Meal Planning

Do you love or loathe the often-asked question, ‘What’s for dinner?’.

A recent article by Emily Naismith entitled ‘Why Meal Planning is Not for Me’ perhaps suggests she falls on the loathing side of the equation! If we’re honest, many of us at Inspirations HQ side with Emily so we read on to discover the approach she’s taken to the daily task of putting dinner on the table.

Emily confesses that those who are able to plan meals for a whole week, colour-code their menu plan, then link it to a shopping list of ingredients are nothing short of mythical beings. She simply does not have the brain for that.

Aside from her cognitive ability to meal plan in such a way, as the food Emily eats is often linked to her mood and what’s happening around her, what happens when it’s Wednesday, Vietnamese chicken salad is on the menu, and she simply doesn’t want to eat that?!

Instead, Emily takes the approach of simply starting to cook and seeing where she ends up. No rules, no limits.

‘I actually really enjoy it, the exercise forces creativity. There’s something that makes me happy about being under pressure to create something from nothing.’

Not only did we laugh our way through Emily’s article, but we were left considering whether our approach to needle and thread echoed her thoughts on meal planning.

Are we stitchers who ‘menu plan’ our projects well in advance, colour-code them by technique or difficulty then link them to a list of requirements, knowing whether they’re in our stash or need purchasing afresh for each project? Or are we more like Emily who simply adds a whole lot of items to her online shopping cart, and just rolls with it when they turn up?

Upon reflection, we realised we were a little of each. There are times we plan well in advance, ensuring everything we need is documented, planned and purchased. Whereas there are other times we love the idea of no rules, no limits and no ‘recipe’ as such, but rather an assortment of stitches created from what’s within our stash.

What about you? Do you plan or simply start stitching and see where you end up? We’d love you to email and let us know whether you’re an ‘Emily’ or one of the mythical beings she referred to in her article.