Confessions of Weekday Dinners: Raise Quality with Lowered Expectations

Confessions: I don't cook nearly as much as I used to. And I probably don't eat all of my fruits and veggies every day. And I don't budget as well as I should. But I'm doing pretty well for now, and a few people have asked me to share how I pull off some semblance of home cooking on my chaotic schedule.

Another confession: I don't have children. Right now, I'm not completely on a full-time schedule. And we're in a more solid financial situation, so my budget isn't as tight as it used to be.

So: there is NO judgment in this post. If you have had to order takeout, or serve pizza out of your freezer, or served people cereal for dinner, or whatever, it happens and it's okay and I definitely do it sometimes too. This post isn't supposed to guilt you or shame you or anything like that. I just wanted to give a few ideas that might lighten your load.

1. Lower your expectations

I love buying and prepping fresh veggies, especially from the farm market or my own backyard. I love long, intricate food prep and infusing the exact right flavor blend.

When I have time.

When I don't, though, those veggies sit in my veggie drawer and wilt, I end up trying to salvage them past peak, I don't get to use them for the dishes intended, and I feel guilty when I sometimes have to throw them out (and don't compost because composting got too hard in our apartment situation).

The fix: acknowledge that frozen or canned veggies are sometimes okay, or pre-chopped things from the grocery store if you can budget for them. Canned tomatoes actually taste better in the winter unless you're splurging on local hothouse ones (which you should do if you can, but . . . ). Frozen veggies don't have added salt and are pre-washed, pre-chopped, easy additions to soups, stir fries, casseroles, etc. Using leftovers, also okay. Prepping ahead, okay. One-dish meals, okay. Not serving an Instagram-worthy plated dinner, okay. Give yourself permission to do what works, even if it's not ideal.

2. Plan ahead and delegate as necessary

I have quite a few items that are staples - I know I'm going to use them, so I keep them on hand. Here's a link to stuff I stock in my fridge, and another link for pantry items. I also try to look about a week ahead in terms of how much time I'll have to cook/shop and set myself up for that. If I'm going to need chicken for multiple meals, I'll slow cook or bake it a day or two ahead sometimes, or I'll simmer a pot of black beans or slow cook a pork shoulder butt thingy and then make three separate meals from those. Rachael Ray's cookbooks can give you ideas for this if you're not sure how to make it work for you.

Also, unless you live alone, there's probably someone who can be helping - a partner, older child, cat (okay, just kidding, don't make your cat help). Think about tasks they can work with you on. I have pretty good estimations at this point about which meals I have to do myself (usually because they use my secret seasoning blends or are kind of time consuming) and which things someone else can do. If you have to teach someone how to do a few things, it's probably worth it in the long run, unless you enjoy being solely responsible.

3. Make dinner salads and soups

My go-to option for a quick, healthy dinner is salad or soup (especially soup I can make in a slow cooker . . . are you seeing a trend?). These are relatively easy to set up as one dish meals, don't require lots of stirring, and are easy to customize. Oh, and for added convenience and to lower your grocery bills (plus increase nutrition): skip meat, or go light on it. Having to thaw and/or cook it adds time, it often adds fat to your meals, it's one of the more expensive things, pound for pound, that you can be buying, and generally, it's going to decrease your creativity/flexibility if you feel like you must include it. The average American isn't short on protein (unless you're a body builder). We ARE short on the nutrients we get from fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, etc. That's not to say you have to go vegan, but you might be surprised how much time/money you can save by cutting back on meat.

Okay, so what does this look like for a week? Here's this week's plan (though it's subject to change):

I took stock of my schedule/fridge/pantry last night and checked in with my wife and roommate about grocery items we're short on and then started a grocery list. Since I'm working 3:30-5:30 pm and 6:30-7:30 pm, I won't be home to make dinner tonight, so I got a vegan black bean chili (tomato paste, diced tomatoes, frozen corn, adobo sauce from a can, salsa, quartered fresh onions, drained black beans) started in the slow cooker this morning that I hope will feed us for today and tomorrow.

I already know that I'm not going to be home evenings much this week and that the helpmate or roommie like salads with romaine lettuce, so I picked up some cranberry goat cheese (seasonal at Trader Joe's - most affordable place in the area to buy nice cheese) and romaine hearts. We already have fresh apples, pecans in the freezer, and I made up a vinaigrette yesterday that we can throw on top. It'll be up to them whatever else they add. This can be packed up for lunches or used again a different day with different dressing or toppings (I think we have dried figs and Craisins in the pantry) for another easy meal.

Last for-sure item: lentil tacos. I can make up the lentil filling (lentils, onion, garlic, adobo sauce leftover from the can opened for today's chili) ahead and then it reheats pretty well, and the rest is just warming tortillas, shredding lettuce, prepping tomatoes - I put out Greek yogurt instead of sour cream (because as mentioned in a previous post, it's always in my fridge and reasonably healthy), salsa, avocado if I have it - but you can top them however you want. So tacos, another go-to, flexible meal option.

One Last Confession: I have stuff for chicken casserole like my mama used to make for us. I was supposed to make it last week and didn't. I'm kind of thinking I might not get to it this week either. Basically, it's diced pre-cooked chicken (and mine is frozen right now, which prevents spoilage but adds to how much I have to plan) mixed with a can of cream soup and frozen veggies, spread into a 9 by 13 pan and topped with biscuit dough/batter (I have some biscuit mix I've been meaning to use up). Not hard, but I have to be home while it bakes and it's not really make ahead. Maybe if I get it set up, the roommie can throw it in the oven at an appropriate time? It's an ultimate comfort food.

I hope to get time together to make pumpkin bread - I picked up canned pumpkin a couple weeks ago and haven't used it. We also have a pie pumpkin that's currently being an adorable balcony decoration, but if I'm really ambitious I might bake and puree it. Maybe I will mix the dry ingredients and put them in a jar? This is effectively making my own pumpkin bread mix, which lets me work in the ground flax, whole wheat flour,  and oatmeal I like, but like I said, no shame in using a box if you have to.