I have a rough guide for days of the week: Monday, stir fry; Tuesday, Taco Tuesday; Wednesday, soup or salad; Thursday, casserole; Friday, pizza or fun night; Saturday, something that will make enough leftovers for Sunday lunch; Sunday, leftovers for one meal and soup/sandwiches for another meal. I do not always follow this, but it makes planning recipes easier for me. I have a variety of stir fries that I cycle through on Monday, on Tuesday it could be taco salad, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc.
Something that has helped me amazingly with my adhd-tendencies in the kitchen is having a vegetable and a meat CSA! Community supported agriculture-you sign up for a share at the beginning of the growing season and then pick up vegetables every week. This may not work if you have a lot of picky eaters, but for me, when I have trouble deciding what to make on a given day, it’s incredibly liberating to know that some of my ingredients are preordained, so to speak. Plus, I love supporting our local farm. We started doing the same thing for meat this year-we get a delivery of frozen meat every month-and I love that meals become like a learning challenge, where I get to figure out how to cook a little-known cut of beef, or can just throw a frozen piece in my pressure cooker if I forget to take things out of the freezer ahead of time. We eat much more variety now, and I love eating locally.
We cook rice in large batches and freeze it, just like you do with beans and meat. Having all of them precooked makes it so easy to make an Asian or Mexican meal super quick! I live in a rural area so we keep several different frozen vegetables in the deep freezer and air fry them. It's so easy to add to a meal.
My slow cooker is my go to small appliance. I always have more time in the mornings since my homeschool usually doesn’t start until 9 or 9:30. I love knowing dinner is ready and I don’t have to worry about it until right before eating time!
I got rid of my slow cooker as soon as I got my pressure cooker because it does the same thing, only quicker. And it does have a slow cooker mode if I want to use it. 😊
Good ideas. I don’t meal plan because I don’t know if I’ll be in the mood for it. My husband and I are retired. Due to various health challenges I know we need to eat healthy. I make sure we have the foods around, so I can decide what to prepare. I freeze homemade tomato sauce and leftovers. Yes, cleaning isn’t fun. Please share your tips. Thanks.
I usually try to meal plan because otherwise I always seem to get within half an hour of dinner time and have nothing started 😅 Having a plan helps me remember to get started earlier, but a lot of these still sound like really good tips for us! We started pre-cooking chicken and occasionally ground beef sometime last year and it has helped so much. I've also learned that prepping some other foods as soon as they come into our house helps as well, like dicing bell peppers and freezing them, slicing cucumbers and rinsing grapes and baby carrots then putting them in tupperware bowls in the fridge so they're a much easier grab and go, or grab and serve, when we need them. It's a lot more work up front, but I never regret it when dinner time rolls around!
Your success without a meal plan sounds very much like my success with a meal plan 😄 We do very similar things and call it something different. I agree with all your tips! Especially the precooking of the meat - it is such a game changer!
Love seeing a video like this from you! I need to start batch cooking my meat because raw meat is gross 🤢 I have a spring/summer meal rotation and a fall/winter meal rotation of about 10 meals that we love and eat over and over again. We’re also a fan of the snack lunch! I don’t meal plan by the day but I do come up with 7 meals for the week, making sure 4 are “easy” and 3 are more complicated and I decide what kind of meal to cook based on the plans for the day. Love these tips 👏🏼😄
I love that you have a seasonal rotation! I have just a few for the summer and a few for the winter that are seasonal, not enough for a rotation, but I love that idea.
I'm 47 and have never been great at meal planning. I sometimes will plan a day ahead. We rarely eat out so I cook a lot. The master meal plan is great though, that's basically what I do. I have a list of all the things we eat most and I can just look at that list and my pantry for what I need. I like the idea of separating into sides, meats, etc. Yes to the appliances! I don't mind spending the $$ if it's going to get used. I have a pizza oven so I might try switching pizza night to Sundays now😉
I don't meal plan and prep. I won't stick with it because I won't eat it. I don't like planning meals. When the day comes I won't eat it. I just make sure I have foods I usually work with.
Here's my confession. I pulled out my pressure cooker weve had for years, but have hardly used to get rid of. But you're making me rethink it. So one thing is how do you know how long to put things in it for? I keep thinking you can't really check it every five minutes.
I've made myself a master list! Mashed potatoes are 4-5 minutes depending how big I've cut them, rice is 4 minutes. It was some trial and error at the beginning and googling things but the ones I use on a regular basis I have written down.
I have a rough guide for days of the week: Monday, stir fry; Tuesday, Taco Tuesday; Wednesday, soup or salad; Thursday, casserole; Friday, pizza or fun night; Saturday, something that will make enough leftovers for Sunday lunch; Sunday, leftovers for one meal and soup/sandwiches for another meal. I do not always follow this, but it makes planning recipes easier for me. I have a variety of stir fries that I cycle through on Monday, on Tuesday it could be taco salad, tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc.
Great tips! Would love some cooking videos using your pressure cooker.
Something that has helped me amazingly with my adhd-tendencies in the kitchen is having a vegetable and a meat CSA! Community supported agriculture-you sign up for a share at the beginning of the growing season and then pick up vegetables every week. This may not work if you have a lot of picky eaters, but for me, when I have trouble deciding what to make on a given day, it’s incredibly liberating to know that some of my ingredients are preordained, so to speak. Plus, I love supporting our local farm. We started doing the same thing for meat this year-we get a delivery of frozen meat every month-and I love that meals become like a learning challenge, where I get to figure out how to cook a little-known cut of beef, or can just throw a frozen piece in my pressure cooker if I forget to take things out of the freezer ahead of time. We eat much more variety now, and I love eating locally.
We cook rice in large batches and freeze it, just like you do with beans and meat. Having all of them precooked makes it so easy to make an Asian or Mexican meal super quick!
I live in a rural area so we keep several different frozen vegetables in the deep freezer and air fry them. It's so easy to add to a meal.
I've never thought about freezing rice, brilliant!
My slow cooker is my go to small appliance. I always have more time in the mornings since my homeschool usually doesn’t start until 9 or 9:30. I love knowing dinner is ready and I don’t have to worry about it until right before eating time!
I got rid of my slow cooker as soon as I got my pressure cooker because it does the same thing, only quicker. And it does have a slow cooker mode if I want to use it. 😊
Good ideas. I don’t meal plan because I don’t know if I’ll be in the mood for it. My husband and I are retired. Due to various health challenges I know we need to eat healthy. I make sure we have the foods around, so I can decide what to prepare. I freeze homemade tomato sauce and leftovers. Yes, cleaning isn’t fun. Please share your tips. Thanks.
I usually try to meal plan because otherwise I always seem to get within half an hour of dinner time and have nothing started 😅 Having a plan helps me remember to get started earlier, but a lot of these still sound like really good tips for us! We started pre-cooking chicken and occasionally ground beef sometime last year and it has helped so much. I've also learned that prepping some other foods as soon as they come into our house helps as well, like dicing bell peppers and freezing them, slicing cucumbers and rinsing grapes and baby carrots then putting them in tupperware bowls in the fridge so they're a much easier grab and go, or grab and serve, when we need them. It's a lot more work up front, but I never regret it when dinner time rolls around!
Right?! The prep before hand is so nice! I also slice and freeze a bunch of peppers, love being able to pull them out when needed.
I have 2 pressure cookers. Game changer!!
So tempting!
Your success without a meal plan sounds very much like my success with a meal plan 😄 We do very similar things and call it something different. I agree with all your tips! Especially the precooking of the meat - it is such a game changer!
Haha, I just can't plan ahead!
Love seeing a video like this from you! I need to start batch cooking my meat because raw meat is gross 🤢 I have a spring/summer meal rotation and a fall/winter meal rotation of about 10 meals that we love and eat over and over again. We’re also a fan of the snack lunch! I don’t meal plan by the day but I do come up with 7 meals for the week, making sure 4 are “easy” and 3 are more complicated and I decide what kind of meal to cook based on the plans for the day. Love these tips 👏🏼😄
I love that you have a seasonal rotation! I have just a few for the summer and a few for the winter that are seasonal, not enough for a rotation, but I love that idea.
I really enjoyed this; good ideas! 🎉
This video is perfect for me, because I suck at meal planning! It has literally never worked for us! Thank you so much for sharing this!!
I'm glad I'm not the only one it hasn't worked for!
I'm 47 and have never been great at meal planning. I sometimes will plan a day ahead. We rarely eat out so I cook a lot. The master meal plan is great though, that's basically what I do. I have a list of all the things we eat most and I can just look at that list and my pantry for what I need. I like the idea of separating into sides, meats, etc.
Yes to the appliances! I don't mind spending the $$ if it's going to get used. I have a pizza oven so I might try switching pizza night to Sundays now😉
Oooh, pizza oven, sounds fancy!
I love this!! I do meal plan 70% of the time but these are awesome tips.
Thanks!
I don't meal plan and prep. I won't stick with it because I won't eat it. I don't like planning meals. When the day comes I won't eat it. I just make sure I have foods I usually work with.
This exactly!
Here's my confession. I pulled out my pressure cooker weve had for years, but have hardly used to get rid of. But you're making me rethink it. So one thing is how do you know how long to put things in it for? I keep thinking you can't really check it every five minutes.
I've made myself a master list! Mashed potatoes are 4-5 minutes depending how big I've cut them, rice is 4 minutes. It was some trial and error at the beginning and googling things but the ones I use on a regular basis I have written down.