Ugh ugh ugh – dinner planning, AGAIN? What is this repetitive nonsense? I know exactly how Sisyphus feels, pushing that shopping cart up the hill, full of veggies and enthusiasm, only to find himself, a week later, back at the bottom of the hill, shopping cart once again empty but for a few limpening Brussels sprouts and some wilted Romaine.
Okay, it has been many hours since I wrote that paragraph. And I haven’t found a SINGLE RECIPE that sounds appealing. Not even tacos. Well, I have been ogling a bunch of focaccia-making videos on Instagram. But that seems like a bit more carbs-and-trouble than I feel up to.
In this case, the best recourse is to fill the shopping cart with all-purpose foods. The khaki trousers of the produce section: zucchini and broccoli. The sensible cardigan of the dairy aisle: yogurt and shredded cheddar. And some sturdy dress-up-or-down-able meats, like pork chops and chicken breasts. Maybe, we can accessorize with some berries, if they look nice. Or a pile of gaudy green beans. The rest we’ll just make up as we go along.
Okay, many more hours have passed. I enlisted the help of my husband, who is usually good for a meal suggestion or two. He really came through, and now I have some actual meals to prepare. Doesn’t mean they sound good, or I am eager to prepare them. But if they sound good to HIM, then that helps immensely. It’s always easier to prepare something that a family member is enthusiastically anticipating than to think of some random thing that both of us will probably choke down.
Dinners for the Week of January 25-30
- Crockpot BBQ Pork: My husband likes to eat his pork on little Hawaiian sweet rolls, with coleslaw. I like to eat it alongside a baked potato.
- Reverse-Seared Steak: My husband wanted steak, and left the vegetable side up to me. So I got some pre-prepped asparagus with herb butter from my grocery store’s much-reduced prepared foods section.
- Red Curry: This one is so much work (because I like lots of veggies), but I do love it.
- Crockpot Short Ribs with Steamed Broccoli: Again with the short ribs. I am not going to make the mascarpone polenta as a side.
- Something else, with the all-purpose ingredients I mentioned above.
Are you stuck in the meal planning doldrums as I am? I feel like I say, “Can we have cheese and crackers?” more nights than not, these days.
Onto the grocery store report.
The produce section seemed fine-ish. All the varieties of onions were back in stock. Lettuce seemed abundant. Broccoli was SIX (6) U.S. dollars per two very small stalks of broccoli, which seemed outrageous. Bananas were back in full force.
The other aisles seemed fairly fine, with just a couple of bare spots here and there that could be attributed to anything. The bread aisle had a couple of holes, but the English muffins my husband likes were back in stock. The freezer section had several boxes of frozen pancakes, though it was by no means FULL of pancakes; waffles are still proving pandemic-proof; still no French toast sticks. Frozen chicken nuggets were readily available. Pastas and beans and taco shells and rice/grains seemed fairly well stocked. The only aisle that was really concerning was the fruit drink aisle, which was nearly empty. I’ve been aware of the Gatorade shortage, but it was startling to see it represented so powerfully.
I did notice that ALL meat was VERY EXPENSIVE. I bought a package of chicken, a package of pork chops, and a package of ground beef, and each package was very close to $10. And we’re not talking about multiple pounds of meat, here. We’re talking maybe 1.3 to 1.5 pounds. I do not buy the fancy organic meat, either. My eyebrows were very high.
My grocery store typically has a bountiful prepared-foods section, manned by a staff person. The last two times I’ve been in the store, the section has been entirely empty and dark. Perhaps this is because I am there so early; perhaps they have discontinued it. There is still a refrigerated case that has some prepared foods, but I miss the variety and the staff person (who shows me photos of her dog and asks after Carla).
My store did have a big notice on the front door saying that they are reducing hours due to a staff shortage, which is concerning. (However, the “reduced” hours are the hours that I thought were normal for this store, so… not sure what they are reducing from.)
I saw a new primary care doctor (I love her), and she was telling me all about this low-carb yogurt that I HAVE to try, so I got the lemon flavor. If it’s good, I will let you know.
life of a doctor's wife 
Hi! I don’t normally comment, but wanted to say thank you for your meal ideas…they help jog my memory when I plan ours. Also, that’s the only yogurt my husband and I eat now, low carb and a little tangy but not horrible. 🙂
Oh yay! Thanks for saying hi 🙂
Go figure, I just tried to order Gatorade and was surprised to find out out of stock. We are currently dealing with notCovidbutsomeothervirus.
Ugh ugh ugh I’m so sorry. I hope it passes quickly!
Dear Gatorade, I miss you very very much. Love, NGS
The khakis and the sensible cardigan! Suzanne! That’s amazing and I will be thinking of this forever. Look at all those bananas! That brings me much happiness although I know you don’t eat them. I had no idea there was a Gatorade shortage. Last week I noticed a few shortages: there wasn’t my favourite organic spinach but there was lots of spinach, there wasn’t any regular vanilla yogurt but there was lactose-free vanilla yogurt. There wasn’t much canned soup but I only noticed that because I was walking through the aisle, not that I needed any. My hippie crunchy peanut butter was out of stock but the store brand hippie crunchy peanut butter was plentiful. There were very few cauliflower but the cauliflower that was there was very nice. EVERYTHING IS SO EXPENSIVE NOW THOUGH. I don’t normally notice prices much when it comes to produce, but my total bill is generally 10-15% higher than it was a few months ago, and that is not because I’m buying more.
SO EXPENSIVE.
“The khaki trousers of the produce section: zucchini and broccoli. The sensible cardigan of the dairy aisle: yogurt and shredded cheddar.”
How do you do this? I want you to quit your life responsibilities and just start texting messages all day of this ilk (am I using “ilk” right in this context?).
It’s especially hilarious because it’s SO true. I have a blog post all prepped for Thursday which discusses how zucchini can go in everything. I am now going to edit it and credit you with this brilliant observation.
Tangent: It reminds me a bit of one of the characters from Malcolm in the Middle who discovers that women can breastfeed and he says something like: So women are the cows of people. My husband and I quote that line to each other all the time.
Now I know that zucchini and broccoli are khaki trousers and yogurt and shredded cheese are that reliable cardigan we all want over the back of our office chair, life makes far more sense.
Thanks for making me smile every. single. time I come here. I still think about your post and description of putting on the hospital gown last week; some of the best writing I’ve read in a LONG time because it’s all SO true.
BLUSHING FURIOUSLY
YES, I am noticing the high prices of meat, for sure. And also the Gatorade shortage continues, and in my stores, there’s been NO fat-free half&half and BARELY any regular half&half. It’s not good because I’ve been using Redi-whip in my coffee again. ;)~
Do you shop at a Harris Teeter? The font in your photo caught my eye and makes me want to guess!
No, not Harris Teeter 🙂 Reddi Wip in the coffee sounds pretty amazing, tbh
Oh god- I read that as Miracle Whip in your coffee and just gagged. That ones all on me though- REDI-WHIP sounds amazing! Lol
I enjoy these blog posts. I’m with you on the meal planning. I got excited this past weekend because we had two new meals in rotation. One of which was a bag of orange chicken from Trader Joe’s. Sigh.
I did eat apples and cheese for lunch the other day, which felt very charcuterie-like.
I’m not seeing much of a difference in our local grocery stores, but we did brave IKEA early one morning, double-masked and all. There were few customers, which was nice. But their inventory was limited, which didn’t surprise us.
Sometimes a nice bagged chicken dinner is the best possible dinner.
The little two had Easy Mac for dinner tonight and Elizabeth and I are currently eating ramen with a poached egg, so basically the easiest dinners of all time. I recommend it. Matt’s not home yet so he’ll forage for himself when he gets here. I’m in a motivation rut and yet everyone continues to need to be fed.
Suzanne…GENIUS prose here…”In this case, the best recourse is to fill the shopping cart with all-purpose foods. The khaki trousers of the produce section: zucchini and broccoli. The sensible cardigan of the dairy aisle: yogurt and shredded cheddar. And some sturdy dress-up-or-down-able meats, like pork chops and chicken breasts. Maybe, we can accessorize with some berries, if they look nice. Or a pile of gaudy green beans.”
And a suggestion for your meal planning doldrums (which I may have suggested before but since The Husband offered this up as a possibility for lunch today, I thought I’d share…); what about quesadillas? Chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, or black beans could be the protein. A side of guacamole and chips or rice and beans – sounds good to me. It’s kinda like tacos; but not really. It also seems like an easy kind of dinnner.
And yes, The Husband is complaining mightily about how expensive every thing at the grocery store is getting.
Thanks, Gigi! And quesadillas are a brilliant idea!
I made crockpot Mississippi pot roast for sandwiches today served with a chopped salad (in the sandwich for all aside from my middle daughter). It was good but not what I’d call healthy. But what the hell sometimes it’s nice to throw caution to the wind and cook a recipe that takes an entire stick of butter!
Juice box shortage down here in central Texas too- pretty soon my little miss will be taking a reusable water bottle ala the proletariat for all her liquid ingestion needs. (S)
I also noticed the chuck roast was expensive ($14 when I’m used to paying $8) and the pot roast packages (chuck roast, carrots, onions, and potatoes all packaged together) were TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS.
You made me laugh today- love a zippy turn of phrase and you had ‘em in spades!
I took a little break from meal planning while Beth and Noah were in Ithaca. North and I just scrounged around. I though it make it easier when I started up again. It did not.
Hee hee I have been in the meal planning doldrums for a few YEARS now. I’ve kind of given in to it and just gone the mac n’cheese route when I can’t think of a better idea. I’m craving red curry now!
I, too, am enjoying the khaki/cardigan comparison to kitchen staples. You are an excellent writer!!
My husband has been doing our grocery shopping since summer of 2018 when I returned to work after maternity leave. We had been using instacart and he hated it, so I said, we use instacart or you grocery shop. He now does all of our grocery shopping. I think he kind of enjoys it now because it’s sometimes more enjoyable than being cooped up inside with our young kids?? He will give me some hot takes on what’s out of stock, but he is not very verbose so I don’t get the kind of intel you are providing! The thing we’ve struggled with lately is that the dino-veggie chicken is out of stock EVERYWHERE. That’s the dino chicken that sneakly includes blitzed vegetables so my 4yo who refuses to eat vegetables can get some fiber in his diet… I can’t wait for him to be a bit more, well, rational so I can get him to try more things? We have done the repeat exposure thing and it doesn’t work. There is no talking this kid into eating something.
Meal planning is so fatiguing. I used to do all the grocery shopping, meal planning and cooking. Then when I offloaded grocery shopping on my husband, I also asked that he help with meal suggestions. That has been super helpful. We only cook about 3 times/week and then get by on leftovers/easy meals on the other things. But getting some suggestions/buy-in for those 3 meals is so helpful!
I have a child of that ilk, so you have all my sympathies!
I would much rather make a vat of something and then make a few things here and there to fill in. Yesterday I made said vat of Chicken Tortilla soup. I’m not as excited about it as I once was, but my people are gaga over it. That does help. Tonight was leftovers (turkey or dirty rice or cheesy chicken) and tomorrow I will plug in vat-o-tortilla soup again. Next week is a pasta dinner for a couple of teams, so I will be serving leftover pasta forever.
My grocery store seems pretty normal as far as what they have stocked. I spent so much there last week that I might have dented their inventory without intending to. No hoarding going on, just stocking up, so I don’t have to leave the house again anytime soon.
Ugh. Meal planning. I have long said that if/when I win the lottery, I am paying for a personal chef to come up with a menu for me and to cook the food. I am fairly certain I would be a lot healthier if someone OTHER than me was responsible for my food choices and there are definitely some veggie-filled options out there that I would love to eat but that sound like Way Too Much Work for me to make myself.
My husband is about to leave for a long weekend so I am on my own for a few days. I think I will go grocery shopping tomorrow after work, which means I need to figure out what to buy. I think I shall take advantage of him not being home and eat the stuff he doesn’t like, which includes anything that is sweet and savory, like orange or apple slices in my salad.
Almond crusted chicken and kale salad with avocado and poppyseed dressing.
Cilantro lime chicken salad with manage, avocado, and bell pepper.
Warm bacon, potato, leek, goat cheese, & arugula salad with thyme.
Generally speaking, asking him for meal ideas results in us ordering pizza OR something like mac and cheese AND soup AND a sandwich, which is way too much food for me.
I am hopeful that the grocery store report is reasonable once I have gone tomorrow.
I hear you on those weeks when the inspiration for meals goes right out the window, and don’t you hate it when you spend all that time planning your meals and then get to the shop and the vital ingredient is not in stock! Urgh so annoying. I loved your description of those foods that just have to be bought each week 😉
I like how you envision the foods you buy as being clothing. Makes total sense to me. As for what’s on our shelves, they’re mostly stocked this week BUT with some of the rattiest broccoli and spinach I’ve seen in a long time. No small fruit juice boxes, but enough wine to keep everyone in this town wasted. Priorities, I guess.
The red curry recipe looks great. Have bookmarked it.
It’s a foolproof curry, I think. Hope you enjoy. And very glad to hear you have your priorities straight 😉
I feel like I’ve been grasping at straws with meal ideas lately. I just feel like I can’t even think of things to make! ha. It’s like a mental block or something. I don’t know. I actually was browsing “weekday meal plan” articles online this morning before I saw your post. I need some free time to sit down and flip through my old notebooks/ meal lists/ cookbooks, etc- I like when I have a big master list of “meals we like” to jog my memory when I’m trying to come up with things I want to cook. I used to have a binder with just simple lists of chicken meals, beef meals, shrimp meals, etc. and I could just glance at it when I needed inspiration. But I don’t even know what happened to it. Probably here somewhere. I’ve just been in a “wing it” mode for meals for the past like, several years!! No real organized meal planning has been taking place…needs to change… ugh.
I might be an anomaly, but I am probably one of the few people who haven’t gotten tired of cooking during the pandemic and who enjoys grocery shopping. I only go every other week but I look forward to it and my husband and I love talking about our meal plan! 🙂 (we buy a lot of “khaki trousers” , if you were wondering).
I have not noticed any shortages here in CA. Yeah, there are a couple of items here and there that are missing, but that could be any old reason… doesn’t have to do with supply shortages. But I am keeping an eye on it.