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Thread: How do you plan your meals?

  1. #1
    Senior Member 999roses's Avatar
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    Default How do you plan your meals?

    For people living alone, do you make a general plan of what you're going to eat each week? Or just cook whatever you feel like?

    I've got my breakfast and lunch pretty much set.

    Breakfast: Slight variations of eggs, fruits, bagels, yogurt, other breads, etc. ~ any mixture that fills me up in the morning

    Lunch: sandwich with some type of deli meat, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.

    Dinner: now that is a problem because I basically don't know how to cook
    -I guess I can experiment around
    -but I was thinking for 7 days a week, I'll cook on the weekends
    -eat out 1-2 times a week
    -eat 1-2 times prepped frozen food (i.e. chicken burgers etc)
    -that leaves only like 3-4 times that I actually have to "cook" and if I make a huge batch of fried rice or something, it can last me 2-3 days!

    What do you guys do?

  2. #2
    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    I eat out about 80% of the time. I'm a single male, and I work 60+ hours a week, so I don't have much time to do home cooking. I keep a list of my preferred restaurants in my pocket, organized by location (N, S, E, W, downtown, etc), so wherever I am, I just need to look at the list and pick a place.

    Dinner is usually my quick meal of the day. I usually have a filling lunch. For dinner, sometimes I just eat a sandwich, or some frozen dumplings, or something quick like that.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

  3. #3
    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    By the way, cooking on the weekend for the entire next week is common among Chinese employees here. They boil a large pot of __whatever__, and it serves them the whole week's lunch.

    And for frozen entrees, I'd recommend the Chinese foods over American ones. Chinese dishes are leaner and healthier.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

  4. #4
    Senior Member xJadedx's Avatar
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    When I start living on my own I'd have a set breakfast (usually cereal, toast, oatmeal) on the weekdays. Lunch I'd bring sandwiches or eat out on weekdays. I'll try to make more simple dinners on the weekdays, though I may also eat out. I generally like cooking on my own better, since I get better food and it's relaxing.

    On the weekends, I'd like to have more fancy things, like crepes or waffles for breakfast, nicer lunches and dinners.
    Because I'm somewhere in between,
    My love and my agony.

  5. #5
    Registered User JamesG's Avatar
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    I'm a no plan type guy. Cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, whatever takes 10 min. or less to prepare for lunch and supper [dinner] can be anything from steak or other meat to pasta or my version of Asian foods. Sometimes the amount of clean-up involved determines what I prepare.

  6. #6
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    My house has lots of cereals, oatmeals, pastas, canned tuna, crackers, chips, beers, wines, and water.

    Breakfast:
    - a bowl of trader joe's high fiber cereal with 2% fat milk and either a banana or 15-20 blueberries
    or
    - a bowl of oatmeal with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar

    Lunch - whatever I feel like eating at 12 pm that day. I usually rotate among the followings:
    - Italian combo or turkey sandwich
    - Mexican chicken burrito or 4 tacos
    - club sandwich with salad
    - Thai stir-fried flat noodles or soft-shell crab fried rice
    - HK-styled baked beef over rice
    - Philly cheesesteak
    - Vietnamese pho or egg rolls and bbq pork over vermicelli

    Sometimes I eat Japanese food, too.

    Dinner:
    - order a dish to go and cook some rice a home. then usually cook fried rice the next night
    - pasta
    - eat out
    - tuna sandwich

  7. #7
    Senior Member yittz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 999roses View Post
    For people living alone, do you make a general plan of what you're going to eat each week? Or just cook whatever you feel like?

    I've got my breakfast and lunch pretty much set.

    Breakfast: Slight variations of eggs, fruits, bagels, yogurt, other breads, etc. ~ any mixture that fills me up in the morning

    Lunch: sandwich with some type of deli meat, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.

    Dinner: now that is a problem because I basically don't know how to cook
    -I guess I can experiment around
    -but I was thinking for 7 days a week, I'll cook on the weekends
    -eat out 1-2 times a week
    -eat 1-2 times prepped frozen food (i.e. chicken burgers etc)
    -that leaves only like 3-4 times that I actually have to "cook" and if I make a huge batch of fried rice or something, it can last me 2-3 days!

    What do you guys do?
    I was in the same situation last year and I asked HYS for his cooking/shopping timetable. But I was too spontaneous - I decide what to eat either day before or when I am about to cook.

    I would suggest to learn how to cook from your parents before moving out. Cooking isn't hard and only take me 30 min to prepare and cook. I learnt how to stirfry veges pretty good, but still not happy with cooking meat.

    Breakfast - cereals+fruit
    Lunch - drug companies provide half, I buy half
    Dinner - Try to get 1-2 veges and 1 meat with rice, often do fry rice, or cook pasta, sometimes eat out (pizza or at plaza)
    Member of HYS fanclub -> click here to join group.

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  8. #8
    Senior Member 999roses's Avatar
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    Thanks for the input guys! I can cut up vegetables pretty well lol....but my actual "cooking" skills aren't great. Although I think I should be okkk.....

    Yeah, meat, totally not good.

  9. #9
    Senior Member xJadedx's Avatar
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    Cooking is fun, easy, and relaxing.
    It's something really nice to do after a long day of work or school.

    You can always start by buying a recipe book for normal, easy dinners, so not those fancy restaurant delicacies. Just go from there and learn basic things, once you master them, move on to more fancy foods.

    The first time you make anything, it may be longer and more stressful, but after the second and third time, you sort of just know what to do and it gets easier.
    Because I'm somewhere in between,
    My love and my agony.

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    I eat once a day, whenever I can. I know this is very bad, but I just don't have time.

  11. #11
    Senior Member 999roses's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bellamia View Post
    I eat once a day, whenever I can. I know this is very bad, but I just don't have time.
    How do you not get hungry?! Do you snack a lot or something?

    I wonder if eating a lot of chips gets you fat....not like Hostess chips, but like the ones you dip salsa in?

  12. #12
    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jaded WenEr View Post
    Cooking is fun, easy, and relaxing.
    It's something really nice to do after a long day of work or school.
    In that case I prefer sleeping. It's even more easy, and relaxing
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

  13. #13
    Senior Member jadebunny9's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bellamia View Post
    I eat once a day, whenever I can. I know this is very bad, but I just don't have time.
    Once a day? *faints* I'm not even going to go into how unhealthy it is. It's just....such a big insult to food! Honestly Bella, your job is important, but so is your health.

    Once I move out I'll definitely be cooking dinners at the very least. I have to eat rice at least once a day or I just get really weird moood swings. Go for the simple dishes. More lavish and elaborate meals can be for the weekend.

  14. #14
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    How do you eat ONCE a day? Like one full meal or just once overall? Since the latter is downright freaky! I can eat a whole McDonald's meal with a sundae and cookies and still get hungry in like three hours (damn metabolism!!), so I don't think anything would satisfy me for a whole day. My friends will attest that I am just about ALWAYS eating, unless I'm sleeping.
    Quote Originally Posted by Jaded WenEr View Post
    Cooking is fun, easy, and relaxing.
    Haha you've never seen me cook. It's a lot of fun when I'm laughing over the disastrous things that happen, but there's no place I curse more than in the kitchen. That being said I'm a compulsive baker because I love raw cookie dough and cake batter lol...

    But yeah PJ's is a toughie - food or sleep? I used to think food > sleep but when I only get like three hours a night, sleep >>> food.

    Quote Originally Posted by 999roses View Post
    I wonder if eating a lot of chips gets you fat....not like Hostess chips, but like the ones you dip salsa in?
    The rule is if you eat a lot of anything you'll get fat. But I think those chips are definitely better. Do you like cereal? I snack on Mini Wheats all day long and I'm still shy of 100 (lbs, not kg lol...the latter would put me in a lot of trouble), so if you're worried about gaining weight, cereal hasn't done anything to me yet.

    In response to the original question, CEREAL!!! Hahaha. I could eat that for all three meals. I recall you posted something about roommates a while back - well if you're still living with someone, what I do during dorm life is order a couple of pizza pies and then refrigerate the leftovers for whenever I need a meal.
    I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know? -Ernest Hemingway

  15. #15
    Registered User JamesG's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jay_z View Post
    Breakfast:
    - a bowl of trader joe's high fiber cereal with 2% fat milk and either a banana or 15-20 blueberries
    or
    - a bowl of oatmeal with 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
    My oatmeal has a pinch of salt added to the water and a handful of raisins. When hot, I add the oatmeal, followed by milk and brown sugar.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 999roses View Post
    How do you not get hungry?! Do you snack a lot or something?
    I rarely snack. No matter how many times I tried, I can never stomached breakfast in a healthy manner. It just upset my stomach. I work through lunch, and only have time to eat around 5-6pm, at the earliest. Honestly, I've been eating one meal a day for years, so my body is accustomed to it. I don't feel hungry until around 7pm – by then I can literally eat a pig!

  17. #17
    Senior Member expression's Avatar
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    Bella, are you one of those crazy finance people?

    I don't have big breakfasts. Usually some juice/herbal tea + small biscuits/cake.
    Lunch are leftovers from dinner or sandwich.

    I have lived alone for a while before, and I came out of it still not knowing how to properly cook entrees. The things I can cook are soup, rice (press that button ), veggies, and instant noodles.

    I used to make a pot of nice Guangdong soup every weekend that can last a week. I throw veggies and other goodies in there that can also serve as an extra dish. For dinner entrees, I'd buy to-go, Campbell's chunky, shrimp rings, frozen dumplings/meatballs/dimsum, hot pot fishballs/seafood balls, sausages,... anything fast.
    My personal page: http://www.whileranting.com.
    Check out my creations and read the legendary Judge Expression's Courtroom Service.

  18. #18
    Senior Member yittz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bellamia View Post
    I rarely snack. No matter how many times I tried, I can never stomached breakfast in a healthy manner. It just upset my stomach. I work through lunch, and only have time to eat around 5-6pm, at the earliest. Honestly, I've been eating one meal a day for years, so my body is accustomed to it. I don't feel hungry until around 7pm – by then I can literally eat a pig!
    How much calories do you put down a day? And do you end up getting all the essentials? Do you drink milk in the morning?
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    Quote Originally Posted by yittz View Post
    How much calories do you put down a day? And do you end up getting all the essentials? Do you drink milk in the morning?
    I don't know how many calories I consumed in a day. I've never counted. I don’t drink milk either as I hated milk since a little kid. I drink about three sips of OJ or whatever juices the hotel provides in the morning before I head to work.

    Honestly, I know that my diet is really horrible. But I’ve been doing it for so long that my body is adjusted and I don’t feel anything abnormal. Also, I just can’t break the habits.

  20. #20
    Senior Member expression's Avatar
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    Bella's attracting attention from worried docs.
    My personal page: http://www.whileranting.com.
    Check out my creations and read the legendary Judge Expression's Courtroom Service.

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