuna cassarole on hand for times when I don't have a plan.
The biggest thing is that I have trained myself to start thinking of dinner really early in the day so I can put something out to thaw from the freezer instead of just beginning to think of what to make for dinner at 5:30pm when it's almost time to eat. That was always so stressful!
As far as entertaining Caedra, it's best if Darin is home and can play with her, but I often put her in front of the TV too, which I hate that I do (Clifford came on at 5:30pm in Florida - that's her favorite). Or sometimes I'll bring something for her to play with into the kitchen like toys, bowls of water on a towel, or crayons and paper so she can be near me but busy.
You'll do great. It just takes time to start thinking differently.
Thanks everyone! I think I'm going to sit down Sunday night and plan out three meals for the week and then go shopping for the items I'll need. That'll hopefully keep spoiling to a minimum. We'll see how this goes, and hopefully I'll get the hang of things!
Ditto what everyone else said! I go for three meals a week with enough for leftovers, especially the meat course (veggies can always be made quickly the next day). Otherwise cooking AND dishes everyday is too overwhelming! Unfortunately I often use a video too, but it's pretty much the only way I can get dinner going since Brian works long hours. Sometimes a small snack, like a few crackers is enough to entertain matthew and keep him full enough until mealtime too. Also, he LOVES to help in the kitchen, but always seems to come in right when I get the raw meat out...so I try to call him in to help stir something when it's safe so he can have some kitchen time too. Good luck, I know how hard it is to get dinner done...lately I've actually resorted to starting the meal during his naptime to avoid dinner-cooking meltdowns!!
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