Today’s “Question of the Day” is short and sweet, and sort of stems from yesterday’s Menu Plan Monday. I guess I’m still thinking “foodie posts” 🙂
Now that summertime is upon us, I start thinking about meals differently. When it gets to be 96 and 97 degrees here in the late afternoon, the last thing I want to do is get in a hot kitchen. Of course, a lot of the time I plan things for Tim to grill out, and really – he probably doesn’t want to be out in that heat over a hot grill anymore than I want to be slaving away inside. So, I try to plan more crockpot meals, more skillet meals and more salads and sandwiches.
Anyway, now with Tim working from home more, we eat a lot of our meals here during the week. We eat out a lot on the weekend, but we do eat at home a lot too. I have no problem fixing us food 3 times a day, but I tend to not fix “big” meals but once a day. So, that’s today’s question.
Which meal of the day do you consider to be your “big meal”? Do you have a bigger breakfast, a bigger lunch or a bigger meal in the evening? Are they all about the same? Do you snack between meals? Do you eat a big meal in the evening and then do the couch potato thing (like we do way too often)?
Here’s my answers – I would rather have our big meal at lunch, but Tim likes it in the evening, so that’s our “big” meal of the day. We often tend to sit down and watch TV or a movie after dinner (after I’ve cleaned up the kitchen, I won’t sit down and enjoy TV, knowing there are dirty dishes in there waiting on me). I have a problem with snacking some days, too. About 3:30 or 4:00 PM, I start getting hungry. Some days I am fine, and can just drink a bunch of water, and some days I have to break down and have a snack. 🙂
How about you? Leave me a comment and let me know!
I’ve heard that it’s healthier to eat a big breakfast, a medium lunch, and a light supper. But we do the exact opposite, usually. It just seems more natural to me to eat the biggest meal for dinner, because it’s going to have to get you through the night! Maybe that’s a warped philosophy!
Our big meal is in the evening. Although, David comes home for lunch everyday and we all sit together and eat our lunch. It’s usually sandwiches or leftovers. Nobody does breakfast really around here. It’s kinda fend for yourself since none of us care for breakfast.
After dinner, we all seem to find our quiet spot and relax doing our own thing for a little bit. I usually play online, David winds down with his computer/video games, and the girls go play together in their rooms. Later on, David and I will go sit on the porch and the girls will come out back and play.
We eat our big meal at dinner too. Since it’s just me and the kids the rest of the day we like to have that big meal with the hubby when he gets home. I do snack some. Usually one mid-morning and one mid-afternoon. And yes, we do the couch potato thing ALL THE TIME after dinner. 🙁 We have discussed starting an “after dinner” walk. That is if it isn’t a million degrees with sky high humidity. Hmmm not looking good for that walk!
Our big meal is the supper meal, though it shouldn’t be — it’s better for that to be the lightest meal of the day, particularly if you’re trying to lose weight, but seeing as how my dad has worked hard all day, he’s like Tim – he wants that to be the big meal. I do usually snack between meals, especially between lunch and supper and I usually have an evening snack. Basically I try to eat *something* every three or so hours, to keep my metabolism fired up. I try to keep my snacks in the realm of fruit, baby carrots or a small number of almonds though. And I drink water in between meals, too. As for evening activity, I give my food a little time to settle right after eating, but I always lift weights and do push-ups between supper and bed-time and I try to get in a 30 minute walk in the evening, too.
Like you, I would rather have my big meal at lunch, but we have our big meal at dinner because that’s when Dad is home. When he travels, I usually eat more at lunch.
I’m trying to eat more at lunch, but I’m not very successful at keeping to that routine. My problem is, I’m simply NOT hungry until about 3:30 or 4:00 – so I tend to snack, or “piece” as my mother likes to call it, till dinner time.
But having three guys in the house who MUST have meat and potato kind of meals have to have a big dinner, WHO, I might add, never have to worry about all of that food settling in their butts like some people. *cough* So, I really try to have smaller portions, but by that time, I’m so hungry from not eating all day that I sometimes eat more than the guys! *blush*
It sucks being a woman, it truly does. lol
Our big meal is usually at night which I know is bad but I sometimes take a sandwhich for lunch and Patt will go home and grab something to eat then he’s ready for “real” food when he gets home. BUT with it getting so hot I’m trying to play easy things and add a salad instead of cooking and heating the house up even more 🙂
when it’s really warm out, i have no big meals & just graze on things all day long. when it’s not hot out, dinner is my big meal during the week, and lunch is my big meal on the weekends.
Supper is our “big” meal, in that it’s the one we try to make sure we all sit down and eat together.
But what I eat for lunch is the same amount as what I eat for supper—I don’t like to eat more than 300-400 calories for supper, and I try to keep to that. I eat a big breakfast, a medium lunch, a snack between lunch & supper, and then supper is medium, too. Usually that’s it, but since being pregnant, I HAVE to eat again a couple of hours after supper, or I can’t get through the night. I try to keep it light and low-cal, like a bowl of cereal. When I’m not pregnant, eating after supper is strictly forbidden!
In theory I would like my big meal for lunch, but we eat dinner at 5, so that is our big meal.
I’d rather have my big meal of the day at noon with something lighter at supper and we eat breakfast too. But apparently I live with a growing boy that NEVER fills up! He wants 3 big, huge meals a day! Right now we mostly have our “big” meal at night. 🙂
Well, we’re big eaters all around — but basically the family eats the biggest meal at dinner. We do snacks too. And um, yeah, the couch potato thing some nights too.
And like Gail said — I have one of those big boys who is ALWAYS hungry! And he’s only 8-1/2. I hate to see him as a teen!
Sherry
My biggest meal is probably in the evening. But it’s still not too big I don’t think. I try to be sensible due to hubs being a diabetic. Every once in a while we splurge just a little on the carbs *giggles*. Like last night I made gumbo with jalapeno cornbread. Bit haevy on the carbs:-). In the daytime I have brunch, with maybe some fruit or veggies or even chips in between before dinner. Our dinner is usually not until around 6 or 7 because of hubs schedule.
Have a great day!
Dinner is the only meal I have during the day, unless you count coffee as breakfast. And I still slave away most days because cooking is just so much fun to me
Supper is our big one, too. I like to cook one big breakfast a week, but that doesn’t always happen. And I usually just throw something simple together for the kids for lunch. But this summer I think I’d like to plan out all our meals a little better, especially since Rich will be able to be home for lunch most of the time.
I have to plan meals around everyone’s work schedule. Neither Dom nor Shelby works a normal 9-5 day! If it’s just Dom and me, we like to have a big lunch then eat light in the evening. When Shelby was in school and had to work around 5-5:30, I’d have a dinner ready for all of us around 4-4:30 so she could have something before she went to work.
So here, it’s usually catch-as-catch-can — if you’re hungry, fix something and eat!
Hi Stacy, interesting question. I don’t cook during the weekdays, because by the time I reach home, it’s almost 7pm! The hubs and I usually eat at his parents’ place, who are just staying nearby. BTW, they are also helping to look after our daughter. So it’s very convenient. I only cook on weekends, and lunch is our “big” meal of the day. 😉
Our big meals are at 6 p.m. We’re not together at lunch and are too rushed at breakfast. If it were my preference, I think I’d like a nice leisurly breakfast together but we’re all last minute sleepers that are running out the door at different times. None are home at lunch except me so it falls to dinner to be our bigger, we’re all together meal.
Our big meal is in the early evening around 5 or 6 but the reason is that it’s when everyone is home and it’s the way we both had been raised. The weekends I try to get our big meal ready by 2 in the afternoon. I’d love to be able to do the big meal of the day for lunch because by the time dinner time rolls around I really don’t want to spend all that time in the kitchen cooking and then cleaning up afterwards. 😉
Our big meal is dinner too, mainly because that is the time Matt is home from work etc. I have dinner ready at 5 pm because I hate to eat late.
good question!
My biggest meal is dinner. I typically have ww toast or sb cereal in the a.m., salad for lunch and then meat & veggies for dinner. I do snack because I’m supposed to! LOL
I eat breakfast around 10 at work, lunch at 12:30, SB cookies for dessert around 2, granny smith apple around 3, nuts or cheese around 4:30. This way I have strength to get on the treadmill when I get home just after 5.
I don’t know that we have a big meal. I would say that lunch is our most “consistent” meal.
I’ve always wanted to make breakfast the big meal, mainly because I LOVE breakfast food – grits, cinnamon rolls, omelettes, pancakes with fruit, bacon, has browns – YUM! But, alas, our big meal is dinner because I like sleeing more than I like breakfast food and although I know I can make breakfast at night, somehow it just doesn’t seem quite right!
Good question as always. Funny how many people say they’d prefer their big meal to be lunch. I’m the same and the women in my family have always been like that. My gram used to have holiday dinners at 1pm. I still prefer to do that, but Mike’s family doesn’t get up till around noon so it’s usually 6 before we eat when I have them over for holidays. Our big meal, just because we both work, is usually dinner, although lately it’s been kind of sketchy. If I know he’s going to be doing something else in the evenings, I will seize the opportunity to eat a bigger lunch, i.e. go out or order something yummy!
As always, great QOTD and I enjoyed reading all the responses.
Our big meal is always dinner. And we’re both fine with that. Breakfast is the smallest for me, and Beef doesn’t eat breakfast most of the time. I do snack between meals and after dinner. Everyone says I don’t eat a lot at once, so I spread out my calories. I try to make healthy choices, but my afternoon snack is always the hardest for me to make a good choice. Sometimes I eat two or three small snacks after lunch because I have to wait a little longer to eat dinner. We usually eat by 6pm, but I would prefer my evening meal at 5 or even 4:30pm. That’s how my dad is, too. But, Beef’s family always ate a lot later so we had to adjust. Our evenings are when we sit down. I don’t like to do a lot of chores after 7pm. We’ll clean up supper dished though. Beef usually does since I cook. After Scamp goes to bed, Beef and I have been watching X-Files on DVD. We’re on the 2nd season.
Hi Stacy. I also prefer eating a big meal during lunch and eating less in the evening because it’s easier to burn calories during the day time compared at night. I also find it hard to sleep at night when I eat too much during dinner.
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