The Cursing Gourmet Tip of the Day:
Menu planning. Get on it.
Yes, Haters, I’m talking to YOU. It’s not as fancy as it sounds, I swear.
It just means deciding what you’re going to eat for dinner for the upcoming week, buying the stuff, and cooking it before it rots in your fridge.
Even if you plan for a simple grilled cheese and a can of tomato soup one night, at least it’s a PLAN.
Even if part of the plan is a standard weekly takeout night because you KNOW you’re going to have at least one night you’re going to say to yourself “F this” towards cooking, at least it’s in the plan.
Even if Tuesday night’s dinner is leftovers from Sunday night, at least it’s part of the plan.
For my Haters, I recommend VERY EASY meals, especially for week nights (if you have a day job).
Before I menu planned, I used the ol’ “fly by the seat of my pants” approach to cooking, which frequently led to me attempting 2 or 3 time-consuming and/or complicated meals in one week. Which often left me severely opposed to stepping into the kitchen the rest of the nights that week.
If you DO want to make something that takes a long time, make it on the weekend!
I also plan to make the most perishable meals EARLY in the week… Because, as a Hater, if I get lazy later in the week and don’t stick to the plan, well, at least my veggies didn’t rot in the fridge (Read: I didn’t throw money in the garbage.)
And during the many years when I had a day job, I figured out that the meals needed to be made in an order that got easier/quicker as the week went on… By the time Thursday rolled around, I was getting TIRED. That’s a night for a super-quick meal. Or leftovers. Or takeout. Mondays? I usually had more energy, so I didn’t mind AS MUCH making a dinner that took a LITTLE BIT more effort.
I could list so many other reasons why menu planning is awesome: Keeps your menu varied, saves money, saves time (planning, shopping & clean-up time ON TOP OF actual cooking time!) Which basically equates to menu planning literally SAVING YOUR SANITY, if you’re a Hater.
Wanna read on? Check out my post about how menu planning is the shit:
Menu Planning Part 1 – How Menu Planning Saves You SO. Much. Time.