GTKY (sorta) WFD (what's for dinner?)

iceandsnowflakes29 · June 2016

So! What's for dinner?

I need distraction so, I'm pouring my energy into a meal plan for the next 2 weeks. Do you meal plan? Any household favorite meals you care to share?

I'm mobile so links are a PITA but some of our favorites are: Salisbury steak meatballs over egg noodles, Chicken taco soup (made with a can of beer!!), and Jalapeño tequila chicken ( has this delicious "sauce" made with tequila and orange juice, and some other stuff (I have to look at the recipe).

What are your go-to meals for when you don't want to cook?

We usually do soup and a sandwich or cave and order pizza but, I'm always looking for fast easy options to cook at home when I'm lazy.

(Sorry if this has been done before).

MissPrint1219 · June 2016

Crock pot pulled pork!

iceandsnowflakes29 · June 2016

@MissPrint1219 thank you for saying that. I haven't done that in a long time and I love crock pot recipes because it does the work for you!!

brooklyngirl18 · June 2016

i'm having leftover meatloaf. i meal plan also because DH works 4-12 so im need to have dinner for me and ds easily accessible at least a few nights. meatloaf is a perfect make ahead meal and reheats well later in the week.

mylittleversailles · June 2016

We don't meal plan as such because I fancy myself an artiste (actually I just can't commit to one because what if the radicchio/Brussels sprouts/who knows what else looks extra nice this week??), but we make a big list of things we like, both easy and complicated about once a month and stick on the fridge. It's so easy to forget about something you really like making/eating!

I make large pots of chana masala, Trinidadian pumpkin stew or Thai green curry so we have that waiting in the fridge for us some nights. If DH is cooking, he roasts a couple vegetables (usually broccoli, cauliflower or asparagus), uses mock meat we get from Chinatown and puts on rice in the rice cooker. We're also lucky in that his work caters lunch for them and packs it up to take home for family - and they do some wonderful vegan dishes that takes the pressure off. Mostly I eat that for lunch, though.

Tonight, because I am wiped out from a big barbecue with friends yesterday, DH is getting mushroom and spinach pizza for us and there's leftover tomato salad in the fridge.

BornReady · June 2016

@reneeannemm Umm, your DH's work sounds awesome. I remember you mentioning some other perks of his job before, luck guy! We can't even get a microwave at my work after someone accidentally started a fire making popcorn. Only cold food for us!

My DH does 90% of the cooking, so I have very little to do with the getting fed process aside from purchasing an abundance of supplies. I do the shopping, he does the cooking. We eat a lot of the same all the time, lots of salads, veggies, etc. No idea what's on tap for tonight, but I shall live vicariously through all of you!

mylittleversailles · June 2016

@BornReady It is amazing! He works for what they call a unicorn in the tech industry - so think big, like Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. They really take care of them; he's just waiting on better retirement/financial benefits to kick in. If people wanted them, they'd have them, but being tech it swings young. He gets fed breakfast most days and lunch every day. There are extensive snack kitchens with fresh food and junk, as well as a beer tap and fancy coffee machines. It's like a weird dream - and those are just the food perks!

dubcompanion · June 2016

My favorite quick meal is making some noodles (really any kind you like - I've used angel hair/linguine/spaghetti/etc.), sautéing some garlic in olive oil, and then mixing it all together for a yummy pasta dish. You can add seasoning to taste (my go-to is salt!) and proteins like shrimp or chicken to the dish. Or have the pasta just as a side dish.

iceandsnowflakes29 · June 2016

dubcompanion said:

My favorite quick meal is making some noodles (really any kind you like - I've used angel hair/linguine/spaghetti/etc.), sautéing some garlic in olive oil, and then mixing it all together for a yummy pasta dish. You can add seasoning to taste (my go-to is salt!) and proteins like shrimp or chicken to the dish. Or have the pasta just as a side dish.

This sounds delicious. How much garlic do you typically use?

iceandsnowflakes29 · June 2016

@reneeannemm I don't always stick to my plans either. They get moved around some. But, if I don't at least have a vague idea then DH and I bicker about what to eat every night. Lol. We also choose less healthy choices or wind up eating late and then by that point I'm hangry.
Edit auto correct

mylittleversailles · June 2016

@iceandsnowflakes29 I get really distracted and pained if I tried to write out a real one. Definitely eat better with a nice list of reminders to see every day! I can do it better in the winter when there's nothing special at the market. The summer I just need the flexibility to do what comes to me. We don't quite bicker if we can't decide; it's more like we lie down together trapped in existential dread of making a choice and then eat a bunch of french fries or something else that's not such a wonderful choice. We just got a barbecue though, so I think that'll be easier on those nights.

dubcompanion · June 2016

@iceandsnowflakes29 I use 2-3 cloves if I'm using the entire box of noodles. I crush them first (to better release the juices) and then dice them up. Sauté them to your desired liking. The darker the garlic gets, the crispier the texture and more bitter the taste. Lightly sautéed garlic is sweeter and texture is softer. Either way, at least for me, tastes great with the pasta!

iceandsnowflakes29 · June 2016

@reneeannemm we bicker. Straight up like an old married couple.

dubcompanion · June 2016

@reneeannemm @iceandsnowflakes29 I have this very slim margin of hunger where I'm ready to eat anything, but I'm still a decent human being. If we don't have an idea of what to eat, I eventually decline to the point where I'm extremely irritable and DH has to shove a cracker down my throat to get me to articulate myself. So we don't really bicker. More like DH has to talk me down from eating like the Baby from the 90s TV show Dinosaurs.

Edited out a cat sneeze

lilylover27 · June 2016

We vary our meals a lot because usually one of us forgets to take out something to defrost! Our new favorite is a pasta dish kind of like @dubcompanion said. We make whatever pasta we have and sauté some garlic in butter and then add some fresh parsley and oregano and mix it all together, it is cheap easy and fast! Other than that we basically will just season some chicken and grill or bake it depending on the temperature. Usually I plan out a while meal at least once a week but with it being summer time (almost) we have been really busy! I do love the crockpot though! We make whole chickens in the crockpot and use it the rest of the week for dinner or lunches.

iceandsnowflakes29 · June 2016

I should add part of the reason we bicker is because we are both extremely picky and on opposite ends at what we are picky about.

Wishilivedinflorida · June 2016

This is the biggest relationship plague in our marriage...the "what's for dinner?" question. We've been getting better, at least. Right now we are discussing dinner options, actually. We may go out. We have a diners club card to use for date nights.

I have a Pinterest board full of recipes we like, but most are pretty lengthy and fancy and Italian. I usually make one fancy meal per week. I also have some old standby quick meals. Last night was tacos. I can whip those up in 10 minutes as long as I have thawed ground beef.

Other quick meals I like are salad with grilled chicken, frozen raviolis with sauce pared with a salad, or burgers on the grill. Grilling definitely makes dinners easy!

Aera11 · June 2016

I try to meal plan and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. I generally plan on Sundays and grocery shop on Monday (since I don't work then). I plan for Monday - Thursday with a possible leftover night in there. We eat out a lot on the weekends, so if I cook then, I just run up and grab the stuff that day.

I really try to incorporate a variety of meals so we don't get stuck eating the same things, but my my go-to's are:

-sweet and sour meatloaf
-vegetable lasagna
-crock pot pork chops (not last nights #Pinterestfail ones)
-enchilada stuffed bell peppers
-Thai peanut noodles with snow peas & sweet potatoes
-in the summer we grill a ton too

MissPrint1219 · June 2016

I'm loving these ideas! I cook dinner at least 5 nights a week and DH has been known to complain when the rotation gets too predictable. Of course, it would help if I could get him to eat a vegetable that wasn't fried.... :-/

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