I never am at lost for what to cook or eat due to many reasons the most proably is I do only half the cooking and my husband does the other half. I have to proudly say I am the much better cook; and I also have to have certain foods with each other such as Apple sauce with pork chops. With that said, I never carry a list around because I lose it. I just go into the store pick up something that interest me or is on sale and base the meal around this one item. I have an great memory for what food products are in the house and I will also buy something if I for some reason don't remeber if I have the spice. Dinner doesn't really doesn't have too much stress for me. However if it does for you make sure your meds aren't getting in the way because I could never finish or make a meal when I am taking my medications. I lost my appettie so bad that the thought of food cooking and shopping just could coudn't cross the brain barrier. I can and will go days of not really eating. Not good especially when you work 12 hour shifts. I am not oraganized enough to put up a list and menu but you could try it. Pick a day and make a number of dishes that can be stored so you can just pull it out for dinner. If you have someone at home who likes to make the menus let them and some one cooks and someone cleans up. And if it really late or a stressful keep your favorite restrauntants close by and order of course not ever day because that can very expensive. (Judi N)

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Check out this website http://www.meals.com/Index/Index.aspx?Theme=0

It's free to sign up and has a lot of great ideas - it helps plan out your grocery list and everything. Hope this helps!

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Holla! I'm SO glad someone else posted this! I've been very frustrated with this same issue... I'm a pretty good cook - I was making dinner for my family of 5, Japanese meals FROM SCRATCH back when I was younger... but back then, all I had to do was call my mom up and ask her what to make for dinner that night.

I can come up with ideas what to cook, but the act of trying to get organized so I can find everything (sometimes I can't find it at the grocery store down the street where we get our groceries), and the time it takes to cook - I have to organize myself for that. And then I forget that I have it... and it goes bad.

It makes me upset to think about all the food I've wasted b/c I forget to make it.

It's mostly organizing though. I've looked at books that have pre planned menus for a week, with leftovers being planned into the next day's lunch etc. I bought it before I became vegetarian though, so now things are even more complicated!

I guess the way to go about this is to break it down into steps...

1. What are foods we like to eat?

2. choose 5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 5 dinners

3. write out ingredients

4. check and see if we have them on hand

5. the stuff we don't have goes on a shopping list

6. keep an eye out for things that they don't sell at our usual shop

7. know when we have to be home for to start making our dinner

SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT!!!!!!!!!

Is it the decision making process?? What is it about it that makes you overwhelmed? Are you comfortable in the kitchen?

My goals are: to start making things from scratch to be able to plan ahead for the meals of a week with the fiancee (been trying to do this for a year... not entirely my fault!) to figure in days to try out new recipes

:)

Maybe start a thread about meal planning progress.

I'm often at a loss for lunch ideas too - I've never been a "sandwhich" kind of person.

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It's an hour till dinner, I use take out menus. Trying to figure out what I feel like eating is my problem. I gave up cooking except a few things years ago. I can't stay focused and it would take an entire day to decide, plan, shop, cook for one meal. Instead I changed my drapes today, and got some sun.

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What about setting a specific time each week to meal plan and make a grocery list? Limit yourself to 1 or 2 cookbooks you really like, so you don't get overwhelmed by choices, and reward yourself with something you really like when you are done, such as getting a magazine you enjoy from the store when you go shopping. We keep our meal plan on the fridge, so we see it and remember what we were planning to do that day.

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I have these times as well. We generally have two types of meals, burning meat on the grill or casseroles in the summer, and slow cooker roasts, soups, and stews in the winter. Wednesday night is sandwich night, because I have two classes on Thursday, and I try to make sure all my work is done for them. I agree with the picking out a few meals your family likes and keeping that stuff on hand. My biggest problem is remembering to thaw the meat out.

I keep a couple of cans of canned milk on hand in case we run out of milk for cooking. As for spices, most of the time you can improvise if you don't have what the recipe calls for on hand. While I'm not a huge fan of Rachael Ray, her express lane meals book does have a list of things to keep on hand with only a few things left to pick up at the market.

for two weeks: burgers on the grill oven roasted potatoes twice, a vegie

grilled pork chops twice with skillet apples and a vegie steaks once green salad Tater tot casserole (once) with a vegie Pepper steak, with meat that's been marinating for two days squash casserole, fried rice Grilled sandwiches twice with left over vegies Chicken sauteed with brocolli, onions Tacos or Taco salad chicken or beef Summer spaghetti with bits of pork or chicken tossed with olive oil, vegies, and parmesan Dinner out or take out once

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What about printing up something on a spreadsheet...with columns like this:

date main side dish#1 side dish#2 drink 1 Salisbury Steak mashed potatoes salad iced tea 2 quiche blueberry muffins fresh fruit mimosa 3 salmon, grilled penne pasta 3 bean salad lemonade 4 leftovers 5 eat out 6 chicken & dumplings etc. etc etc

You could repeat favorite meals a couple of times....

OR...

have a 'mix & match' system with envelopes. Write main dishes on slips of paper & place in one envelope, side dishes in another envelope, and other side dishes/salads/soups in a 3rd envelope...then just reach in and grab slips of paper--voila--there's your dinner!!

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First of all, I should say I love Flylady! She has a partner website called Saving Dinner that will email you your week's worth of menu's for a small fee. It even has a shopping list!

I liked the idea, but since my family are all such picky eaters, I did my own version. I set aside one day a month for meal planning, and plan each night's meals for the next month right then. I am able to see what nights need to be crockpot meals, and when we need a fast meal and when we have time to have a nice meal. Then I go to my trusty list of meal favorites, and plug one in for each night. Then for the rest of the month, I just look at the calendar to see what we are having.

It means I can't be spontaneous, but since that usually means meals nobody likes, this is a good thing.

I also use a program called PDA Cookbook from Wakefield Software that lets me do my menu planning on my PDA. It comes with a bunch of recipes, but you can add your own favorites. I use it to plan my meals, then click a couple of buttons and it will create my shopping list in seconds. This means I'm much more effecient in the groery store and usually don't buy as much food that gets wasted since we don't eat it. AND, I'm in and out of the store in under and hour which is usually impossible with my ADHD. I love this software, and think everybody who has a PDA and hates cooking/meal planning should have it. I am NOT affiliated in any way, just a happy user.

I hate grocery shopping, I hate cooking, I hate meal planning. But I'm a mom with 3 kids, so I HAVE to cook. This is the only way I can stand it.

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Wishful Spirit said: What about setting a specific time each week to meal plan and make a grocery list? Limit yourself to 1 or 2 cookbooks you really like, so you don't get overwhelmed by choices, and reward yourself with something you really like when you are done, such as getting a magazine you enjoy from the store when you go shopping. We keep our meal plan on the fridge, so we see it and remember what we were planning to do that day.

This is what works for us, only I do two weeks worth, so I only have to shop twice a month. Small trips to the store for produce, milk, etc, are done by DH, otherwise I'll blow our budget out of the water! I start by asking everyone what they are in the mood for having. That gets me two or four meals. I also check the freezer for any items that need to be used and aren't accounted for in the current menu, and build a meal around a roast or chicken breasts or whatever. For the days I work, I ask the designated cook, either my mom or husband, what they want to make, since I don't get home until 8 or 8:30pm. We try something new from a cookbook on the last day, or fall back on an old favorite. If we are planning on eating out, I just cross out that day and that is one less day to plan! Same goes for parties. Before I started, I always hated the thought! Not me, I'm a free spirit, I don't live by rules, but by whims! How am I going to know what I'm going to want to eat in a week?! But now that I'm actually doing it, it has brought back the family meal, instead of the pit-stop, we spend less on groceries and don't eat out nearly as much, also a waistline and budget-saver! For the price of two hours a month, we've gained a lot! Also, the first few times, it takes a little longer, but I'm getting a system down and it gets even faster! HTH

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I have so many problems with this and nothing I do seems to work long-term. I always find excuses for deviating from my plan, or I have a bad day and just don't have the energy to deal with it. Just a little thing like forgetting to put frozen chicken in the fridge to thaw can derail me. But there are some things that have helped when I do follow them, so I thought I'd share them. I'm a single person, picky, and sensitive to the balance of sugar/carbs and timing of meals so this has added extra difficulties. (I'm also a very poor judge of how much food I need at a time. Does anyone else have that problem? I end up with way too much or too little).

1. "Theme" weeks. When I follow this plan it works wonderfully. I plan at least one week at a time, sometimes two. The goal is mix and match ingredients. I don't buy all the ingredients to make a great italian meal, plus the ingredients to make a great mexican meal the next day, and meatloaf the third. I have a week of American or Mexican, or some other kind of theme that works well.

2. Taking an hour to prepare certain food for the week. It usually doesn't even take an hour, but I often feel like preparing food is wasting time I could be doing something else, so I tell myself one hour a week to make life easier is worth it in the end. I chop up an onion in my mini chopper because I like onions on almost anything. I clean a head of lettuce and put it in a ziplock bag. I divide up anything I can into serving sizes and put it in ziploc bags or containers so I can just grab one. If I'm doing an Italian type week I chop up tomatoes with spices and olives for an easy pasta topping or pizza crust topping. I prepare my peanut butter sandwiches for the week. Etc.

3. Keep the refrigerator cleaned out and neat. (Probably an even bigger challenge with families!) I am naturally messy, but find clutter incredibly distracting and frustrating. When my fridge is stocked only with usable things and all the expired/moldy things are cleaned out it is much easier for me to deal with. Similarly, when my kitchen area is clean I have a much better attitude toward cooking. It is easier to focus on a task when I enjoy my surroundings.

4. LAPTOP. When I got my diagnosis I finally let go of some of my frustration with myself for needing constant stimulus, and feeling disconnected or anxious when i was away from something I wanted to do. I got a wireless router and I put my laptop where I can see it and easily reach it while I am preparing food or cleaning the kitchen. That way I don't feel the need to run back and forth between the kitchen and the computer room, where i get distracted. It's also been handy for looking up recipes or watching cooking tips on Youtube while I'm in the kitchen. How does this help me think of things to cook? Well, so often I avoid cooking things that are complicated or take too long because I can't stand taking that time away from other things. This has helped with that and I feel less anxious about cooking things that take more attention.

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