Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Eight Reasons Why Menu Planning Is A Terrible Idea

By Christine Steendahl

Have you heard about meal planning lately? Families are busy and getting busier all the time. As families work on getting organized, many home managers are turning to meal planning as a way to eliminate the evening stress in their homes.

However, meal planning is not for everyone. Here are eight reasons why meal planning just may be a terrible idea for you and your family.

1. You enjoy eating unhealthy fast-food three to five times per week.

2. You love the taste of pre-packaged preservative packed frozen convenience food.

3. Spending $200 and 2 hours at the grocery store, only to come home to discover that there is nothing to cook for dinner is one of your favorite things to do.

4. You enjoy the stress of running around like crazy at dinner time trying to figure out what to cook while your children and husband are hungry and crabby.

5. You like your food rut of spaghetti, hot dogs, pizza, repeat.

6. You have no other way to spend the extra $100 you spend each week eating out.

7. You have nothing better to do at 5 o’clock every day than to go to the grocery store. It’s enjoyable to daily spend extra money on groceries as additional items “fall” into your cart.

8. You have no desire to enjoy a home cooked meal around the dinner table with your family. You feel spending time with your family is a complete waste of time.

If you agree with the above statements please do not ever try meal planning – it is probably a terrible idea. On the other hand, if you possibly disagree with at least one of the above statements perhaps it is time to give menu planning a try!

Christine Steendahl Is The Founder Of Dine Without Whine – A Family Friendly Weekly Menu Planner. She Helps Families Eliminate The Dinner Hour Stress And Re-Discover The Pleasure Of The Dinner Hour! For A Free Sample Menu Visit http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com/offer


PS I'm not signing up with DWW. I thought the list was amusing, but her DWW does not accomodate the needs of muslim families like ours, and it's a waste of money when you can take half an hour a week or month to do it yourself.

4 comments:

Oum Anas said...

lol

ummrashid said...

Oh, I was hoping for real good reasons! I don't like to plan meals. I don't want to have to think that much about food. I know it is a good idea, but sitting there trying to think of meals is just too boring. I don't like food shopping either. I tend to just look in the cupboard and think what can I do with this collection of items. For example yesterday I made pasties filled with grated carrot, onion, beanspouts and cheese. I have not made that before, but I had to do something with the beansprouts before they went out of date.
I get a mixed vegetable box delivery. I really like that I don't choose the vegetables and this forces me to just try putting things together.

Oum Anas said...

Mashaa Allah, that's the way I've done sofar too. But, I've tried this system now, and it's removed a lot of stress from my life, mashaa Allah. I hate shopping too! Something that meal planning has taught me is that I need to learn to make more vegetarian dishes, lol. The amount of money we put on meat every week is outrages! I hope I'll survive the outroars of the carnivorous members of this family, lol. And I think I'll just plan half the meals or make a list of meals for each week, to then choose from during the week. I'm still testing. I've never been one to plan anything, really.
Do you buy from Abel & Cole?! I opened an account on their site yesterday and was thinking of trying them out. It looks a bit expensive though, no? The boxes look alright, but we are eight, and their biggest box is for five. Khayr inshaa Allah.

ummrashid said...

I do use Abel and Cole. They are more expensive than supermarket organic, but their produce is better I think. I have not checked other delivery firms out actually!
Their biggest box is for 5, yes, but it depends how much veg each child will eat in reality! Try it and see how the quantities work for your family. You will probably need to buy extra of whatever your family eats a lot of.
I want to cut down on meat too. There are so many problems with meat, is it really halal, is it full of antibiotics, the conditions the creatures are kept in.... . The children are not happy with less meat though! Nor is husband!