Hi all,

Im just interested in how you decide on what is for dinner


Do you

have a menu plan?

Randomly pull something out of the freezer at the last minute

Decide either the night before or in the morning and defrost the meat then.

Have someone else in the family cook, hubby, son, daughter etc....

Just read a survey that said 80% of people don't have clue what they are going to have for dinner at 5pm each night. - Halleluah, it's not just me!

I usually decide either the night before, or if I am in an insomnia phaze it beats counting sheep or in the morning. And my decision is made by sticking my head in the freezer when I get home from gym in the morning, as the freezer is out in the garage. And if I can't come to a decision from that action.... then it gets to 5pm and when George gets home, I go... holy moly, I forgot to get anything out of the freezer. Any ideas darling, feel like cooking

Weekly planner. I cook and plan week one, then husband plans and cooks week 2. Son cooks one night each week sometimes more. The week changes on Friday as that is usually hamburgers or a meal out and it fits in with weekend shopping, which the cook of the week does. It works most of the year except the mad rush of the next few weeks when we are getting ready for Xmas and trying to eat those mysterious little packages that end up in the freezer.

I think about dinner while I'm having b/fast and then I might ask the master what he feels like but he usually says, "what have we got?" so that robs me of further energy for further thinking and I come into my full powers while having 10am cup of coffee. It has to be something I can salivate over for a few hours mentally at least. The creative mental juices have to be in full flight before I commence with any tedious chores such as thawings out, as I may change my mind.

I have done the weekly planner, but that is usually planned when I'm feeling like certain things, which changes from not just one week to the next but one day to the next --- so by and large WP's are out.

Tonight I still don't know and it is nearly 6 o'clock and the master is out for dinner. I feel like a stinking hot curry I think but may settle for a robust Thai with the nice bit of pork I have - not enough for two baby bear, but just right for one.... baby bear and papa bear can starve in that case. then again, maybe I'll cook it all up in some apple cider with spuds and pick some salad... maybe I'd better have a glass of wine and have another think, I mean drink. Thinking is becoming rather irksome at present. I could ring the nice Take A-Ways in the village but I'd be divorced by morning if a take-away smell presented in the house. I've never had a McBerger or a Take-away.. isn't that sad? What am I missing?

I ( briefly) consider the night before what piece of meat I could possibly base tomorrows meal on and if I cant or dont, then it is generally a mid-afternoon decision araound what I can thaw quicky when I get home.
But the best laid plans can, and do, go astray as I amble in to the supermarket on the way home to get fresh salad. Invariably I spy something else (or smell a hot chicken)that will throw my plans awry....I grab the chicken and take it home to use up some of my pasta and tinned tomatoes....with the salad I originally went in to buy!!
Quick is usually a weekday criteria for me.

im glad im not the only one who has issues.

The kids ask me about 4-5 times each after school whats for dinner and I really have no idea.
I dont want to feed them 2 nights in a row with chicken, yet i love chicken..

I really need to do a menu planner so I am organised for once. and it will take away the worrying and stress (yes i stress)....

But on Friday im going to stock up my freezer and cupboards using my xmas club vouchers.. so hopefully on thr weekend I can set a task and do a plan for a while...

Zee

I choose my meals for the week based on the advertised sales in the weekly flyer.

At the end of the week we have a stew to clean out the fridge of leftovers and wilted veggies.

On the weekend I cook as much as possible (ie. a roast beef & roast chicken can be cooked at the same time), then divide it up and freeze in individual portions to be used through the week.

Before leaving for work in the morning, pull a portion out of the freezer. When you get home, it's defrosted and only needs heating.

Great for those times you feel unwell, or just don't feel like cooking.

Kerry , our burgers are McStephanie and I can recommend them!

How many husbands have you gone through Stephanie and do you courier your famous McStephanie burgers, because I would like to order two for this evening. Not husbands who I'm convinced must be aging nicely and ripening in your cool store. But seriously, would you tell me how you go about making yours as I would like to try one I think. The dear Cap'n is most vociferous in his damnation of such things. I did take him to see McSweeny Todd once and it may have impacted on any warm leanings towards such fare...

I think the idea of those buns turns me off also, as I'm not hugely fond of buns and buns (they taste like cardboard) seem to be a prerequisite for a burger.

I do like fish n chips (we had some from the local famous chippy six years ago) so I'm not a complete gone burger in the take away department!!

We have had takeaways twice in the last year.... one night we had been up in West Auckland all day and it was late and we were starving and heading back to the dim lights of Hamilton on a grey foggy evening... and George wanted to try McDs as he had never had them. And after that night, he vowed and declared he would never eat them again, and they remained low in my estimation. What utter crap!!

Last week on one of our 'what shall I have for dinner nights' - actually it wasn't because I did have something out of the freezer - George was craving fish and chips so we decided to get takeaways. I thought mmm why not, and actually they were yum yum. I indulged in 2 battered oysters, and they were even more yum yum.

that will be our quota for takeaways for a long time to come.

I usually stick my head in the freezer in the morning & decide unless I am working in which case my Husband cooks & he has finally learnt to decide for himself what to cook!

If I have been reading a cooking magazine & found a recipe I feel inspired to try then it means a trip to the supermarket!

Judith

About once a month or so, I go to the butcher and stock up on meat. Last night we had chicken mince, but it was about 2pm before I decided what I was actually going to do with it. Ended up making fajita's cos I saw the packet in the pantry.

I don't do meal plans as such, but mentally think about what we could have, utilising what I already have in the fridge, freezer and pantry. In this household, it also depends on what activities the kids are doing, and the timing of them. I will try to do something in the crockpot, so its all ready for the "I'm starving" comments, when the kids have sports which don't finish until late.

Wednesdays during summer are usually pizza nights, cos the kids have athletics, DH and I end up helping out and we're not usually home until around 8.30pm and we're all tired and hungry.

I must admit, that if I know whats for dinner, I mentally feel more organised and ready to accept whatever challenges the day presents.


Linda.

I always plan at least four meals a week, then for the others we are either out or we make do with the bits and pieces left in the fridge. I hate defrosting when I get home - I'm often not in until 7 so if I have to start defrosting at that point we end up eating pretty late.

I find if I just go and buy groceries without a plan we end up with a lot of stuff we don't use that either languishes in the pantry or has to be thrown out when I find it mouldy in the vegie bin but perhaps I lack creativity!

Here it is McStephanie burgers- an extremely difficult gastronomic event. There are diet versions as well.
Ingredients- anything that takes your whim but usually any of the following.
Buns- no special variety, if I can be bothered I make my own or often I use thickly sliced bread.
Meat or chicken. Meat patties I buy Angel Bay or I make my own using any combination of mince,egg,tomato sauce,garlic and 101 other magic herb and spices.
If I am doing chicken ones I use thinly sliced chicken breast, cut horizontally so it is bun shaped.Cook as required.
The remainder I put out on the bench and everyone makes their own.
These are some of the things we use:
eggs,lettuce, beetroot,tamarillo, pineapple,tomato, onion, avocado, sliced pear or apple, blue cheese.
Any chutney or sauce that happens to be lurking around.

When you have made your creation they can be heated in the microwave if desired. Then I usually have to eat mine with a knife and fork as it is far too big for my delicate little mouth.

Thank you for that McStephanie. I will re-read this when my big birthday boy lunch has subsided and I can mentally get my taste buds around it all. The bread bit sounds okay so far. Angel Bay Meat Patties going to be subject of google. I'm somewhat worried by that admission!!! I have some mince, a good substantial loaf of white bread that can be beaten into bun like submisstion and most of the other ingreds -- so may experiment tomorrow weather permitting. You wouldn't like to come up here and supervise? Nice comfy snoozer for two, heaps of lovely wine arrived today and master could find something to flambe the burgs with for added interest if watched burgers were behaving shyly.

Wobbling off now for more birthday boy bubbles.

I don't understand why hubby cannot survive on peanut butter sammies! Making nightly meals was not my forte until I found in the back of the cupboard a recipe book that tells me exactly what to do and how long to do it and what to put with it. All recipes lovely and clear and broken down to their meats ie pork, lamb etc. I now sit down with coffee and write into the diary what meat, page #, vege etc for each night, onto the shopping list goes meat and qty for the fortnight and on another list goes the veggies not in the garden and that is given to hubby who buys them weekly. All ingredients if not in the pantry are purchased on shopping day (I don't like that either) and Cool bananas hubby is happy!! AND I find it easy

I have a problem with organising a weekly menu: when I've spent my good time sifting through the options from my recipes, written my shopping list and driven to the shops only to find that several of the key items are not available this week or are so scungy-looking that I wouldn't buy them. We only have one supermarket here, the next is a good 1 1/4 hours drive away, so as they say, beggars can't be choosers.

There is also the catch 22 situation where I like to shop for specials but I don't know what's on special till I get there! The New World weekly specials brochure very often doesn't get delivered as the distributors can't find staff willing to walk the length of the steep hill on which I live. This problem will soon be remedied, however, when I move back down to sea level on 7th January. I'm going to miss the views but I'm going to love not having to fill my car so often and feel the juice being sucked out of it every time I return home.

I think you can access all the various supermarket specials on the internet Lorna, if you have the time to go chasing them! My dial up is too slow for me - but I'm in a similar situation to you - food items not always available when you want them.

The white beans I referred to in the Pomegranate thread - I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday when I found fresh packages of Haricot, Blackeye and Lima Beans in a 4Square shop about 15 minutes drive away from my little village. I hadn't thought of looking there earlier in the week when passing, but yesterday remembered they could be worth having a look and to my delight found they have packages of all sorts of dried peas, beans, spices, dried stocks, condiments and the list goes on, that a lot of large supermarkets don't have. There is a Hare Krishna community in the area which is possibly why they have such a wonderful selection. (The blonde, buxom, US cowgirl is absolutely in 7th heaven now she can make her big pot of dried beans and smoked ham (minus the evasive Andouille sausage)).
Regards,
Dawn.