Source: PatioStore.com
“DING! DING! DING! DING!” The dinner bell is ringing, as it does every single day. Only here lately that dinner bell isn’t such a welcome sound in our household.
Alex and I are able to split the chores fairly equitably, it’s not 50 / 50 by any means, but we work with what we have. Since we divide the chores based on our individual strengths I typically handle meals. Since I like cooking, this isn’t an issue. I come home from work, cook dinner, we eat, and I clean the kitchen because I hate dishes in the sink overnight and Alex doesn’t seem to see the dishwasher is a mere 2 inches to the left of the sink.
No biggie all things considered since I fail to understand what the big issues is about drying the clothes since at least I washed them, right? (See this is why we do chores based on strengths….he likes clean AND DRY laundry, I like a clean kitchen.)
Plus on days when Alex is super stressed I don’t mind folding and putting away the laundry just like he has no problem actually cooking the meal. What’s been kicking my tushie here lately though has been PLANNING the meals. I get home and I open the fridge and I turn into a whiny teenager.
“HONEY! There’s nothing to eat in the house. I don’t see any good FOOD.”
And our fridge is actually full and so is our pantry. I know it is, I grocery shop using my favorite app in the whole wide world every single Saturday. So what is my problem?! I couldn’t even begin to hazard a guess at why I’m struggling with meal planning so much right now, but even when I shop with a menu in mind I still get to the day and the meal and go “NO!”
All of the above, of course, leads to cop-out meals such as frozen meals-in-a-bag, pizza, and take-out! This is wreaking havoc on our budget. So I’ve decided it’s time to put a stop to things and get my own act together. Only, I’m not really sure how to break through this hurdle.
Do y’all ever hit a roadblock when it comes to the cooking and planning of meals? How do you push through it?
A friend of mine has been using e-mealz and really likes it. You sign up for the store you shop at and they make a weekly menu based on what’s on sale and then send you the menu and the grocery list for $5/month. I would love to try it but the picky eaters around here make that impossible.
I’m going to check into the e-mealz thing right now…though probably wouldn’t work for a vegetarian. And yes…I never meal plan…but then I can barely cook.
Confirmed…they don’t have “vegetarian for two”
Twitter: Mrsourma
says:
Awww that stinks! I wish more websites catered to a broader range of food personalities.
Twitter: Mrsourma
says:
Thanks Mindee – I’ll definitely look into this! Its the planning that is so dang hard right now, not the actual cooking!
You’ve got this! You’ll get back to your planning and come up with some great meal ideas for this week.
I have a backlog of recipes I want to try so every time I plan out our meals, I use that as a reference. That way I don’t get stuck making the same-old-same-old. 
Twitter: Mrsourma
says:
LOL would you like to just provide me with a weekly backlog of recipes? The worst part of my menu planning is I was taught to cook on the fly so cooking from a recipe is HARD!
I solved this by cooking every meal in the crockpot. Throw in before going to work and come home to a cook meal. Works great. If you need help this is a practical and great website for crockpot meals – http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ Her book is one of my favorites, nothing fancy just things you already have in the pantry – Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking
Twitter: Mrsourma
says:
This works best in the winter, when its 65 – 70 degrees outside Crockpot meals are less attractive.
Pick something out of your fridge or pantry and look on http://www.cooks.com for ideas to use that food.
It’s a great website and I know lots of good cooks who use it.