Nathalie Chiva wrote:
> On Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:30:58 -0400, Tracy > wrote:
>
>
>
>>I am surprised no one here plans their meals in advance.
>
>
> I do. I plan on Friday (we go shopping at the farmer's market on
> Saturday) for the week ahead. But then there are four of us and it's
> really convenient that way, but I'm sure that when the kids are gone
> I'll go back to a mixture of planning a few meals at a time + going on
> the spur of the moment.
>
> Nathalie in Switzerland

Is it possible to do both? plan a weeks food and be spontaneous about
meals at the same time?

Once a week i make up a big pot of pasta or soup, usually a hearty stew
or bean soup with lots of fresh veggies, barely cooked or a similar pot
of pasta that i then freeze in single serving containers.

Throughout the week the person i cook for then has them available to her
any time she wants to pop one in the microwave. ALong with fresh fruit,
sandwich stuff, her favorite whole grains and those few bits of other
things that might be in a 'left over' condition.

I try to prepare at least one meal daily that we eat together, in the
evening. And for that i like to be spontaneous. What ever is available
in the market that day. Or what ever i have on hand. Got some lovely
pencil think asparagus for .79¢ per pound a couple of days ago. with
some smoked ham i had on hand i made a pasta alfredo with a side of
asparagus.


Though even that spontaneity is somewhat rehearsed, we usually discuss,
over breakfast coffee & toast, i ask, what she would like for dinner and
the ham was her suggestion. Though usually she prefers to leave it to
me to surprise her. And then its what's available and looks good that day.

I recently have started purchasing some sort of long thin steaks i think
are cut off an "English rib" but im not sure. At about $2.00 each they
are quickly butchered into cubes and braise up very nicely. And after
searing, and browning the surface of in a pan with butter & garlic the
resulting pan drippings make a superb beef gravy.

Ive almost talked myself into attempting Braciola with a bit of beef
shoulder i get. Several small Baracioli(?) in a tomato sauce. And its
Sicilian counterpart "Farsumagru" is very tempting.

I guess i think about food so much that its all planed to some degree.
Next weekend im going to makeup a big pot of chili, been kind of craving
a chili con carne recently. I will make an extra large amount with the
braised steak cubes and have it on hand for the rest of the month,
frozen, in individual serving sizes.

I will just have to make sure there's no red wine in the house when i
make the chili, i cant recall the exact number of pots of chili i have
messed up by unconsciously adding red wine to. I cook with beef and the
hands just automatically reach out for the red wine.
--
JL