Meal Planning

Eating at Home is Easy

Before Dream Dinners, almost every night, my husband and I would have a variation of an exchange like this:  

“What do you want for dinner?”     “I don’t care, what do you want for dinner?”  “I don’t know. What are you in the mood for?”  “I don’t know…”

After the exhausting indecisiveness, if we’re lucky there will be odds & ends in the fridge to pull together yet another nameless stir-fry or pasta, otherwise we’ll probably just end up eating take-outs or canned soups.  Either way, it was not healthy nor satisfying, and sometimes costly. 

Of course there are tons of dinner planning web sites and recipe books, but the truth is we rarely have the time nor patience to follow through - we just want something tasty, healthy, cost-effective and EASY.

And here it is.  Here are the key things I have learned about dinner planning:

  • Nutrition Management -
    • Stay away from foods with a lot artificial ingredients you can’t pronounce. 
    • Low fat and low cal are not necessarily good – you should eat based on your body needs. 
    • Cutting out an entire food group is rarely sustainable or healthy.
    • Control the serving size of your main entree, and eat veggies and fruits freely throughout the day.

 

  •  Time Management -
    • Always have something thawing in the fridge and ready to be cooked.  
    • Cook once and eat twice for the nights you KNOW you will come home late or you family will eat at different times. 
    • Establish a routine.  Routine helps to keep chaos at bay. 
    • Always keep a couple of energy bars (or even better – bananas or apples)  in your purse or day bag, so you can stay away from drive-through.  Eating on the run is reality to some of us, but it doesn’t mean you have to eat fast foods.

 

  • Capacity Management -
    • Once a week, shop for your basic fresh fruits, veggies, milk, yogurt, etc..  Don’t get tempted by jars and sauces in the middle isles – THINKING that you can make something exotic or exciting SOMETIMES.  Remember how many half-used jars and sauces there are in your pantry and refrigerator since when…  before the holidays?
    • Do stock up on dry, regularly used ingredients such as pasta, rice, cereal.

 

  • Taste Profile Management -
    • Picky eaters, special dieters, weight losers… You cannot cater to everyone’s needs, but you CAN make everyone happy by providing the same main entree with modification of sauces and spices, and having a variety of sides to suit their needs.
    • Do try different cuisines.  You will never know if you like capers if you never try it.  Your 6-year-old will continue being a picky eater if all he knows is chicken nuggets.

 

  • Cost Management -
    • Don’t buy a huge bag of frozen meats at wholesalers unless you have the space and plans to use them all. 
    • Don’t buy big jars of seasoning or sauces just cause they are on-sale.  
    • Don’t shop when you are hungry. 
    • Don’t shop without a shopping list. 
    • Eating out should be special occasions- choose a restaurant you really want to try, never because you have nothing in the kitchen. 

I use Dream Dinners to manage ALL of these without much precious time and energy.  I am happy to share my dinner planning process with you.  Contact me at 240.515.8983 and we can set up a 5 minute consultation about your dinner challenges.  We will cover the following:

  • What to order – based on your routine, dietary needs and taste profiel. 
  • How to order – based on your conveneince, online, email or phone. 
  • When to order – based on your usage.

Together we will create a routine for you to have EASY, TASTY, HEALTHY, and COST-EFFECTIVE dinners always at your finger tips.

Interested? Ask for Yihung at 301-879-4707 or CloverlyStreetMD@dreamdinners.com