How do you decide what to eat every day?

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NailBat

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If you want to learn how to cook, there's more books, shows, and youtube channels than you can shake a stick at. But there's a lot of things outside of the act of cooking itself that are important to know but aren't often talked about, and one of those things is how to decide what the heck you're actually going to cook each day.

If you don't have a good way of answering that question, you'll be stuck either cooking the exact same things over and over again, or you'll have to spend a lot of time just browsing through recipes figuring out what looks good, and then of course there's the whole part of having to go to the store to get the ingredients you'll inevitably be missing.

We have a "system", if you could even call it that, for planning out the next few days of meals. My wife and I talk about what kinds of dinners we'd want for the rest of the week. We're not really thinking exact recipes, its more like broad strokes. Things like "tuna stir fry" or "grilled chicken" or "something with broccoli", less an exact plan and more of a prompt. Sometimes one of us might have been inspired by a video we watched, or something we had at a restaurant, or maybe an ingredient caught our eye at the grocery store, however if nothing has been particularly inspiring lately we just fall back to some of our common favorite ingredients. This isn't a long drawn out conversation, more like a five minute talk where we just say the first things to come to mind.

At this point we know the main proteins and vegetables needed. If we happen to have something like it in the fridge/freezer already, that gets priority. We always favor using what we have over buying something new, as this keeps waste to a minimum. Aside from the main ingredients, I also keep around a lot of very versatile ingredients that I know can be used in a lot of recipes.

So what about everyone else? What's your "system" for deciding what to eat?
 
We do a weekly meal plan on a Saturday, then I do the big shop on a Sunday and get what we need. We might swap the midweek meals round depending on what kind of cooking mood I'm in, or if I could only get something with a short best before date. Very little goes to waste in our house because I don't shop speculatively and always have a plan.
 
The following only applies to dinner...
I do what my wife tells me for 3-5 days out of the week. Happy Wife = Happy Life!
The rest are up to me to either come up with something:
  • based on leftover ingredients in fridge or pantry,
    or
  • based on some seasonal ingredient,
    or
  • based on the conversation that starts with "Hey luv, you know what we haven't eaten in a long time? [fill in blank here]"
I excluded lunch because we both work from home now and we're mostly ok with a sandwich and side salad.
 
I normally menu plan; not always, but most of the time. Usually, I plan for one beef, one pork, one chicken, and one pasta (if pasta hasn't figured into the meat selections). I figure on at least one "main course" salad, and then one side for each entrée, plus the occasional salad.

From there, I check the freezer for what I've already got, then hit the cookbooks and online for recipes. Sometimes, I'll pick one cookbook and choose everything from that, or I'll pop out here and look at what I've got bookmarked, whatever.

Additionally, I'll occasionally plan for one "special" weekend breakfast, but usually, weekend breakfasts just rotate between eggs/bacon/potatoes, waffles/pancakes/French toast, and oatmeal/Cream Of Wheat.

Further, I do try to do one proper dessert for the week. Since it's just the two of us, a cake or a dessert pie, whatever, can last for several days. Other than that, our nightly dessert/treat is usually biscuits/cookies with tea.

Of course, depending on how involved I am in one of the cooking events here, that will influence my menu choices, and every so often, MrsT will say, "Hey, we haven't had <whatever dish> for a while, can we have that soon?" and I'll accommodate.
 
Serendipity! I like not knowing, so I buy in ingredients (always by supermarket delivery) that take my fancy and then create as I go. Its how I love to work. If I planned everything I'd get very bored very quickly. Right now I have a fridge full of things and no idea what I'm cooking tomorrow. There are chicken thighs so I'll maybe do something with them. Its my favourite way to get to sleep to think 'what can I do with that?' and its usually the first thing I think about when I wake up. I do have an extensive store cupboard, which makes it easier to work in that way.
 
I decide on a morning usually. It mostly depends on what is currently in the fridge and what is getting close to it's use by date.

This morning I have bacon, sweetcorn and a fillet steak "on offer". We almost always have eggs and spuds and there's bread in the freezer. So it is likely to be bacon and eggs on toast today, and steak, chips and sweetcorn tomorrow (and there's green pepper sauce in the freezer).
 
Morning Glory said:
Serendipity! I like not knowing, so I buy in ingredients (always by supermarket delivery) that take my fancy and then create as I go. Its how I love to work. If I planned everything I'd get very bored very quickly. Right now I have a fridge full of things and no idea what I'm cooking tomorrow. There are chicken thighs so I'll maybe do something with them. Its my favourite way to get to sleep to think 'what can I do with that?' and its usually the first thing I think about when I wake up. I do have an extensive store cupboard, which makes it easier to work in that way.
Click to expand...

Most of the time, I do basically the same thing. I decide at the time what I am hungry for, look at what I have, and come up with something. Since I rarely use recipes anymore, it works for me. I used recipes a lot when I was learning to cook, but after 30-plus years, I now just wing it, for the most part.

Sometimes, I see a good price on some good looking meat or produce at the store, and decide to make that my dinner tonight. The food inspires me.

When I was married, we usually menu planned. My spontaneous cooking would drive my ex-wife nuts, if we were to do it all the time. I was okay with the menu planning practice, so it was easy for me to adapt. It would have been very stressful for her to adapt to my ways -- especially since we cooked meals together.

CD
 
I live alone so that makes a difference.

Back prior to retirement, I would cook up a bunch of food that Sunday to take to lunch during the work week - I'd typically bring in a lunch four or all five days, supplementing with the cafeteria's nicely-cooked asparagus or spinach, should they have those on offer (I would tell my lunch table I was going back for "dessert" and come out with one of those.... )

I don't really care for cold sandwiches, so I'd bring in either a salad or a dish I could nuke, which was sometimes vegetarian, but Mondays were often seafood - it would last the shortest amount of time, and later in the week would be whatever sort of meat and veggies I felt like, or as noted, vegetarian. A whole chicken might be cooked on Sunday, and I'd break that down to three portions, always being certain that dark meat was in each parcel. (Chicken salad, when I had that, would always be only dark meat, as the breast has no real flavor unless served hot...) If I were having a certain protein for two or three days, I'd vary up the sides each time.

Breakfast is usually eggs, or sometimes leftovers, or in a rush, I'll boil up a couple of those eggs and eat them on the road. There's a rare time when I am in the mood for pancakes. Those or oatmeal would be prepared only if I have milk in the house (usually for another purpose, and there's some left over). Oatmeal is NEVER instant, so that would never happen prior to work.

Some dinners came about from the Sunday cooking sessions - others were things I made more on the fly. In my working days, I only had to detour a couple minutes on my commute home to shop at: Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Stew Leonards (a very local chain with excellent dairy and seafood), Shop Rite, or the corner quick mom and pop grocery. With a fifteen minute detour I could hit an Indian or an Indochinese grocery.

Now, I live 35-40 minutes from the nearest supermarket, and 20 minutes from a local mom and pop grocery, so I try to shop once a week. If I don't have an ingredient for what I want to cook, I do without that ingredient, or if it is integral, I just make something else. I have been ordering locally-raised sides of pork or lamb over the past few years, so something of that nature can always be thawed out. Until COVID, my town had twice-weekly meals at the local privately-owned community center, which I liked going to as it helped me meet my neighbors. Anyhow, I now have a general idea of what I plan to make for the next several days, but never for a full week. The actual timing of said meal may change on whim or necessity - ie, an unavoidably late dinner means I want to cook something that gets me eating sooner - I go to bed sooner than many people here.

This time of year my vegetable patch is productive, which I appreciate. But other than potatoes and the red cabbage this year, nothing is really being prolific just now.

I do use shopping lists, but often they would be open-ended - as in I'd decide on a seafood by what looks freshest.
 
I usually determine what we eat based on what's in season and what protein I would like to eat the next day as most of my meat and fish products are in our freezer so I decide which one it will be the night before.

Seasonal produce is cheaper and better for the environment, so usually when I shop I look at what's discounted as that's almost always seasonal veg and fruit. I then plan some rough dishes around that, but I am flexible and might change depending on my mood in the following week. I always buy stuff I know at least several options with.

I usually have one big delivery on monday, and go to the market on friday. I also might sometimes go out for fresh bread or milk during the week.

I have about 200+ cookbooks, and I regularly look at them for inspiration. I usually make 4 'routine' recipes a week and the other 3 days are either filled in with new recipes or going out for dinner/getting take away. I love cooking and reading about food so I often try new things.
 
This weekend is a get together at the cottage with 2 buddies and our 3 day menu has been planned for a week or more. Otherwise I just go through my fridge basically and make a decision. The only time I plan for myself and Angela is when someone has a preference that day otherwise my/our menu planning is done when I shop, that generally dictates what's probably on the menu in the near future. Then again I cook for a living so I try and keep it simple at home for the most part and wing it generally.
 
When I was a kid in the UK, we had a neighbour, four houses down, who used to plan her weekly menu. We ( my brother and I) were friends with the two boys.
When they saw something on the "menu" they didn´t like, they´d come over to our place to scrounge some lunch.:hyper::hyper:
Eating should be artistic, not scientific. Planning out a weekly menu is boring and uninspiring, in my personal opinion. It´s far more exciting and interesting to open the fridge one day and say : " OMG!! I´ve only got cream, leeks and potatoes! Now what do I do??"
Homity Pie.
Invent something. Be creative. Keep your brain on overtime. That´s what makes life interesting!
 
My life is weird.


Monday - Thursday I’m in Sydney for work staying with a friend who is also a good nut.
We try to make s plan for the following week - usually we decide the protein first & go from there.

I write a plan for my OH & son for Monday - Friday on the blackboard in our kitchen. I have a stockpile of dishes in the freezer - curries, stews, pasta sauces. Eg - chilli con carne, Thai green chicken curry, beef mince chow mein, bolognese. I plan for them to have varied proteins, carbs & cuisines each night of the week.

Friday nights the boys have burgers, a chicken roast or something from the freezer ready when I get home.

On weekends I cook what I feel like or if my son makes a special request - though Sunday evening is likely to be a roast.

I also gave up breakfast 2 years ago when I realized I’m happiest without it most days. The boys eat porridge or muesli or toast.

My first meal each day is at midday and I have a stockpile of frozen dishes - mostly things other people I eat with don’t love - like Szechuan eggplant & pork mince or I’ll prep a lot of salad stuff - or a mixture of these things.
69346
 
karadekoolaid said:
When I was a kid in the UK, we had a neighbour, four houses down, who used to plan her weekly menu. We ( my brother and I) were friends with the two boys.
When they saw something on the "menu" they didn´t like, they´d come over to our place to scrounge some lunch.:hyper::hyper:
Eating should be artistic, not scientific. Planning out a weekly menu is boring and uninspiring, in my personal opinion. It´s far more exciting and interesting to open the fridge one day and say : " OMG!! I´ve only got cream, leeks and potatoes! Now what do I do??"
Homity Pie.
Invent something. Be creative. Keep your brain on overtime. That´s what makes life interesting!
Click to expand...

When I was young & lived in the city this was my way but then I moved to a rural area where the closest shop was 12km away and I could only get there once a week.
It may be boring but it’s what you do to survive.

I’m a very creative cook & don’t generally follow recipes. So much so that I was known in my friendship group as the “Stone Soup Maker” - a friends boyfriend once told her that when she could pull a meal out of their seemingly empty pantry & fridge like I could then he’d propose. She married that d’head but they divorced 18 months later.
 
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