There are some people who can eat the exact same thing every night.
Others (usually well-organized parents), like Marge Simpson and the mother of an ex-boyfriend of mine (who actually resembled Marge to an alarming degree) had a rota of meals - Monday is meatloaf night, Tuesday chicken casserole, etc.
Then there’s me. I struggle mentally every night. I think of something I’d like to eat and then think “But I had that last week!” and end up trying something experimental that I usually enjoy far less than I would have enjoyed what I had last week.
There is a meal that either my husband or I cooks a close variation of about two or three times a week. For some reason this bugs me, I feel there should be more variety (even though I always enjoy it) - but considering how unimaginative I am, I should just embrace it.
So, how about you: if you cooked/procured from a restaurant one of your favourite meals tonight, when is the soonest you would cook it (or a close variation) again?
I can’t stand to eat the same thing more than twice in one week, usually only once in any given week. But I definitely eat the same things - usually something pasta-based - week after week. As long as it’s not in the SAME week, it’s fine with me to eat it frequently. Can’t explain it though!
We repeat a lot of meals. A tofu & noodles dish at least once a week, a salad at least once a week, meatloaf, and steaks. We do get a variety of everything, so it’s hard to be bored.
I used to really strive for variety, because I enjoy cooking and wanted to try new things and develop my skills. Since my children started having opinions on the matter, the variety has gone down quite a bit. I rarely serve the same dish more than once a week, though, unless there were substantial leftovers, and even then I try to vary it a bit–turning spaghetti sauce into chili, for example. Sometimes I cook separate a separate dish for the kids, but that’s too much to do typically.
Interestingly, during the year I lived alone, my diet was relatively unvaried. Part of the reason was that I was living in a small town, but it was also partly just because I indulged myself in my favorites, since I didn’t have anyone else to please.
Depends on the food. I’m pretty confident I could eat buffalo wings twice a day, every single day for the rest of my life. I have them at least twice a week, and it never seems like enough. Other than buffalo wings, I’d say I wait anywhere from a week to a week and a half before eating the same meal again.
I do the same meals over and over again, it feels like:
Spaghetti and meat sauce (or just Prego sauce)
Chili
Baked or grilled chicken breasts (at least I vary the sauces and marinades)
Meatloaf (lean ground beef or turkey)
Sandwiches (tuna salad or occasionally deli meats)
Rice (perhaps with beans, or those Zatarain’s rice mixes)
Quesadillas
Occasionally pasta with shrimp or scallops
Salads
I repeat meals when I make more than I can eat in one go (stuff like stews etc), when I have leftovers I try to make something related from them, but usually I just cook whatever the hell I feel like. I do eat a lot of pasta and curries, but I try to vary the ingredients.
As a single guy into cooking, I have to say I get tired of almost anything after 3-4 nights or so. Big batches of anything end up in the freezer, whether they’re suited for that treatment or not.
I’ve been going to Dream Dinners monthly for the last few months, so we’ve been eating a much greater variety than we used to. We often will have the same thing twice in one week (once fresh and once as leftovers) if it wasn’t something I could easily split while I was making it, but rarely two nights in a row.
If you wish you had more variety in your meals, but don’t want to put a lot of your own time and creativity into it, I recommend using a meal prep service like this. It’s totally changed the way we eat. Here is a list of various chains around the US.
Ever since I read Paula Wolfert’s method for making polenta I never do it any other way. I use a cast iron skillet and it comes out perfect every time. Use the smaller amount of water for a thick polenta, suitable for slicing, or the larger amount for a thinner one.
I tend to go on cooking sprees where I’ll fix the same or similar dish for a few days then I’m on to something else. I usually don’t like to eat exactly the same meal for more than two days in a row. Since I’m usually alone this makes leftover a bit of a problem. If I think of it, I’ll pop them in the freezer for some other time.
I do most of my cooking on the weekends, and freeze leftovers for during the week. I don’t like to eat the same thing on consecutive days, but I don’t mind alternating. I will usually cook something on one weekday, though. So, starting on saturday, a common meal sequence for me would be A B A B C A B
I get on a kick and eat one food almost constantly–as much as I can stand it. Then eventually I get sick of it and move onto another food.
I trust that my body and subconscious mind will let me know when to move on. I certainly don’t have an inner voice telling me I ought to be eating more variety when I’m happy eating one thing.
I do believe in science, so I gulp down a multi-vitamin every day.
Healthy, fit, and gettin old using this “philosophy.”
