What's for dinner tonite?

[zamboni]

So am I weird or what?

I had an idea a couple of years ago to help the family out during our hectic schedule that I would organize our dinner menus into categories for easy shopping and planning.

Basically heres what we did:
1. All recipes we like are categorized by main entree dish (beef, chicken, pork, fish, pasta, dine-out/order -in)
2. All recipes are numbered in each entree category
3. Wife, kids & I sit down once a month (after dinner on a Sunday evening) and each person takes a turn and randomly picks a number from 1 to highest # of recipes we have for that entree (example: we have 75 recipes for beef, so child #1 picks a number from 1 - 75) That recipe is what we have on Day #1 that month and so on throughout the month.
4. We also look at our schedule of events planned to accomodate special events, etc.
5. I can plan lunch meetings, the kids school lunches, etc. around the planned dinner menu each week and can "look forward" to a certain recipe on that day of the month. I kinda hated when I used to a eat salad for lunch only to come home and my wife had prepared salad for dinner.

Anyway, anyone else out there as OCD as me about this? or should I sell this to Jenny Craig?

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by zamboni

Anyway, anyone else out there as OCD as me about this?

Uh...no. Definately not me!

Shari

[vswingfield]

Monk would be proud. Well, almost. There is that part where others get to choose.

Vaughan

[markdoane]

It's after 6PM and we haven't decided yet whether to cook or go out.

[aturner4u]

I defrosted fish for dinner when I got home from work. Heated up some canned black beans and cooked some asparagus.

I am DEFINITELY not a plan that far in advance for dinner person. I tend to buy meat for the week and decide as my mood hits what is for dinner. I keep a fairly well stocked freezer so I am not so limited (cook meat and put in freezer for easy heat up).

[Mrs_RedSHED]

Sometimes I plan 2 or 3 days in advance...sometimes I'm still deciding and hour before dinnertime. I do know a family that is trying out the meal planning and shops once-a-month for non-perishables. They go for milk and other fresh items once a week or so. Somewhere they had read about a couple that did this who discovered they saved money since they weren't grabbing as much extra stuff when they went. That couple was even trying to shop once a year by taking out a home equity loan. Um, I usually try not to judge, but that's just plain goofy. I could see the once-a-month deal working.

I know another mother of young children that cooks once every couple of weeks with a friend. Dads take the kids out that day and the friends cook the required number and variety of meals and divy it up into meals for the freezer to be baked or reheated later. I do large batches of some meals (like lasagna) to do the same thing but not on a regular basis at all. Just when the mood strikes me. Guess I'm just not OCD enough.

[thecatsandi]

Recipies? I have the Internet. Tonight, Dinner is breakfast! Eggs over easy, has browns. no greasy pork.

[InsideOut]

Originally Posted by markdoane

It's after 6PM and we haven't decided yet whether to cook or go out.

Sounds more like our style...we eat out 3+ nights a week, just easier to stop on the way home from work. Or throw something on the grill and toss a salad - unless it's a weekend....then I cook, 'cause I like to just too burned out after work.

Shari

[SwampBillies]

Sometimes we just eat a big lunch and skip dinner. Of course on those nights we might just have to have a little snack!

[Mrs_RedSHED]

Yep, this was an easy/lazy night. Some of us had popcorn, apples and cheese. The others had cereal. Last night we had portabella mushroom sandwiches with cream cheese (fairly tainted with garlic salt) and lettuce (spinach leaves are even better) with fruit on the side.

We like breakfast foods but all get up in the morning at different times. So sometimes for dinner we have eggs and hashbrowns or pancakes or oatmeal made from steel cut oats and I add apple chunks...Yum!.

[tin sista]

Wow Zamboni I think that's so cool you all plan ahead like that! Good for you! Nothing wrong with it at all. With kids it makes so much sense to do it that way if you can!! I wouldn't call that ocd I would call it an organized family!

I wish I could say ours was that well organized, but its a work in progress!

[safari57]

My goodness Zamboni, you really take this planning thing to heart.

Our big plan is to plan to have a meal. Then we plan where, home or out. Then we plan what. Then sometimes we decide what the heck and just have cereal instead. I do remember at least half a dozen times in the past 39 years where we've planned a non-special event meal several days out, but I doubt we actually ate it on the day we'd planned.

Wait till I show your post to Donna, she will fall over. Her comment will be no one can be that organized and still be married.

Barry

[wanderer1]

I'am one heck of a good cook,as long as it fits in the microwave!! Just kidding,I can also use the gas grill too!!

[love vintage]

You and Martha should talk!

[fonseca]

Hi Zamboni,

You're a kindred spirit! I do all the cooking and grocery shopping for my family. I also do all the dishes. My husband makes tea for me and brings me a cup in bed every morning so I don't complain. He hates doing dishes and has no idea how to cook. Anyway, because I do all the cooking and I have a family of 4 to feed I do plan almost all our meals. I usually plan a week's worth of meals on the weekend. I shop on Monday because the kids are at school and there's a good farmer's market close by. Monday and Teusday I focus on meals that include fresh produce and meat, both perishable. Wednesday and Thursday are often vegetarian or feature frozen shrimp. Sometimes I'll incorporate some sort of leftover variation, like turning extra rice into fried rice. By Friday I've usually had it with all the cooking so I will rely on frozen pizza or something simple, like an omelette. By Sunday all the food is pretty much gone and I start all over. Oh, and I always leave a day or two open just in case we feel like going out or get an invitation to dinner at a relatives house. Like you I rotate meats every week. One day I'll make beef, on day chicken, one day vegetarian, one day fish or seafood etc. I make pasta at least once a week. I use the same system on camping trips and bring everything with me to make all the meals for the trip. If I don't I'm lost. I'm just not good at off the cuff cooking. So please don't feel weird. I might be overly organized, but I like knowing what I'm cooking every night. It makes me feel secure.

Heather

[AIR-Quarius]

I can cook better than Angel theguy I take care of...we like seasoned chicken thighs grilled on the George forman grill, Mashed potatoes, brown gravy or stuffing and asparagus...next week we are stepping sideways to expierience how many things you can do to a salad and get a 'green' fast going...we ate at Burger king today and I begged the register girl to 'make sure the fries is fresh and hot...irregardless this fast food is in our opinion not up to par for the price and while eating 'processed food' floats in the air over our table...lol!

[soldiermedic]

Unfortunately for us, we go the left overs route. It seems that Amy and I are incapable of cooking for the two of us. Take New Years Eve for instance. What was originally going to be a simple 4 portion of lasagne in our loaf pan turned into a 9x13 terror of pasta sauce, sausage, and noodles that we have been eating on ever since. Sometimes we will have 3 different things in a row for dinner, but then lunches are left overs.

For those of you who know us, Amy and I love to cook..(Join us at a rally to believe it). We end up going to excess and feeding alot of other people in the play of it all.

Zambo...perhaps next time Amy goes hog wild on the lasagne you can venture in from Fenton.

Steve

[68 Overlander]

And I thought emptying the holding tanks after every trip was OCD!

[emo59]

Zamboni - You're not THAT weird. I'm about as opposite from OCD as you can get. So if I don't plan, I will be totally lost and run about frantically looking for something ot cook. I had to make myself get organized, and then that turned into a web business (of love - doesn't make any money) but it's fun. you can check it out at easypeas dot com

But anyway, since you all seem to be big food groupies, I'd like to invite you to my online column over at Airstream Life, "A Moveable Feast" where I am writing all about food and travel, and I welcome any ideas, comments, recipes, etc.

Steve - I'm afraid we're like you. It's just the two of us, so when I decide to make a pot of soup or chili, I usually eat the frozen leftovers for lunch for 2 or 3 weeks. My solution lately has been to cook 2 meals a week. They provide us with enough leftovers for the rest of the week plus Saturday out and one night of frozen pizza.

-Jill

[codybear]

ok, tonite, we decided not to do any cooking..we just got back w'our friends at Home Town Buffet..all you can eat, no dishes to wash for a change