Know How: Planning Meals
January 28, 2012, By Larry Parsons 0 comments
When dinner time rolls around do you find yourself scratching your head wondering what to make? When you finally decide, do you realize you don't have all the ingredients? You move to plan B or plan C…or pizza. If you've been in this situation more than a few times, it's time for prep school.
Prep school is what I call sitting down and “preparing” what you are going to make for dinner. If you do this in the evening, then you are planning for tomorrow night’s meal. If you do this in the morning, then you are preparing for tonight’s meal. Spending 10 or 15 minutes thinking about what you want to prepare for tonight or tomorrow night’s meal will make cooking dinner much easier for you.
First, decide what you want to cook—then check to be sure you have all the ingredients on hand. If you’re missing something, make a list and plan to run to the market.
Making yourself sit down each weekday morning or evening and plan the meal for that night or the next night’s dinner will save you time and headaches. Nothing is worse than standing in front of the stove wondering “What am I going to make?” If you send yourself to Prep School every morning or night, you'll be set.
If you're acing prep school, head right into graduate school and plan an entire week’s worth of dinner ideas. Once you've chosen a week of dinners, go through your refrigerator, freezer and pantry to be sure that you will pass the dinnertime test each night.
For extracurricular activities and bonus points, head to the market early one morning and look for deals on meats in the meat department. If you can, stock up on select choices of meat at discounted prices and then prepare your meals around these great bargains.
Not a radical idea, I know, but too often we wait till the last minute and end up frustrated—or eating way too much pizza. I hope this little reminder on the value of Prep School will make your life a little easier.
