“It’s not the actual prep and cooking that I’ve had enough of; I can enjoy that. It’s having to think about what to cook — the meal planning and shopping — that aggravates me.”
A friend of mine raising 9 children had a two week menu plan and shopping list. She shopped at Aldi once a week for the menu of the week rarely straying from her list because they were on quite a tight budget. They all knew that Tuesdays on week 1 was going to be meatloaf. It took away all of the planning work because it was already done!
We did the same as kids. Thursday was always pork chop night
My mother had a weekly menu too. A meat, a vegetable and a starch. Almost never had dessert, and usually did not have any bread unless it went with the meal (hush puppies with fried fish, for example, or buns for hot dogs and hamburgers). I don’t remember having salads but I do remember a selection of raw vegetables and olives for fiber (no dressings or dips). Small servings (compared to today), and nobody wanted a second serving. Benefit: No one in the household was overweight (we also didn’t each much snack food). All my mother’s set menus were tasty too.
That’s a really good idea. Makes perfect sense.