To the earlier poster who mentioned a whole chicken in an Instant Pot - would love to know what cooking instructions you use and an idea of what recipes you use the chicken for! Thank you.

Sunday- roast chicken mac n cheese broccolini
Monday- Burgers with chips or fries and salad
Tuesday- Chili from the freezer and cornbread
Wednesday- Beef and veggie Ragu from the freezer with pappardelle homemade garlic bread
Thursday- BBQ Chicken drumsticks (made in crockpot, finished in broiler), cheddar corn cheese grits or potatoes (depending on how I feel) asparagus
Friday- eat out or leftovers

It kinda turned out to be a potato week: sweet potato soup with salad; sheet pan gnocchi with cauliflower, mushrooms, and chickpeas; and a family favorite known as fart casserole (potatoes, field roast apple sausage, cabbage or sauerkraut, apples, and onion with caraway seeds). Also matzo ball soup one night and rajma (kidney bean) curry with spinach and rice on another.

Monday—Chicken cutlets with pasta or salad (family is split)
Tuesday—grilled marinated flank steak
Wed—whole chicken in Thai coconut sauce with rice
Thursday—grilling Ny strip steaks
Friday—leftovers, usually my teens get fast food

Purchase should have been sell by date which usually is no more than two days in a grocery store. Not as clear from farmer's markets altho they are usually fresher. I think it's more a new lifestyle that has me perplexed with how to organize new habits. No need for snark.

Wow...Bad day?

Anonymous wrote:Aren't we suppose to use meats within 2 at most 3 days of purchase?

Are you butchering your own animals right before you eat them? Go by the dates printed on the package of meat, duh.

Anonymous wrote:Aren't we suppose to use meats within 2 at most 3 days of purchase?

No.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Japanese curry with ground beef
Spicy marmalade chicken with sweet potatoes
Cameroonian chicken with plantains
Irish stew
Pork meatballs with ginger and fish sauce

All from NYT Cooking.

Do you buy all the ingedients fresh for the week in one trip or have the meats frozen and available? And what about vegetables?
I would have a hard time storing all these raw ingredients in the kitchen fridge.

Sweet potatoes don’t belong in the fridge. Neither do regular potatoes, which I assume are in an Irish stew. Otherwise, if you can’t fit this you might need a bigger fridge.

I do half the week - so grocery shop twice a week (we have a small fridge and freezer).

So far for the first half:

Baking: cheddar bay biscuit bread and a coffee cake

Dinners:
Barbacoa bowls with cilantro lime rice, guac and tortillas
Copycat PF Chang’s honey chicken with rice and broccoli
Chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes and Caesar salad

Tonight: Family Dinner at my parents house
Monday Marry me Chicken
Tuesday: Lasanga
Wednesday Tacos
Thursday: Make your own salad
Friday: Mac and Cheese Bake
Saturday: ?? (Dh’s birthday)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't we suppose to use meats within 2 at most 3 days of purchase?

I usually buy one fish (usually salmon) that we have the night I buy it. Then the next night I’ll use up the ground meat (beef chicken turkey) in whatever recipe I’ve designated for it. Then whole meat (usually chicken thighs) then processed meat (sausage or bacon), then a tofu night and then a bean night. Thats 6 dinners and I only shopped once and didn’t worry about the meat going bad. There’s also frozen options and takeout to fill in.

I mostly buy fish frozen, and only thaw when I'm ready to use it. Otherwise same: I have a variety of meats that last different lengths of time, and use them in order. Same with veggies, btw - some spoil faster, so I plan to use those first.

I will also sometimes buy meat in bulk and freeze individual portions, so there is always something in the freezer that I can thaw at the end of the week.

Looking now at getting a vacuum sealer and sous vide machine. I've read that properly sealed sous vide-cooked meat is good in the fridge for 2-3 weeks! I could totally do a batch of chicken breasts on the weekend and use them all week.

That's so disciplined. I used to do similar with kids at home; but after retirement had a lot of food waste. My DH and I would just impromptu go out with friends. So I make and freeze batches now. I think though that we food shop at least every other day.

Anonymous wrote:Aren't we suppose to use meats within 2 at most 3 days of purchase?

I usually buy one fish (usually salmon) that we have the night I buy it. Then the next night I’ll use up the ground meat (beef chicken turkey) in whatever recipe I’ve designated for it. Then whole meat (usually chicken thighs) then processed meat (sausage or bacon), then a tofu night and then a bean night. Thats 6 dinners and I only shopped once and didn’t worry about the meat going bad. There’s also frozen options and takeout to fill in.

Tomorrow Annie’s lentil soup, partially drained, over baby potatoes , shredded cheese on top.

Tuesday homemade Mac n cheese
Weds salmon marinated in pesto with rice and broccoli
Thurs rice with egg and veggies mixed in

That’s as far as I got.
I don’t reallly enjoy cooking but don’t want us eating crap either.