I don’t know about you, but I love it when my kids pull open the refrigerator or pantry doors and loudly bemoan that there is nothing to eat in the house. It’s my favorite. Especially if I’ve spent the better part of a day driving to two grocery stores, Costco, a specialty market, and put away roughly one mortgage payment’s worth of food. It’s the best, amiright moms?
What my kids really mean when they say we have nothing is this: Where is the junk food? Because if it involves preparations of any kind (short of opening a foil bag/box and microwaving), my children cannot see it, thus, we have nothing in the house.
Thankfully, I enjoy cooking and do not have the vision problem that has afflicted my offspring, so I am able to spot the kale, forage for a box of pasta, and find the fish. I cook, we eat, and we usually eat well.
December is now somehow behind us, and as I look to the new year and think about which habits stay, what gets tossed, and new ideas to bring into my life, I admit I could use a break from the nonstop planning, shopping, and cooking. My kids, though, somehow still need to eat regularly.
I decided the first week of January would be perfect to kick off with a meal delivery service, and I chose Sunbasket because their menu selection looked the tastiest (this is not a sponsored post, PlanHero just happens to really like Sunbasket).
I’m so happy to not have to meal plan and do the shopping that honestly, they could have sent me pretty much anything and I’d be satisfied. I get stuck in a rut when it comes to dinners, and if I were to make a menu based on feedback from my family, here’s what we would be eating this week:
- I Don’t Know Frittata
- Anything Wraps
- Whatever Sounds Good to You Stew
- I’m Not Hungry with Red Sauce
- Pizza
Instead, I spent less than ten minutes online and here’s our New Year’s menu:
- Lemongrass shrimp soup with mushrooms, kale, and glass noodles
- Blackened sole with citrus pico de gallo and cauliflower “rice”
- Cod fasolada with carrot fritters and lemon-herb oil
- Chipotle turkey chili with cucumber-sumac salad
Clearly we enjoy fish. If you don’t, there is something for everyone to choose from. All of it looks like something from your new favorite restaurant. Admittedly, my boys took a look at the cod fasolada and gave it a hard pass (I thought they would – it’s a fish soup – but it looked too yummy to pass up and I happily made them a grilled cheese). Even if you’re a novice cook, the recipes are easy to follow and there is no food waste, which is something I struggle with each month. Despite my best intentions, we don’t always eat all of our fresh items, and if I am not feeling immediately creative, it goes in the trash. Ugh. With Sunbasket everything arrives in a neat box (with a frozen pack to keep perishables safe), it’s all pre-measured, and I had exactly the right amount of everything for each meal. Start to finish, I was able to make each dinner in around 30 minutes.
I’d like to say that with all this extra time I am hard at work on my second book, am in better shape because of the beautiful and healthy dinners, and my house is extra clean. If I can get breakfast and school lunches delivered with as much ease, this could be the case. Until then, I’m happy not to have to think about what’s for dinner.
What differences are you incorporating into your routine in 2018?
Responses
Kim
One ritual we started, probably 15 years ago (argh is that possible?!), was setting out a “snack plate” around 5pm. Our family tends to eat around 7pm, I know that is later than most American families but it works for us. So the “snack plate” became our front-load. We simply chopped up whatever veggies we had, added some apples or some other fruit du jour, and ranch dip made w low fat sour cream or greek yogurt. Not only did it satisfy their hunger, but they all really love their veggies now.
1 responseJennifer Hillman-Magnuson
That’s such a great idea! I think we may be headed into later dinner time territory, too.
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