evening meal

[justineo]

do most people plan their meals ahead or get and prepare whatever they fancy at the time?

[boobesque]

sorry andy, i tend to write my weeks menu for the week then i can clearly see what i need to get with the shopping and get very irritated if stuff i ordered isnt with my shoppin! i write the weeks dinners on a board on the fridge so my bf knows what we are having! (either that or he goes on and on at me lol)

[spudqueen]

We're like andy hughes, try and plan at least a couple of days in advance, but doesn't always work out. I have tried planning for a week, but something always happens to mess it up, Mr Spudqueen works late a couple of times or something else crops up and it's all to pot!

[justineo]

So what sort of meals do you have?  I'm scrounging some ideas because I'm finding it hard to come up with things week after week.  ALso, do people tend to have the same sorts of things on each day of the week, you know, like fish on friday etc

[boobesque]

i tend to have various menus then change them depending on what we fancy, some examples

monday- salmon, new potatoes and veg,

tuesday- spicy chicken pilau (own recipe)

wednesday- chicken casserole

thursday- shepherds pie

friday- pizza and garlic bread

saturday- chicken kievs, jacket potatoes and beans

sunday- roast lamb and trimmings

i change these to bolognese, stir-fry, lasagne, curry, chilli con carne, fishcakes, sweet and sour chicken ect, the only one that doesnt change is the sunday roast and for that i change the meat each week. i also try to make as much as possible myself, with the exeption of pizza and kievs! hope this gives you some ideas.

[justineo]

I'm definitely coming to dinner at yours. Thanks a lot for all the suggestions.

[Mistopheles]

If I've got the energy, I plan a meal a day in advance and try to do something homemade. About 5 days a week it just ends up being something thrown together at the last minute though. I've usually got a sort of plan - when I do the shopping I make sure I've got different meals for most nights, then make whatever we feel like at the time. I SO know what you mean about thinking of different meals, as we keep getting stuck in a rut. I've starting making a list of different meals so I can get inspired! Here's the type of stuff we have:

Bubble and Squeak with veg and bacon
Jacket potatoes with salad and cheese
Oven chip with chicken steaks or ham
Chilli con carne
Spag bol
(I hate both rice and pasta, but my partner loves it - I make up a huge batch of sauce, then just add kidney beans one night for chilli, plain for spag bol, even serve it in flour wraps. You could even spice it up and make curry).
Homemade soups
Ham / Cheese salad with boiled potatoes
Cheese pie
Shepherds pie
Stew
Roast
Fry up (if you grill everything, make scrambled egg instead of fried, and serve toast not fried bread, it's suprisingly healthy!)
Sausage, mash and beans
Pizza with salad and garlic bread
Chicken kievs with potato wedges
Scrambled egg on toast

Hope these give you some ideas - please share yours!

[Scarlett]

This makes me realise how useless I am and how badly I cook. Since I am single, I tend to come home, do my work for the following day, get starving and eat a sarnie and a packet of crisps. I'm then not hungry enough for dinner. Or I am detoxing, in which case I will cook properly. But I think cooking and eating is a social thing, and on your own there doesn't seem to be much incentive to do it.

[boobesque]

im lucky though scarlett as im a housewife, we had similar stuff when i still worked but it was mainly convinience foods!

[joolesbarr]

I work full time and have kids and husband, I am a planner, and I even make sure it can be cooked the night before so then I only have to do veg when I get in, the oven timer is a god send as well, its the only way I can be sure we are all eating well

[shaneystar]

We usually make a rough plan.Once a month I have a cook up and make soups and casseroles and freeze them. We have a roast on a Sunday and cold meat and bubble on Monday.Sometimes I forego the joint and we get aready roasted chicken and I just do the veg etc.I can then use the carcass for soup.But it's pretty mundane really.The usual suspects...Jacket spuds,new potatoes,ham or fish and salad.We like a stir fry with chicken and prawns and egg noodles.Liver and bacon with mash.Sausage and mash and greens and gravy.Then I have to cook something different for my son who's a veggie.I get bored with cooking.I used to do it for a living and after 35 years of married life am running out of ideas!!

[Peri]

I would love to be more organised and I envy people who are.  But it is difficult when you have a couple of picky kids and you have to constantly think what are they going to eat.  I do have one who will eat anything at all.  Sometimes you just get too damned tired to think.

[ludwig]

We never plan more than about half an hour ahead except on special occasions. It's always a case of opening the fridge and seeing what's in there.

[WoWo]

We have a mix of both, so part planned but the day's might change.. We normally have Quorn Stir Fry on Monday because the veg is fresh and then it's a mix of Saffron Pasta Paella, Okra Fried Rice, Spag Bol, Fajitas, Salmon, Soup etc etc...

[justineo]

Thanks everyone for your time and suggestions.  I really shouldn't be so lazy.

[toecrusher]

If im working i try to be organized and cook something that can be heated up, or i leave instructions for my daughter or husband about what to do. use my slow cooker a lot for casseroles. grandad lives with us, so have to have his food organized, if hubby and me are both out early, have to leave breakfast and lunch, hot and cold flasks, lists for the children etc, its a real pain! weekly menu for us would include, shepherds pie, chichen/meat casserole,spag bol, pork chops, fish, salad, roast on sundays, (if one of us are off) some nights the kids sort themselves out and we have stir fry.

sometimes we go out for tea after school, so i dont have to cook at all Bliss! So theres no set pattern, just as it comes, but do try to keep it healthy. This has gone on a bit, hasnt  it!!!