s/o weekly menus?

WineCat

Before you were married/living with FI/DH did you menu plan meals with all the same components (salad, side, main, etc.)? 

I've never had full on menus when I've cooked only for myself.  Am I alone or do you guys plan/cook like this now that you're partnered up?  

 

tsmomma42

I didn't do it regularly until recently. I started when I wanted to save money (cooking for 3 can be expensive!) and start eating healthier. I'm still guilty of not doing it when it's only me. Dh and I kind of keep each other in check with it.

asilsjf

I did. But before I got married I ate the same thing (leftovers) all week.

WonderRed

I didn't do it when I was single.  I also didn't do it while X and I were married.  I started doing it when N was about 3 and regularly ate all the same things I do.

velocitygrl

When I lived alone I was totally broke, so cooking became my hobby, and I'd make something ambitious on weekends and eat leftovers all week.  Sometimes I'd eat vegetarian (which DH does not like).  I eat a lot more balanced meals now...with sides/salads/etc, but sometimes I feel like I eat less healthy stuff because DH is picky and most likes meats.

RyanandManda

velocitygrl:

When I lived alone I was totally broke, so cooking became my hobby, and I'd make something ambitious on weekends and eat leftovers all week.  Sometimes I'd eat vegetarian (which DH does not like).  I eat a lot more balanced meals now...with sides/salads/etc, but sometimes I feel like I eat less healthy stuff because DH is picky and most likes meats.

A lot of this for me too.  I ate vegetarian cuisine almost exclusively before getting pregnant with DD when I started craving meat like crazy!!  I'd make a meal out of veggie sides and DH would add a burger or brat or something himself.  Now, since we're eating as a family and I eat meat again, I plan more.  We do have at least 1 if not 2 vegetarian dinners per week though. 

swinsto3

Ha - when I was single, if I ate dinner at all, I ate cereal. Or yogurt. Or something ridiculously simple. I not only didn't plan, I'd go so long without cooking that I'd have to wash my pans before using them to rinse the dust. Needless to say, my life is very, very different now

skidunks

I started planning meals when I started cooking more, which was right after we got married. I find if I don't plan things out then we eat the same things all the time or we don't eat as healthy. I find also if DH is going to be OOT or gone for dinner I don't do as much. I'll do pasta or grilled cheese and soup rather than something that takes more time since I'm juggling both boys along with making dinner.

ruby soho

Single girl dinner usually consisted of cereal or a lean cuisine. And lots of wine. 

PrncesWife

I'm not much of a cook so when I was single, and even when DH and I were dating, there was a lot of take out invovled.  I still hate to cook, but I plan things out now because it's better for us, I'm trying to make sure DD eats right, and it's cheaper.

silly.goose

I used to, but don't meal plan anymore.  When I live alone, I usually make one or two meals a week and eat off of it til it's gone (which takes forever) - I like to snack for dinner a lot of nights.  I love to cook, but it's just too much trouble when it's just for me.

RoxBride

DH is gone for dinner most of the summer due to his work, but even when it is just me and DD, we cook a meal, but usually a main dish and a salad or veggie, or use a side as a main dish.

When I was single, I cooked meals probably 5 nights a week, since I liked having leftovers for lunch. I hated spending 40 bucks a week on crappy lunches (which equals 2000 bucks a year), so it made sense to cook meals.

Tyrna

I tend to meal plan more when I am less busy, but since it is DH and I we are not great about planning and cooking at home a lot.  I would love to have a plan and be more on the ball, but honestly a lot of times I will have a plan and not follow through because by the time I leave school I am so fried and brain-dead that there is no way I want to go home and cook, especially since I usually still have grading to do.

AugustBrideCO

No I didn't. The reason I meal plan now is because if I don't, then all my groceries end up being snacks, not ingredients for meals, and I don't know what to cook when I get home and then we get takeout. If we want to cook at home, then meal planning is necessary for us. However, I don't plan which meal to have which day. We decide that on a day to do basis.

sara_c

Single Sara rarely cooked.  I worked at a large company that had a great cafeteria with good food that was priced well, so I ate a larger lunch often at work and then would come home and eat something simple.  Sometimes on the weekend I would make something larger and freeze leftovers to take out later or for lunches. 

I really didn't start to meal plan until J came along.  Part of that was b/c DH quit his job to become unemployed, so he was no longer working long hours or traveling all the time.   

 

Erilu907

Before I was living with dH, it was soup, a piece of bread and wine for dinner.  Almost every day, unless I was out at happy hour.