Mark Bittman - Food Matters
Recently got my mom to read this so I could finish reading Ruhlman's Making of a Chef. We discussed it after and it seemed like there were a lot of good common sense ideas about eating better. One thing included in the book are monthly meal plans... does anyone out there meal plan? By the week or month? Does it really make life that much easier? How did you get started?
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14 Comments:
I rarely plan far ahead, unless it's a holiday feast. For regular meals, it's what I feel like making, what I feel like eating, what the weather's like, and what looks good at the market and/or what I've thawed from the freezer.
Some meals, I have no idea what I'm making until it's done because I might just start with a few ingredients and go at it from there.
I do try to vary the proteins and the starches, so if it's chicken one night it might be fish or lamb the next. If it's rice one meal, it might be potatoes or pasta the next. And there are usually several veggies at each meal, whether they're part of the dish, side dishes, salads, pickled stuff, etc.
Planning ahead probably works well for some people, but every time I look at something like that I wonder how anyone manages to make it work. What about the leftovers? I usually end up with something left, and that inevitably ends up incorporated into something else later. So leftover veggies might go into a salad or they might be joined with new veggies, or they might go into a soup. So sometimes the leftovers will drive a new dish. Or it might just be lunch.
dbcurrie at 3:13PM on 09/03/09
I plan by the week, usually on Sunday night, using what's leftover from the week before, my farmer market's finds, and sometimes that thing from the back of the cupboard or fridge; by planning I can figure out what I need to buy to actually execute the dishes!
It never goes exactly as planned (you may go out, you may be tired, you may have guests, &c), but I think it helps to avoid waste, supermarket runs, and thinking on a weeknight.
I simply jot down the dishes on a stickie, and make whatever is going bad first.
I pack leftovers for lunch. If there is a lot, I freeze them. For future lunches.
Carioca at 3:45PM on 09/03/09
I plan by the week. Sometimes plans go awry but not too often. It definitely helps keep the grocery bill in check and it makes it easy for me to figure out what to fix for supper when I come home from work all tired and cranky. We love to have leftovers for lunch, so I make larger quantity dishes (casseroles and the like) early in the week and save things that make limited quantities for later.
Knitter at 4:03PM on 09/03/09
I plan by the week, as well. I have a well-stocked pantry, which I really think is the first step in being able to eat well. I go through new recipes each Sunday (or through old ones) and I figure out which meals I want to prepare over the course of the week. Sometimes I'll only plan three as a way of planning around what's good (and cheap) at the market. I cook five days a week, so I also factor in the probability that there will be leftovers. I stay up very late each night working from home, so I'll leave the less complicated meals for early in the week. That way I can use Monday or Tuesday night to complete the more involved components of the meals intended for later in the week, like making chicken stock. It works out well for me.
PumpkinBear at 4:43PM on 09/03/09
My sister does a pretty good job...she plans/shops for about 5 meals a week, without designating days. Then they pick what sounds good each evening....they are very flexible about it, which helps I am sure.
Me, I serve the whims of my tastebuds and thus end up at the store nearly every day...I am sure I overspend that way, but nothing is more wasteful than making a dish we don't really want, picking at it, and letting it languish in the 'fridge, hoping the other one of us will take it for lunch!
Cary at 4:43PM on 09/03/09
Regardless of how hard I try to establish a meal plan that spans a week, I find I resort to what I call "The French Housewife" method of shopping - buying a protein and veg generally on the day I need them. Even when I worked in Manhattan and my daughter was very small, I'd pass a butcher on the way home, grab something and cook it that night.
So much of my food consumption is dictated by mood, weather, and general condition of the day. I can't live by a list for this task. I can't imagine myself saying, "Well, it's chilly and I had a rough day and could use some comfort food but it's not meat loaf day so I'm screwed."
therealchiffonade at 6:27PM on 09/03/09
I think everyone is right that there needs to be some level of flexibility. One of the reasons I was happy to take over the family's cooking was that I have control over what we eat. I hated when someone else was cooking and dinner wasn't food I was in the mood for.
lexophile at 6:55PM on 09/03/09
nope... I am a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of gal. I answer to what my stomach craves each day. Maybe that's why there's so many cheeses in my fridge!!!
MadelynRodriguez at 7:02PM on 09/03/09
I could never do a month, but I do do weekly. I take Saturday day and do the bulk of cooking for the week. It will take care of all my lunches at the office and my dinners. I can't tell you how much it has improved the quality of my life. I take a couple of ours and I'm D.U.N. done.
chisai at 8:15PM on 09/03/09
@all of you 'what feels good' people--I am so 'with you.' To me, the greatest think about being the grown-up cook is not to have to come home and groan like a kid 'ooohh noooo...it's plain baked chicken breast day/flounder in paprika/ pasta with bottled sauce day.' I am the boss, and my appetite decides, no rules or pre-set scheduling! I am lucky as a singleton that food is for me, so it's never a chore in that regard to prepare it for a big family.
HeartofGlass at 8:34PM on 09/03/09
Loose rules during the work/school week are good for us...meatless Monday, some sort of pasta on Tuesday, soup on Wednesday, chicken on Thursday, fish/beef/pork Friday. That way there is flexibility with recipes, but general rules to go by to guide planning and shopping.
Bumblebutton at 9:18PM on 09/03/09
I'm with @chiff in doing the French housewife thing. Either come up with an idea for dinner at some point in the afternoon and buy the ingredients fresh, or I go to a shop and get inspired by what I see. I hate having produce for more than a couple of days.
The only exception is in the winter, when the farmers' markets are closed and we buy organic meat to freeze. Then I decide a few days in advance that I'll roast a chicken for example, and I'll take it out to thaw. But then I really look forward to it!
yayfood at 10:08PM on 09/03/09
@chisai - I do like the idea of getting into the habit of doing a lot of cooking Sunday afternoons to get ahead for the week.
lexophile at 10:33PM on 09/03/09
After many years of planning menues by the week, only to see my (overambitious) plans fall into ruins almost every night, I have pretty much given up planning altogether. I just decided to keep all our favorite ingredients on hand at all times. For a long while I was improvising on this basis, until my brain wore out, and then I went looking for a nice big compendium of recipes. Curiously enough, I thought How to Cook Everything looked like a promising title, and I was right. My go-to cookbook now is the Vegetarian version, and our family is "lessmeatarian" now.
So, yeah, planning meals? I still don't. I buy what I've been craving, what's on sale, and what looks good - anything that's 2-for-3 on that shortlist ends up in my shopping cart. So long as it's a vegetable or a whole grain or some such.
gentlyferal at 12:42AM on 09/04/09