I think "What's for dinner?" is my least favorite question ever. I am definitely burned out on grocery shopping and cooking. I'm even burned out on eating. Can't we just cancel all meals until further notice? (Just kidding ... mostly!)
My husband wants to look for a larger house for our family. In order to decide how much we can afford (and with some encouragement from Michelle's blog, Smart Not Cheap) I am in the middle of re-doing our budget. I do this every year or so, and at first it is fun to create a plan and work to keep it. Then after a few months I begin to relax, or get behind on record keeping, and everything begins to slide. The two areas that get out of control first for me are eating out and groceries.
I think to help me control my spending at the grocery store and still have food in the house (so eating out is not necessary) I need to start creating a meal plan and grocery list each week. In the next few days I am planning to look for some meal planning resources to help me with this project.
I've looked briefly at web sites like Saving Dinner and at books like Once-a-Month Cooking by Mary-Beth Lagerborg and Mimi Wilson, but there are some picky eaters in my family and I think it would take as much effort for me to modify another system to fit my family as it would to create something from scratch.
I'm always looking for nutritious, simple, and quick meals for my family. (With a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old usually in the kitchen helping me, simple might be my most important criteria right now!) What are some of your family's favorite meals? Do you have a weekly or monthly meal plan?
I'm really looking forward to having a plan. When I go shopping I'll be able to stick to my list. I won't buy things we don't need. Things we have won't go to waste. And I'll no longer dread hearing the question, "What's for Dinner?"
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I'll be interested in seeing a follow up to this post for solutions, I hate cooking and try to pass it off on my husband as much as possible. Luckily he is very gracious, and helps out a lot. I have a friend who is into freezer cooking, making millions of meals at one time and then stowing them in fridge. While always having a casserole on hand to pull out of the fridge would be nice, a long day of cooking and prepping with her does not appeal to me no matter how much I enjoy her company!
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