I’ve been planning meals & shopping for a few years now and it works SO well. It takes time to plan, but it sure beats the last minute ‘foraging’ as you called it. It’s tough with both parents working and trying to find something everyone will eat, AND something generally healthy, AND something relatively easy. But sitting down as a family for a meal is something we try to do, at least a few nights a week.

Perhaps you can start a Food Douche’s site?

http://www.amazon.com/Sandi-Richard/e/B001JS1998/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

The homemade pasta recipe looks super easy! Do you know if that would translate into ravioli? I make delicious chicken and dried cranberry meatballs that I think would be a great ravioli filling: Dice your chicken breasts and dried cranberry, toss together with some thyme, chives, salt and pepper. I usually bake them and then smother them in an alfredo sauce (which you could easily lighten up by having a light hand with the butter and only using milk).

I do excel at, and take pride in salad making, however, which is strange because making salads is time consuming (all the cleaning and chopping).

I admire all your home cooked meals up there and realize I am such a relentless hog when it comes to carbs, I could probably never make my own 10″ pizza without eating it all in one sitting. And I am hopeless with bread. And what usually goes on bread. So I keep my pantry largely carbless, with the exception of the odd binge now and then.

Funnily, years ago when I knew nothing about pasta (except that it tasted good), I believed it grew on trees. Now there’s an embarrassing admission.