As seen in the Dayton Daily News on August 2, 2014.
“What’s for dinner?” Do you cringe when you hear this? Does it make you feel guilty because you’re in charge of this task for your family and once again you have no idea what you’re going to make?
For me, the hardest part about making dinner is coming up with a dinner idea. Once I know what I’m going to serve, getting food cooked and on the table is pretty straightforward.
If you’re tired of eating the same thing night after night or you want to stop eating out so often, make dinner plans ahead of time.
First, write out the days of the week and next to each day write a category of food you and your family enjoy. It might look something like this.
- Monday – pasta
- Tuesday – soup or sandwiches
- Wednesday – crock-pot
- Thursday – backyard grill
- Friday – take-out
- Saturday – seafood
- Sunday – comfort food
Next, start a dinner idea binder using a three-ring binder with dividers. On each of the divider tabs list each of your categories. Make sure you purchase wide dividers (found at office supply stores or online). You will be using sheet protectors and the wide dividers will allow you to still see the tabs.
For each category, come up with five recipes your family will enjoy. Make copies of each recipe, slip them into a sheet protector and include them behind the appropriate category.
Having your recipes in a sheet protector makes it easy to pull them from the binder, wipe them off if something spills on them and replacing them when you are done.
In case you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with the recipe ideas, here is a sneak peek from my binder.
- Pasta – spaghetti, lasagna, chicken fettuccine, stuffed shells, clam linguine
- Soups/sandwiches – chicken noodle, vegetable, meatball subs, reubens, chicken salad
- Crockpot – roast chicken, pork chops and rice, chuck roast, BBQ country ribs, chili
- Backyard grill – honey/mustard pork chops, shish kabobs, steak, hamburgers, fajitas
- Take-out – Even though you don’t cook this one, include the menus of five places you enjoy. This makes it easy for anyone to call in the order.
- Seafood – baked fish and herbs, salmon, fish fry, mango mahi mahi, salmon patties
- Comfort food – cabbage rolls, pot roast, meatloaf, stuffed peppers, chicken and noodles
Some other categories you may consider: Mexican, vegetarian, breakfast for dinner, and kids’ favorites.
You could also have a category called “something new.” This would give you a chance to try all those recipes you’ve been cutting out and saving over the years.
You may deem some of the categories to be seasonal, such as grilling in the summer and comfort foods in the winter. Having additional categories that you rotate in and out gives you variety.
Knowing what you’re having for dinner ahead of time allows you to work around your schedule. There will be times you may want to do prep work for dinner the night before. You can make last minute dinner changes if you work late or the kids sporting events get changed.
Share your weekly dinner plans with your spouse and children so they know how to help. Having someone pre-heat the oven or put water on to boil before you walk in from work can be a big help.
So, “What’s for dinner?”