Who Plans out their Dinners?

No I don't plan, are you joking, in a house with one vegetarian, one somewhat particular meat eater and one fussy toddler, it's impossible!

what is a hardship is cooking something that a seven year old picks at and pulls a face...  

I'd KILL for picking.  I get "I don't like it, and I won't try it", followed by a five minute tirade on why graham crackers would make a much better dinner.  *sigh*

I think it is unusual to cook seven days a week and work a full time job, yes!  I know I could never do it and I applaud anyone who can!

I am dead chuffed to know that something I on a daily basis is seen as being quite the accomplishment. I sooooo rock the *bleep*!!! How awesome is the racheeeee!!!

Is that unusual? I work and cook every night. One night a week we might have a takeaway (mainly a Friday) but I cook every single night...

I thought everyone did.

I cook pretty much every night, too.  And I work in London and live in Kent...I just feel that, being away from the house so much, and my husband working from home and doing things like the dishwashing and laundry and being there for the boys, it's the least I can do.

Besides, I really enjoy cooking and it helps me wind down and concentrate on something other than what happened at work that day.

I am dead chuffed to know that something I on a daily basis is seen as being quite the accomplishment. I sooooo rock the *bleep*!!! How awesome is the racheeeee!!!

Well, I'm glad you're so happy!  Even though I love cooking, I am dead on my feet after working all day and I would probably cry if I was expected to cook a meal from scratch every night once I got home.  I'm also out at work events often during the week so I really can't guarantee I would be able to do it consistently either. I don't even commute like peedal!  But as StephanieLea said, I would be in a permanently bad mood if I tried. I seriously am impressed by you two. 

No I don't plan, are you joking, in a house with one vegetarian, one somewhat particular meat eater and one fussy toddler, it's impossible!

Do you cook two seperate meals, or one vegetarian meal and add meat to one portion of it?

Do you cook two seperate meals, or one vegetarian meal and add meat to one portion of it?

I try not to do totally separate meals but often it end up that I'll make something like tacos with a vege filling for me and a meat one for him. Or he'll have a steak and I'll have a stuffed mushroom, with the same potatoes and veges for both of us.  The butchers shop he goes to has some ready made things like marinated kebabs or meatballs in sauce which makes life easier for me cause I can just bung that in the oven and only have to make my thing & whatever side dishes from scratch.

LOL. I'm actually the anti-leftover person in our house!! With the exception of complex dishes that taste better after they've had time to meld and occaisionally cold pizza I've just never enjoyed re-heated food for some reason....

That's me too! I've never liked leftovers! I will eat leftover chicken, but never reheated. I prefer it cold with a salad, or something like that.

That's me too! I've never liked leftovers!

I don't think anyone actually *likes* leftovers, but... needs must!

We don't plan too much.  Steve does a shop for fresh meat, fruit & veg at the weekends from our butcher and green grocer, and then the other stuff from either Sainsburys or Morrisons.  (We rarely ever buy lots of groceries at one time unless we are going to be entertaining or having guests stay with us for a period of time.)

Whatever he picks up at the butcher and/or green grocer usually sees us through to at least Monday, and often more than that -- plus we usually have fruit & veg enough for the week.  We'll pick up odds & ends through the week as needed, or go to the city market (on our lunch breaks) which is amazing for fresh meat, fish, produce, etc (as well as a smorgasbord of anything/everything -- cheap groceries, electronics, clothing, textiles, wigs...)

When I cook (the days I'm off or taking a turn at mid-week cooking), I cook BIG meals (like chili, spaghetti sauce, soup, stew, etc) where some gets either used as leftovers on a subsequent day, or frozen & used as convenience meals later on.  Recently, we've had so much of this stuff in the freezer, I've not had to cook at all!

I cooked a lot more when I wasn't working.  But ever since I've been working, particularly the job I have now -- Steve knows how stressed & tired the job makes me on the days I am at work, so he tends to take over in the kitchen (and the washing up too!).  He likes his job a lot & he likes to cook -- so this has been a happy arrangement for us.

Our cupboard is always well stocked with staple ingredients, spices & seasonings & things to bake with.  I guess we do plan to the extent that we both sometimes cook to recipes we want to make -- but it's all on a very ad hoc basis for the most part.

We like leftovers!  I'm not crazy about having just plainy-plain leftover chicken, so I usually recycle leftover bits of chicken into a new dish.

We like leftovers! 

I stand corrected! 

my boy's the say way.  i usually make (3) portions of meals and then dish out all three- place (1) in the fridge right away.  if it's out, he'll eat it.  it's like he's afraid there won't be food tomorrow or something. 

My boyfriend was just raised that there should be no leftovers and that the food would go to waste if it wasn't all eaten. He's a lot better if I make the extra and tell him that it will do  well reheated, but there are still plenty of times it doesn't work.

For me, I like leftovers depending on what it is.

I like cooking, but am often tired at the end of the day. I cook seven days a week too, but mostly because we can't afford to eat out right now. I find that when I plan my meals, it makes it less stressful for me because I know what I'm doing and I just get started. I don't come home drained from work and then have to think about what's for dinner. One thing I have to get used to is my new crock pot. I have to remember to set things in it in the morning if I want to use it!

I don't really plan ahead and I end up making several trips to the grocery store. Luckily for me the Morrison's is only about a half a mile away.  

Nothing gets wasted or goes bad because I'm cooking up everything before it goes off.  I try to always keep certain things stocked like tins of tomatoes and bean and loads of spices.  Also I always have rice and several different kinds of dried beans in the cupboards.  

I'm totally vegetarian except for some dairy, and my husband eats red meat whenever he feels like it (he cooks it though!) which ends up being maybe a couple times a month, and tuna maybe on the weekend.

I guess the most planning ahead I do is soaking dried beans the night before.  If I change my mind the next day I just cook up the beans and freeze them.  I often make curries, soups and chili and do a double or triple batch and freeze the rest.

We usually have pizza once a week--ready made from the freezer with veggies added on top.  That and veggie sausages (Saturday or Sunday brunch) are the only convenience food we ever really buy.

We plan our meals every week - not what we'll have each night of the week, we just make sure we have 7 meals (or less if we're planning on going out).

DH is a HUGE meat eater but i'm limited in my diet (I'm a pasta girl,too fussy to eat any meat other than the odd chicken dish) so I cook two meals nearly every night of the week. 

We don't have leftovers because DH is a 'sleep-eater' if there is such a thing (he sleep walks but eats whilst he's doing it) so I always make extra for him and leave it out in the kitchen so that he can find it easily and eat it.  I have to do that otherwise i'll find the remains of cornflakes mixed with ice cream and soya sauce in the morning. 

I love leftovers!  Well not all - not say two pieces of cooked asparagus.  But in general both my kids and I much prefer to have leftovers for lunch instead of a boring sandwich.

My husband doesn't like almost any leftovers, except say a batch of chili which has been prepared and then frozen.  His parents do not eat leftovers.  They serve all the plates dividing up every bite that's been cooked and everyone is expected to clean their plates.  An exception to this is roast chicken or ham, which they will save for sandwiches.

They also think that reheating leftovers gives you food poisoning?  Especially rice.  Well, I've always made fried rice out of leftover white rice.  It doesn't even work very well with fresh cooked rice.  My husband has been won over by fried rice, but is still suspicious of most leftovers.

We almost never waste food.  Except for this Christmas...oh dear, somehow we ended up throwing away several things because of last minute change of mind, or because we just had too much (like leftover turkey) that we didn't make into something quick enough.