When the extended family arrives to spend a few days you plan meals in advance and have all the ingredients on hand. With ease you cook two or three meals a day and wonder why you can't seem to plan this well the rest of the year. Your mother is worried your kids will never know how good a seven layer casseroles is and you have to admit that the expense of eating out is starting to turn your stomach. Unfortunately, your stomach is growing with that take-out food, despite feeling a bit sick about it all. You may even be one of the many people who have to search online for instructions on how to plan a spaghetti dinner. But with your busy schedule and limited energy, how do you discover the best meal planning approach that will thrive in your family?
Here are five suggestions to get you started:
1. Try a weekly meal exchange with another family in your neighborhood, giving it a trial run for a couple of months. In no time you will see the savings of time and energy, as you just have to make a double batch of your favorite lasagna, and feel the relief that you will receive a meal back another night. Before starting, split the expense of a set of disposable containers and lids that can be traded between the homes.
2. If you have a craving from your favorite restaurant, look online for the recipe. You may have a good chance of finding it when you search for words like "copy cat recipes" or "top secret recipes." Before long your kitchen will start smelling like the Olive Garden. This is a great way to produce healthy meal plans for teens who think they are too busy for dinner at home.
3. Check out a new trend: preparing a meal somewhere other than your home, such as using a meal preparation service. For example, Dream Dinners is in 37 states and boasts that though the price per meal may be a bit more than if you prepared it in your own kitchen, it's significantly less than eating out. It provides fast healthy dinner plans. And the meals are much more nutritious. For a set price, you can choose from a wide variety of meals, considering your family's likes, dislikes, eating restrictions, and budget. Then you just go in and prepare the meals right there, package them up, and bring them home to your freezer. You'll also pick up some great cooking creativity tips and confidence for future meals at home.
4. Avoid the temptation purchase entire meals of take-out. Instead, mix part of a meal from your favorite restaurant with a partially prepared meal at home. For example, it simple and inexpensive to make a large Greek salad with tossed with dressing, olives and feta cheese. Then order a large side order of Gyro meat from your local Greek restaurant. You'll get more value for your money and also have a fresh meal of something you typically would not make at home.
5. It can be hard to get motivated to organize your meal planning, but once you do, you may wonder how you ever lived without it. Feel free to figure out what works best for your tastes, schedule and amount of energy. For example, could you easily make a double batch of that marinated chicken and freeze half for another night? Online you can find dinner menu planning software systems or a blank print out of a weekly meal plan. Perhaps plan by breaking down the dinners by style of foods. For example, plan six night's meals as: one - sandwich; one - beef; one - salad; one - poultry; and two - fish.
The next step is to flip through magazines, dust off those old cookbooks, and take a poll of your family member's favorite recipes. Then start planning. In just a few days you can have at least twenty recipes and that can last you through six weeks of meals. And don't take all the responsibility. Get everyone involved by putting the kids in charge of a meal a week, or let your spouse accompany you to a Dream Dinner style meal preparation excursion. Soon your dinner blues will disappear and instead you will feel a great sense of accomplishment . . . and relief!
About the Author:
Instant download of 200 Ways to Encourage a Chronically Ill Friend from "Beyond Casseroles" by Lisa Copen when you signup for HopeNotes invisible illness ezine at Rest Ministries. Lisa is the coordinator of Invisible Illness Awareness
No comments:
Post a Comment