A friend of mine asked me to share my weekly menu. I told her I would try, but that I tend to cook spontaneously with very little planning. I usually go to the grocery store once a week, buy what is on sale or looks good, and then cook according to what I bought and what I have stored in the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry.
I have visited friends' houses where I have looked in their refrigerator, and it is practically empty. This boggles my mind. In my family--and I mean grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins--this is never the case.
I come from a large German family--my husband calls me his "100% kraut." We make our own German-smoked sausage; we can sauerkraut, pickles, and jelly. We even can salmon when my aunt goes fishing in Colorado. We freeze black-eyed peas, corn, and lima beans from my mom's garden every summer. I grow my own herbs and make pesto to freeze for use later. I also buy in bulk when an item is on sale. We all have very large freezers to store all of this food. My point is that it is hard to translate all of this to recipes that are practical for others to use. I also don't mind a time-consuming, labor intensive recipe, which is not practical for most moms.
But this is my challenge for the rest of the week...to list this week's meals with recipes. I will start tomorrow as we have an unexpected garage door rebellion today.
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you are a dying breed, my dear friend. i don't think most of our generation has any idea how to cook "spontaneously". therefore, i KNOW we're not passing the skill on to our children. that's sad.
ReplyDeletei admire (and envy) you so much for your talent.
amen to what Ali said! I rarely cook spontaneously, though I do menu plan for the week and shop once a week to accommodate this. I wish I had more spontaneity -- I think it is my own heritage that worries about wasting food so I buy only what I need. I'd LOVE to hear more about your herb garden. It is a goal of mine to turn a patch of our backyard into a mini-veggie-herb garden this spring.
ReplyDeleteI'm such the opposite! I have a monthly calendar on my fridge that I use to plan meals. We have beef day, chicken day, vegetarian day, soup day, fish/shellfish day, sandwich or pasta day, and leftover/out to dinner day! I fill in the entire thing once a month with the main part of the meal and starch if I choose to make one. Then, I fill in the veggies and fruit based on what looks good and is on sale. It is very methodical.
ReplyDeleteYou all put me to shame! My problem is that I do so much on impulse. Do I feel like soup tonight even though that is what I have planned...no, I think I will put that ham in the crockpot. My family is at the mercy of my whims. I also love to try new things, so I often tend to be in my cookbooks and on the internet looking for new recipes. Lisa, wow, you ARE methodical--wish I had it in me. By the way, I always have to guess if you are Lisa T. or Lisa B. (maiden names). I can't guess this one.
ReplyDeleteIt's Lisa B. I guess "the grass is always greener on the other side." I wish I had it in me to be more spontaneous! I do like trying new recipes as well. I just work them into my calendar. We are trying artctic char with tarragon butter this week. I'm in pursuit of finding fish recipes the whole family enjoys. It seems I'm always struggling to fill in this category on my calendar LOL!!!! Crazy, huh??
ReplyDeleteI've got a great recipe for fish that the kids love--I will share it on the blog today, hopefully.
ReplyDeleteLet me know how the arctic char turns out.