Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Making Dinner

First off a big Whoo Hoo goes out to Jenn Johanson who announced this week that she has an agent. Jenn was one of the first blogs I followed, and I'm so excited for her.

Second, there seems to be a consensus that planning and making dinner is a royal pain for a lot of us. My sister keeps giving me suggestions like: put a roast in a crock pot before you leave for work, fry up a bunch of chicken and freeze it, take the meat out in the morning. My sister in law goes so far as to plan her meals for a month. A month. (I thought that begged repeating).

I try to plan for a week, but lots of times I get to Wednesday and I don't feel like making pasta, but this week I'm going to stick to my plan. In fact, tonight when my son asked what was for dinner, I said, "Whatever you want to make", which was what I had planned for Tuesday since I work until 6pm. So this week I'm going to try and stick with my plan.

The same can go for writing. If we don't plan, sitting down to write can seem tedious and hard, but if we make a schedule maybe writing will be easier. I'm going to try it this week and see how it goes.

How about you do you plan your meals or your writing?

19 comments:

Laura Pauling said...

I plan out my meals for the week in my head. My sister n law plans for the month and has them typed up and on the fridge!

Connie Keller said...

I plan my meals for the week--my kids eat too much for me to do much more than that. I wouldn't have enough room to store all the food even with a big freezer.

My writing is like that too. I have a general idea of where I'm going in the long term and I'm pretty sure where I'm going in the short term. But I want to be open to my characters because they often change how I'm getting from one place to the other.

Anonymous said...

My meals have become much simpler in the last few years, now that children are older. But I do need to get disciplined when it comes to my writing plan!

Heidi Willis said...

I'm with you... I can plan but when the day comes, sometimes I just don't feel like what's on my plan. I keep major staples in the house and have about 20 meals I know inside and out, so it's easy to wing it when evening comes around. I know life would be easier and less stressful if I had a plan and stuck to it... I just don't.

Writing is probably like that too. Although, I'd write all the time if I could. Like right now - I need to be revising, but I have to go to the store instead because we need food. See? Food is such a pain, even when I'm not cooking it.

Jessie Oliveros said...

Sometimes for a week. Sometimes for a few day. NEVER a month. Other times I just put so many groceries in my fridge that I figure I'll just make something up for a few days. (Call that being creative or not having a plan.)

Carol Riggs said...

Gah! I don't plan meals. Novels I plan--meals I don't. Well, except maybe roughly, like a coupla days in advance when I've just gone shopping and I have a choice between cooking either the hamburger or the chicken. LOL I rather dislike cooking, tho I get into moods where I enjoy it.

Robyn Campbell said...

Tell it Patti! It's hard to plan all the meals for a DANG month???? Man, what a woman! She's all right. But a better woman that I.

Now if I make fettuccine, I will freeze another nights worth. Or macaroni and cheese. But that's as far as I go. Poor family of mine. Otherwise it's take it or go hungry. It might be roast or soup and salad. :)

I've had the "my writing is crud. I can't write. Who am I kidding?" blues a lot. Usually crit partner, Beth will pull me out, but ALWAYS hubby pumps me back up. We've all had it.

JUST DO IT! :) JUST WRITE IT!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Okay, don't hate me, but . . . my husband does ALL the cooking. And grocery shopping. It's one thing I never have to worry about. :-)

Pamela Mason said...

Hi Patti,
I'm into writing challenges. Right now I'm on Kait Nolan's A Round of Words in 80 Days.
If only there were cooking challenges that gave me support for planning out the meals for just the next 3 days....

Jolene Perry said...

schedules for writing make me cringe - but I LOVE it when I stick with it for dinner. Makes my week SO much easier.

Lindsay N. Currie said...

Ugh, I have an awful time with this. Part of it is me failing in the time management department and part of it is me being a lousy cook LOL! I try to make dinner during the day and pop it in the refrigerator so that it just needs to be popped in the oven or on the stove around 4:30. My kids are usually STARVED by 5:30 so if dinner isn't ready by then, they'll start eating each other LOL!

Kasie West said...

Yeah, don't plan meals. I often find myself yelling "Fend for yourself!" in the kitchen at about 6pm. That means everyone has to find whatever they can. lol It all comes down to preparing, if I were better at planning and then going to buy the stuff required, it would work so much better. Maybe that's why I'm a discovery writer and not an outliner. :)

Melissa Amateis said...

Hubby and I plan meals when we go grocery shopping, but he is the one that actually cooks them. I happily do the dishes as I am NOT a cook!

Jessica Nelson said...

I plan writing time and think about what I want to do with it, but I don't plan meals until the day of. I like eating what I feel like, not what's planned. ;-)

ali cross said...

I *have* to have a weekly menu. If not, we eat out every night. Because I totally canNOT do short-order meal prep! So go for it Patti! You can do this!

Angela said...

This is insightful Patti, and totally true. When you plan meals, they happen. When you don't, they always sneak up on you.

Terri Tiffany said...

I plan my meals better than my writing but I do try to write so much a week:)

Jennifer Hoffine said...

I cook large batches of chicken and roasts by boiling them. Then I use the broth and meat to make several different dishes during the week.
Saves time and planning.

I'm not near as efficient with my writing :(

Stina said...

I'm great at planning my writing, not so much when it comes to planning dinner. Usually I decide a few hours before dinner time. Fortunately Sobey's is across the street from my house. :D