The Worst Question of All: “What’s for Dinner?”

It’s 5:30 pm. You’ve just rushed in the door from (fill in the blank: soccer, ballet, the library, work) with your kids. Everyone is complaining “We’re starving!” Or the baby is crying because she’s hungry. Or the toddler is tantruming because he wants a snack. And the question that every meal provider hates looms large: “WHAT’S FOR DINNER?!”
You want to have a good answer for that, you want to provide a meal that is tasty and nutritious and quick to throw together. Is that even possible? And what if you work full-time? How do you pull that off?

Let’s take 15 minutes and plan a month’s worth of meals! “Impossible” you say? Not so!
The key: think in terms of categories of food, not just meals!

Step one: Assign categories to each day of the week. You’ve heard of Taco Tuesday: Change that to Mexican Monday and expand the choices! 😊 And make Tuesdays “Breakfast for Dinner,” Wednesdays Soup and Sandwich, Thursdays Chicken/Fish and Fridays pizza. Saturdays are BBQ and Sundays are Italian. Or make one night meatless, another crockpot or Insta-pot and a third miscellaneous – the possibilities are endless! Just figure out the major categories your family likes.

Once you have a category – like “Breakfast for Dinner,” then think of 4 things your family likes to eat in that category. Some options are omelets, scrambled or fried eggs, pancakes, waffles, quiche, and French toast to name a few.
Do the same for Mexican: tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, chili, enchilada, etc.
And for Italian: pasta with marinara, meat sauce or butter and cheese, chicken parmesan, fettucine al fredo, pesto pasta, frozen ravioli, lasagna, etc.
And the list goes on: So, let’s plug some of these ideas into a calendar: Sunday is Italian, Monday is Mexican, Tuesday is breakfast for dinner.

Week 1_ Sunday- Spaghetti            Monday-Tacos             Tuesday-Pancakes with Eggs

Week 2:  Sunday Ravioli                  Monday Chili               Tuesday Omelet & Home Fries

Week 3:   Sunday Chicken Parm.    Monday – Fajitas       Tuesday  Waffles, fruit, sausage

Week 4:   Sunday Pasta w/pesto       Monday- Quesadilla    Tuesday- Fried eggs and bacon

All meals can be modified to use turkey, tofu, or meatless.

You now have 4 weeks of meals planned for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with no repeats! Add categories for Wednesday through Saturday and you’re golden. When the kids or your spouse ask, “What’s for dinner?” you’ll know what to say and not be in a panic.  Imagine, a meal idea for every day of the month!  Mind-blowing!
Step 2: Do a little meal prep in the morning or the night before. Any part of the meal you can do ahead saves time when everyone is hungry, tired, and cranky at 5:30 or 6:00 pm. (This includes the cook!) And because YOU ALREADY KNOW what’s for dinner the next night, you can prep ahead. Brown the ground turkey or beef for Monday’s chili while you’re making dinner on Sunday. Slice your chicken breasts into cutlets the day before you want to make chicken parmesan. Chop the lettuce and tomatoes for tacos and put in little containers in the morning. Put the steak in a Ziploc with a bottled marinade in the morning. It tastes better and will be more tender when you’re ready to grill at 6:00! You and your kids are fresher in the morning, so a bit of prep while the kids are finishing their breakfast or watching a morning Daniel Tiger goes a long way.
Step 3: Buy time savers: pre-sliced chicken cutlets, already grated cheese, cornbread mix, spaghetti sauce in a jar. My favorite go-to is Rotisserie chicken. Every grocery store sells them- usually under $5.00 and you often can get 2 meals out of it. If you can bear it, as soon as you bring it home, remove all the bones and skin, (which is much easier to do when it’s warm!) Then you have cooked boneless chicken to add to a soup, salad, enchilada, quesadilla, or just to eat as a main course!
Step 4: Shop once every two weeks and do it without kids if possible! Believe it or not, it doesn’t take longer to shop for two weeks than for one. If need be, make a quick milk or egg pickup during week two. Not having to make a big shop every week is a huge time and energy saver! And shopping without kids helps on two levels: 1) You’ll spend less on impulse buys if your kids aren’t there whining for the sugary cereal and little toys at the checkout. 2) It can actually be a pleasant experience! Shop in the evening with a cup of coffee at your side and no kids and you’ll be surprised how pleasant it can be! 😊
Step 5: Keep staples stocked. Always have pancake mix, a frozen package of ground beef or turkey, bottle spaghetti sauce, pasta of all shapes, frozen boneless chicken breast, ravioli, and syrup in the pantry or freezer. With these few items, you’ll always have a quick meal at the ready.

The great thing about planning like this is you only do it once. And everyone relaxes when they know what’s coming! And no one relaxes more than the one who makes the meals!