One of the first really big changes that you can make when deciding to live a healthier lifestyle is preparing meals at home.
Making meals at home is better for you and your budget according to all the experts. Whether it is from fresher ingredients, healthier preparation, mindful eating or many other factors, preparing your meals at home is just Way better for you.
But even though we at times, can have the best of intentions, life throws us a curve ball and it can be even Harder than Usual to get dinner on the table. Here are some tips that I try and keep in place to make getting dinner on the table during the crazy times, a little bit less crazy.
1. Have a Pantry go-to Meal - for our family, this is basic spaghetti with red or white sauce from a jar or peanut noodles. I can have the ingredients always on hand, and all it takes is a pot of boiling water. When I am feeling like I just can't make dinner tonight, I like to have a back-up plan where I can tell myself, "Make this, it will be ready in 15 minutes"
2. Breakfast for Dinner - Everyone loves breakfast foods, whether it is pancakes, waffles or french toast, there are no bad breakfast foods. (at least not in our house!) If I am looking for a pass on dinner, I'll make something hearty, Joseph will cooks eggs to special order and we almost always get the smiles from our boys coming up from downstairs saying, "do I smell bacon?"
3. Chicken and Rice - with just a few spices and a saute pan you can have dinner under control. Saute' up some frozen chicken tenders and put a pot of rice on. It takes 20 minutes or so for the rice and that is plenty of time to defrost the chicken and have it cooked and ready. (Since the tenders are smaller and thinner that chicken breasts). Add a bag of frozen veggies and you've got a great My Plate dinner.
4. Go Bowling - I can whip up a Bowl Meal with all kinds of food from the pantry or fridge. Start with a bowl of rice (or other grain) or noodles, and just start adding yummy things. I love to make bowl meals then there seem to lots of little bits of things left in the fridge that need to be used up. Roasted veggies, cooked meats that there aren't enough of to make meal. Salad fixings, canned beans, frozen veggies - everyone can make their own just how they like it.
5. Soup's On - With a few ingredients that you probably have in your pantry, you can make soup. We love taco soup and minestrone soup at our house, but there are as many delicious soups and combinations as they are cooks in this world. You can make your own and it is so much cheaper and better for you than buying soup from a can.
6. Taco Tuesday - There are a lot of reasons that we are a whole country of taco lovers. Soft or hard, beef, chicken, fish or pork - small street taco size or huge burritos as big as your fist - there isn't anything that it seems you can't put in a tortilla, add a bit of salsa and call delicious. We eat some form of Tacos once a week, I can pack them full of veggies and there aren't a lot of dishes to watch. That's good enough for me on the tough nights.
These are some ideas that have worked for me. Things that I try and keep in mind when making dinner seems worse than a trip to the dentist. What has worked for you? What tricks do you use?
