Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Planning meals



As we're eating one meal, I'm usually planning my next one.  Cliff thinks that's weird, but that's because he never had to prepare all the meals.  I've explained to him that some things take longer to cook, some things have to be thawed, and you can't just go into the kitchen half-an-hour before dinner and wonder, "What are we going to have for dinner?"
By the way, I notice over on Meesha's blog, both in his entry about the visit to California and in the comment section, that there are people who actually consider restaurants a big factor in where they live.  I guess it's because I've lived in the boonies most of my married life and cooked most of our food from scratch.  Somehow I just can't imagine that being a factor in where I reside.  Culture wouldn't enter into the picture, either.  We're not big on culture around here.  But I digress.
At least once a week we'll have salmon at dinner (our noonday meal) because it's supposed to be especially good for us; we buy it frozen in individual four-ounce servings.  I microwave a potato and fix broccoli or spinach, and viola, we have a quick, easy, and nutritious meal.  I can do that meal really fast, with a minimum of fuss.  
We have our low-fat chicken jambalaya and chicken gumbo often.  Either of those is a meal all by itself.  Both of the recipes require tomatoes, and so does the chili I make often in cold weather.  This is why I'm going to run out of my home-canned tomatoes within four to six weeks, and then I'll be buying canned tomatoes again until July when, hopefully, I'll have producing tomato plants.  
This rambling entry was all brought about by my trying to decide what to cook today.  I have some low-fat bran muffins in the oven for breakfast, but I'm not sure yet about dinner.  I'm leaning toward Tuna-noodle casserole with some sort of vegetable on the side.  For Cliff's work-lunch and my supper, there's just enough hamburger stew left for the two of us.


Good grief, how is it that we're getting any reception on our television?  There's about a quarter-inch of ice on everything.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:31 AM

    RESTAURANTS IN AREA BEFORE CHOOSING ABODE ?
    THAT IS DEFINITELY ABOVE MY FINANCIAL STATUS.
    NO GRUDGE AGAINST THOSE WHOM CAN 'EAT OUT' OFTEN, AND THE TIMES WHEN OUR CHILDREN WERE AT HOME GROWING UP, OUR TIMES OF EATING OUT WAS COOKING OUT AT OUR CHOICE OF PLACES WERE AVAILABLE FOR COOKING WITH WOOD.
    LARGE SIZE SKILLET ON THE FIRE, BACON GREASE BUBBLING UP THROUGH SLICED IRISH POTATOS, HANDFUL OF DICED ONIONS THROWN ON, SALT AND PEPPER, SOME CHEESE AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST A FEW EGGS ADDED AND STIRRED IN UNTIL DONE.

    LETS FACE IT, THERE IN THIS PRESENT TIME FAMILIES THAT ARE STRUGGLING TO STAY OUT OF DEBT, NO CREDIT CARDS, JUST USING COMMON SENSE.

    IN CONTRAST, FEELING SO SORRY FOR THE LADY THAT WAS BEING INTERVIEWED ABOUT THE NATIONWIDE FINANCIAL PINCH.
    THE LADY SAID SHE HAD TO SHORTEN THE 'LUXERY CRUISE' TO TWO WEEKS INSTEAD OF THREE. sam

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  2. I love that first picture.... great composition....

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  3. I do get tired of trying to figure out what to cook for the next meal or tomorrows main meal. You are lucky to have any power at all with all that ice. Helen

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  4. Trust me, Dave; if any of my pictures turn out good it's a total accident. I did delete 2/3 of the ones I took this morning. And I use the "enhance" feature on my photo-editor on every single picture, now that I have the Mac. I'm just way too lazy to take a lot of time messing with pictures.

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  5. trust me, I don't eat out often and when I do, I enjoy finding cheap places to eat. however I am always curious what other people eat (and so are you since you cooked up some of my recipes), so I like to try different ethnic foods. I would be content with eating meat and potatoes for the rest of my life and I wouldn't pick a house based on the availability of places to eat,but it's a huge bonus.same with culture, my friend who commented used to live in New York so it's a big downgrade on the food and culture,but at the same time maybe an upgrade on things like safety and affordability.

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  6. I plan a dinner menu for the week before I go grocery shopping so I can make sure to have all of the necessary ingredients. All I have to do is look at the menu and pick out what I feel like oooking that night.

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  7. Lindie7:47 PM

    When we were a miliary family and money was extra tight, we got paid twice a month. I would do a a5 day menu plan and then write my grocery list. Then we lived in the country, raised our own beef and big vegetable garden and had more than enough. Good days! Now I cook for 1 and use lots of vegetables and a little meat. Things change as we age! I really enjoy cooking and only buy an occasional lunch out when I am working. I use the dollar menu a lot! My cooking is as good or better than what I could buy in a restaurant!

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