I'm fine eating the same thing twice, but that's it. I usually freeze most of what I cook (when I make something big) right away, so it stops being leftovers. I don't do weekly planning, but am also willing to grocery shop a lot. I am trying not to buy stuff I won't eat in time, but haven't quite made it yet. Like literally, I've started buying just one or two fruits at a time.

How do you put together a menu for the week? How do you keep from buying stuff at the store that goes unused, and how do you know what you'll want to eat a week in advance? Also, do you like leftovers? For the most part I hate them, and would either like to avoid or know the difference between what will make crappy leftovers and what will make good leftovers.

I try and make menus for a week because for me deciding what to eat is the hardest element. The shopping & cooking are the easy part. I figure out what we are going to eat and purchase the non-perishable stuff. I only buy the spoilables the day I am preparing it, or one day in advance because I hate spoilage and the grocery store is real close.

We aren't good about leftovers. If the crew doesn't finish the stuff that day or the next day for lunch it ends up being tossed.

I envy the people that do a bunch of cooking on the weekends and make frozen dinners for the week/month. But I am not that organized. Many of our meals are toss some stuff on the grill and stir fry veggies or make a salad to go with it. Well, and frozen pizza.

How do you keep from buying stuff at the store that goes unused, and how do you know what you'll want to eat a week in advance? Also, do you like leftovers?

Well, I buy things I know I will use in particular recipes. For example, I know I'm going to make vegetarian chili for JZ (particularly around Lent since I can do it vegan). So black beans, Yves Meatless Ground, mushrooms, corn etc. And yes, that's a meal we'll eat more than once during the week. But I can use it to make the filling of a black bean burrito for Matilda or use it in a quesadilla. In short, it's not just leftovers but something I can use in other meals so it's not just the same thing.

You could also make a big pot of marinara and have a variety of pastas during the week. Something like that.

I plan for the week and shop on Sundays. It doesn't matter what we feel like eating on any given day - we eat what the menu says! (If a kid refuses what's on he menu, s/he has the option of a peanut butter sandwich.)

We have a list of things that are easy and fast that we make nearly every week (quesadillas, pizza on Boboli crust) and a long list of things we like that we rotate through, including crock pot stuff (chili, black bean soup). If there's something I want to make that takes a long time (lasagna), I cook it ahead on the weekend or on Weds. morning (I work 1-10 on Weds.) We try a new recipe maybe 1-2 times a month.

I am fine with leftovers and eat leftovers for lunch pretty much every day. The kids don't like them much, and mr. flea is kinda lazy about bothering to bring them, so I eat almost all the leftovers.

So, this week, Sunday I made lasagna, Monday we ate leftover lasagna because it was just that good, Tuesday we had "Breakfast for dinner", tonight mr. flea's friend and his 3 kids are in town on their way back from New Orleans so they are going out, tomorrow is pasta carbonara with peas, Friday is pizza night, and Saturday I have a beef brisket that I am not sure what I'm going to do with yet.

Such a bonehead. Left my laptop at home and have to go back and get it.

I did the Once a Month Cooking back in November and it worked famously. So much so that I'm doing it again in a couple of weeks. This time around I'll be making:

Spaghetti Sauce
Chili
Chicken and black bean burritos
Honey Dijon chicken
Saucy Chicken
Hamburgers w/shredded veggies
Peach Glazed pork chops
lasagna
pot roast
Chicken carbonara
chicken enchiladas
cheesy potatoes with ham

We typically make one every two days or so and that feeds us for two dinners and two lunches.

How do you put together a menu for the week? How do you keep from buying stuff at the store that goes unused, and how do you know what you'll want to eat a week in advance?

I map the week's meals out in my head, trying not to be too repetitive, and I only get things I need for those meals, since I know I'll be back in a week anyway. I have a small list of things I make regularly, like Rice-a-Roni + ground turkey, chicken sausage in rolls, spaghetti with some sort of meatness, burritos (which I have not done in a while), chili, etc. I also search Trader Joe's for interesting ideas. And I am trying to learn how to make new things out of things I already have. The chili has lasted me over a week, as I've used it for chili dogs as well as just eating the chili straight.

An interesting article on snow clearing, comparing the recent Snowpocalyse cities to Chicago.

ION, I've decided that the sore throats I keep getting aren't actually from sickness, just dryness. So I'm boiling water on the stove. I blame the electric heat.

Coming in here late to hear Jessica's sad news. My thoughts are most sincerely with her and her family.