Deciding what to make for dinner is easily the most hated decision an adult has to make on a daily basis. While it’s easy and straight forward feeding yourself, determining dinner becomes much more difficult when children and partners are involved. Picky eaters and hectic time schedules can wreak havoc on well intentioned dinners. Fortunately, meal planning can turn your dinner dread to delight!
After making decisions all day at work, it is overwhelming to have to make yet another decision when you finally get home after a long day. And what a loaded decision it is! Organic. Healthy. Protein. Carbs. Too many pressures and too many choices can put us into a paralyzed state of inaction.
Not to mention, it’s quite possible you’ve come home to a messy kitchen (more often than not) with dishes in the sink and literally no counterspace available either. I know it makes me want to stick a fork in it.
What are the Two Most Dreaded Questions on a Daily Basis?
After getting home from work, school, daycare or the home office, two questions inevitably arise (or it may even come up in the car before you even step foot in the door). They sound something like this:
“What’s for dinner?”
“What do you want for dinner?”
Silence. Your mind is blank. You go about your business of putting down your bags, taking off your shoes and changing into comfy clothes, and slowly migrate back to the kitchen and linger. A pantry full of food and and refrigerator full of food, and yet, the mind is blank.
What are the Two Major Pain Points of Dinner Preparation?
- Deciding WHAT to cook.
- The physical ACT OF COOKING after a long work day, lacking the energy and commitments required.
Below details some strategies to help simplify the WHAT, and create more ease of cooking.
Meal Planning with Children
Quite frankly, I don’t’ think many parents would disagree with the sentiment that feeding children is one of the most ungrateful jobs a parent will ever have. At the very least it is soul shattering to have a child reject a meal you’ve spent hours preparing.
Whether they are picky eaters or not, the struggle is real.
The Joy of Picky Eaters
My youngest daughter was a picky eater. I would make separate meals for her each evening, a “deconstructed” version of our main course, as if our home was a three-hat restaurant. For example, on an evening of butter chicken curry, she would eat: plain browned chicken and rice (no sauce), plain tomatoes and cucumber (no salad). No seasoning and nothing mixed.
To be fair, she would gag or vomit at the smell of certain foods, so as any good mother would, I catered to her every need. This only encouraged her behavior due to the attention she garnered, all at my expense. Eventually though, I said enough. It was not sustainable for me as a single working mom. I channeled my inner childhood and my wonderfully no-nonsense parents: she would eat what was put on the table. The end.
Guess what? She eats most everything now, and is eager to try new foods. She has since admitted to me she was being intentionally stubborn and difficult, without really knowing why. In the process of establishing boundaries, I called her bluff; now meal planning is easier and dinner is immensely more enjoyable for our family.
Why Kids Love Predictability: Yum, It’s Tacos Again!
Here’s a piece of good news: kids love routine and predictability. What does this mean for you? They don’t mind eating the same foods over and over. In fact, when they ask the dreaded “what’s for dinner?” and I respond with tacos, they respond with “oh, good!”, not minding it’s the second time in two weeks. They know what they’re getting and they know they generally like it. They smile and life is good.
While the sound of tacos again may make my stomach turn, I know that I am resilient and can endure yet another meal of tacos. I have a secret, the inner knowledge of knowing that when they get older I can make the decision to intentionally never to eat another taco again. Embrace this season of your life and look forward to what’s yet to come.
Make Sure the Entire Family is involved
Balance is important in every household, and each member of the family must be an active participant. Every person should be responsible for dinner at least one night of the week. Your partner goes without saying; you work, your partner works. You cook, your partner cooks. I include children in this sentiment as well.
Children can play an essential and vital roll in meal planning. My kids have always been involved, helping to make the grocery list, going grocery shopping, unpacking the groceries, and cleaning the fruit and veg. Which has turned into a creative process of “food art” for my youngest daughter during our Sunday meal planning. (pic of Kate’s art!)
Kids Can Make Dinner Too!
All of this was setting the table, so to speak, for them to participate in meal planning and preparation when they got old enough. From the ages of eight and ten my daughters have been making dinner one night per week. They love it, as they feel enabled and gives them a sense of independence. They decide what they want to make, the ingredients involved, participate in the grocery shop and prepare the dinner (with my help where required).
Be prepared that you may not like what was made, but not having been the one that prepared it is worth any dissatisfaction!
I’m happy to report, no one has lost a finger on the chopping board yet.
4 Tips to Approach Dinner Differently: Tried and True Fundamentals
Here are some ideas to help you get started, give structure, and provide new ideas to your approach to meal planning. Determine what will work best for your family, depending on your schedule and circumstances.
- Meal Planning Sunday – This is the single most important thing you can do to reduce the stress and mental load of cooking dinner during the week.
- Plan what you will eat each day of the week (more on this below).
- Make a grocery list.
- Complete your grocery shop; in person, or online click & collect or delivered (which will save you more time, but then you will need to shop earlier in the week so you’ve the ingredients to start the week).
- Sunday meal/Sunday batch cook: On Sundays I like to make a nice family meal, it’s the most I cook the entire week. When I do cook, I make a double batch: One to eat and one to put in the freezer.
- Keep the freezer stocked with meals. Quick, easy, healthy & delicious. Whether you choose to cook on Sunday or buy ready made meals from the grocery store, this provides peace of mind as your ultimate back-up when you’ve no idea what to do.
- Spaghetti sauce, lasagna, soups, stews are great for this
- Buy fresh produce in season – your meal will taste better and cost less
- Crock Pot or One Pot: minimum input, maximum output. A win-win for working mom’s.
An Example of What One Week of Meal Planning Looks Like
I generally try to cook Mon-Wed and Sunday, leaving the rest of the week to easier options like leftovers, take-out, or grilling. Below is an example of a structured week, that you can repeat week on week. Remember how kids and adults alike are creatures of habit? This type of meal planning eliminates the dreaded “what’s for dinner?” question, sets expectations for the family, and you will rarely get a complaint.
Day of Week:
- Monday: Meatless Monday
- Tuesday: Taco Tuesday
- Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday, Breakfast for dinner or homemade meal from the freezer (so now you’re really only cooking two nights of the week)
- Thursday: Leftover Thursday
- Or take-out Thursday if you prefer to eat your leftovers for lunch the next day
- Friday: Frozen Friday Fun; this is not your delicious home-cooked frozen meals, but the quick and easy dinner with Friday feels…frozen pizza, fish fingers, chicken nuggets (noting there are some healthier vegetarian versions available)
- Saturday: Grilling or out for dinner if your out having some fun
- Sunday: Family meal and double batch cooking
You could repeat this week on week, or expand it out, rotating your list of go-to meals over a course of two or four weeks.
4 Creative Tips to Spice up Your Meal Planning
- To minimize the dinner doldrums, I spice it up a bit and get creative with different cuisines. I add in a variety of recipes when rotating a new item into my list of go-to meals. This can be fun when cooking with kids, we’ll find the country on the map, and listen to mariachi when making tacos, Bollywood when making a curry, or Puccini when making pasta. Mexican, Thai, Indian, German, Italian…the world is your oyster!
- Smorgasbord: cheese, crackers, fruit & vegetable, nuts, nibbles and dips – this surprisingly healthy and filling dinner is a crowd pleaser with adults and kids alike (and a good way to finish up the odds and ends reducing food waste).
- New recipe night – an opportunity to a new recipe.
- “You’re on your own night”, each person for themselves. Yes, this is a dinner option; feel no guilt and be prepared to tell your kids Nutella on crackers is not a meal.
Why Meal Kits and Outsourcing Dinner IS Meal Planning
While outsourcing your meals can be more expensive than meal planning (but not always!), there is a substantial benefit, whereby, your mental load is lessened tremendously. It eliminates the need to decide what’s for dinner, and saves time on planning and shopping.
What’s there to complain about that? Worth every damn penny! A hybrid meal planning approach may be the best option for your sanity and pocket. Additionally, it saves time on shopping and meal preparation. Time is money.
5 Ways to Outsource Your Dinner Options and Simplify Meal Planning
- Meal Prep companies like Hello Fresh, Marley Spoon, Home Chef (to name only a few amongst many to choose from), are a wonderful option for many reasons.
- They eliminate the stress and pressure, so you don’t even have to think about what’s for dinner.
- Provide a healthier and more affordable option than taking your family out to dinner.
- It’s easy to cater to your family’s food preferences – vegetarian, vegan, kid friendly or sustainable options are all available.
- They are easy to trial, as they often run sign-up promotions and deals for free boxes. Alternatively, find a friend with free codes or discount sign up codes (like refer a friend).
- Ready cooked meals – Many grocery stores provide delicious and healthy ready cooked meals; ravioli, curries, soups, pizzas are some of my go-to’s.
- Prepared Meals – Similarly, there are some amazing options for prepared meals to be delivered straight to your door. Personally, I tend to use these for my lunches – they save time I would otherwise spend preparing and cooking, keep me eating healthy giving me the much needed energy to get through the day, and isn’t any more expensive. For me, this is a form of Self Care.
- Homemade Meals – Look for someone in your local area on boards or websites, preparing and selling homemade meals. Could be a win-win for you both.
- Hire a personal chef – whilst it may seem extravagant and out of reach, it isn’t. There was a time in my life, before I started meal planning, that I hating cooking and dinner so much, I was willing to find the money to make this happen.
Happy Meal Planning, Happy Cooking and Happy Eating.
Come up with a plan, and whatever you do, stick to it. Have a white board on your fridge with each day of the week and the corresponding meal or plan written next to it. You will never have to answer the dreaded “what’s for dinner?” question again (or you can tell them where to go to find out).
Remember how I said kids like routine? Well it ends up, so do adults. You will never again have to make a decision about what’s for dinner. Decision made. It’s done. And if you get sick of tacos every Tuesday, get crazy and add something new into the rotation. Sticking with Mexican, perhaps quesadillas, black beans and rice? Equally as delicious and easy.
May this guide bring you more than a hint of relief and a dash of new ideas for your nightly dinners.
In the process, be kind to yourself, have grace and compassion. One Step at a Time.
Please comment below and share your thoughts with this community of female peers and like minded women! Forward to a friend or woman you believe would find value in these words…Together we are stronger.
Great ideas, thanks for so many great ideas and solutions!