I nearly had a panic attack at the grocery store

[puppylove64]

I suck at grocery shopping and cooking meals. I'm an awful cook, not creative with meal planning and I don't know what to buy at the grocery store! It is gotten so bad I want to cry while I'm there.

I want to make somewhat healthy meals, but when I look for recipes, they call for so much random stuff that I'm sure I would never use the rest of before it goes bad. Or I pass over stuff because dh is a picky eater. And groceries are so expensive. Pretty much all we ever eat is spaghetti, sandwiches, chilli, or some sort of marinated chicken with mac&cheese. I know dh is sick of the same stuff. And then whatever I do make, we end up with so much and eat leftovers for days (which we get sick of and throw more away)

I know this is silly but it really makes me so upset! I want lo to learn to eat well, but it stresses me out so bad. I need a website or something that gives me a weeks worth of meals and a grocery list, but all the ones I see don't look appealing! I guess I really don't even know what to ask for help, I just feel helpless

[katfco]

What kind of things does he not like to eat? I have a similar problem with finding interesting meals that I actually have ingredients to. I have a few recipes we like that I'd be willing to share.

[puppylove64]

Apr 27, 2013 15:18:34 GMT -5 katfco said:

What kind of things does he not like to eat? I have a similar problem with finding interesting meals that I actually have ingredients to. I have a few recipes we like that I'd be willing to share.

He insists that we have a meat, and he picks around most vegetables. I will admit though, I sometime make awful stuff and he tries to eat it so I don't feel bad. He is a steak and potatoes guy and I'm veggies with a bit of chicken

[livinreality]

My friend did emeals.com she really liked it, it has several different types of meals to choose from.

[Deleted]

I have meat with 95% of our meals. I love pinterest, I've found so many things and it has helped me because I figured out what goes well together and I know make up a lot if my own things and they turn out really well a lot if the times. I never had much veggies until the past few years and I've really grown to love them, I just had to make myself eat them at first.

[katfco]

We do a lot of meat also, although now it's mostly chicken or pork. Will he eat stuff with bell peppers? How about stir fry?

[EnchantedSoul]

Do you take note of the Meal Planning Mondays? There are a variety of options posted there. Most people check in, so if you had a question, someone could likely answer it. Annnnd do you own a cook book? Also, can your husband cook? If not, Whole Foods offers cooking tutorials from time to time. You guys could check out one together.

Perhaps we could do a simple meals planning once a month?

[thedahliharpa]

When I first started cooking I found the Rachel Ray 30minute meals books pretty helpful. A lot took me more than 30minutes but everything came out really well.

[careyalis]

I have found that freezer meals really help me with variety and portion control. I always keep shredded chicken in the freezer and baggies of precooked brown rice. I can pull out some of that to make stir fry one night, quesadillas the next, and then red beans and rice with chicken. If I make meatloaf, I'll freeze half of it raw and just cook enough for us that night. I try to only cook enough for us with maybe one serving of leftovers and freeze the rest so we don't throw stuff away.

[puppylove64]

Thanks for all the advice! I need to start a notebook and write a bunch of stuff down on meal planning Monday! I also signed up for Rachel Ray's emails. I even bought the makings for a Pinterest meal. I really just need more confidence in the kitchen! Maybe I can convince dh to cook a meal or two a week too.

[rileym2010]

When I meal plan and find something that only uses some of an ingredient, I try to pair it with something else that uses that ingredient. Also, if you get a ton of leftovers, a lot of stuff can be frozen for future meals when you don't have time to cook. I am sending you a pm with my Pinterest link. It has thousands of recipes divided into many categories.

[katfco]

Also, include your H in on the planning. Why should you be the only one making these choices? You can even give him a cookbook to browse through. Just make sure he knows you're trying to be healthy, so it has to have veggies--just he has to pick the veggies.

[Beener]

I usually cook comfort-type foods for dinner (nothing fancy or with special ingredients). Since we both work and only have about 4 hours of awake time with the baby each day, I don't want to spend a ton of time cooking a meal. Here are the items on our usual rotation that are all easy and may work for your family: tacos, beef enchiladas, lasagna, stir fry, crock pot stew, grilled chicken sandwiches, sloppy Joes, meatballs, breaded chicken.

[kandrze1]

When I was first learning to cook healthier I used Cooking Light a lot. They usually have quick dinner ideas in part of their magazine and their website is great as well.