Does anyone here plan their menu...

[Queen Bean]

the night before? Or do you just make it up as you go?

[juliebove]

Always plan. I pretty much have to. We have a rather hectic dinner schedule here at times since my daughter takes 4 dance classes a week. Sometimes she and I have to have a super quick dinner before we leave for class, and then I have to have something here in the house for my husband to eat. We don't necessarily all eat the same things.

I also get an organic produce box each week. I get advance notice of what is going to be in there so I can order more things to go along with it, or if need be purchase additional things. This week they were offering tomatillos so I ordered additional things to make pico de gallo. Too bad most of the Roma tomatoes got smashed by the as yet to be identified strange looking orange melon that is in there. Guess I will make a corn salad with them instead, using the orange grape tomatoes I also got.

Some nights I don't go beyond deciding to make a salad for myself. What I put in there will vary. I always get some sort of greens. Was growing them myself earlier in the season. I grow onions, so I have those. Usually have some tomatoes around. The other things I put in the salad will vary.

One problem I tend to have is excess food and I find that often I wind up throwing things out because they've spoiled. Getting the organic produce box has helped with this. Sometimes I will go wild in the store, just buying anything that looks good. I did this once in NY with melons. Bought one of each kind then got home and realized I had no room at all in the fridge for them. So I wound up cutting them up and taking them outside for the neighbors and the moving men who were working out there. They loved it. But what a waste of my money.

It's one thing to keep a stock of canned or shelf stable things onhand, just in case. But too difficult to do that with fresh foods. For that I have to plan in advance.

[PDXGeoff]

My wife and I try to do planning for the week on Sunday nights. That's usually when we're doing the things like crackers and raw breads for sandwiches/etc for the week. Also i'll do nut cheeses and in general make sure we have enough stuff prepped for quick and easy options.