{"id":681,"date":"2021-09-19T18:56:06","date_gmt":"2021-09-19T18:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=681"},"modified":"2021-09-19T19:10:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T19:10:34","slug":"yes-you-have-to-make-dinner-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/?p=681","title":{"rendered":"Yes, You Have to Make Dinner Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"681\" class=\"elementor elementor-681\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-58eff928 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"58eff928\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-408db9d9\" data-id=\"408db9d9\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-252e02f elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"252e02f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Yes, You Have to Make Dinner Again<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-38be791 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-featured-image elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"38be791\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-featured-image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Untitled-design.png?fit=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-image-682\" alt=\"photo of dinner plate with chicken and string beans\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Untitled-design.png?w=1640&amp;ssl=1 1640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Untitled-design.png?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Untitled-design.png?resize=1024%2C577&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Untitled-design.png?resize=768%2C433&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Untitled-design.png?resize=1536%2C865&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Untitled-design.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48868ac1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"48868ac1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s tough thinking of dinner ideas every&#8230;single\u2026.night.\u00a0 And it can be even tougher to get it on the table in a timely fashion.\u00a0 Between working long hours, running to activities, homework, chores, and everything in between, I can understand how take out and fast food is an easy fix for the eternal dinner question \u201cWhat are we having?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is one thing that can make getting dinner on the table easier, faster, and even healthier.\u00a0 Meal planning.\u00a0 Yup, planning ahead.\u00a0 My best advice is sitting down one day a week, for less than an hour and mapping out the following week. You could even map out two weeks, or a month!\u00a0 Up to you.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you sit down, there are a few things you want to keep in mind when picking your meal ideas:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>The time you have to make the meal<\/em>: if little Timmy has baseball practice on Thursday nights, and you have 15 minutes to get dinner on the table, it\u2019s not the time to make a turkey. You need to make something quick, VERY quick! Something like pasta with some sauteed veggies and beans might be a better option than making a turkey!<\/li>\n<li><em>The ingredients<\/em>: if your famous corn chowder calls for fresh corn right off the cob, it probably shouldn\u2019t be on the dinner rotation for February.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><em>The time of year<\/em>: just like ingredients, you probably don\u2019t want to be eating beef stew in July.\u00a0 Maybe you do (and in that case, you do you) but some dishes are seasonal.<\/li>\n<li><em>Your schedule<\/em>: Saturday night is Grammie\u2019s 70th birthday, which means you don\u2019t need to cook (scratch that night off the list).\u00a0 Or maybe on Mondays Sally has dance class, and you can\u2019t get dinner on the table AND take her to dance, so Monday is Pizza night!\u00a0 No worries if you have a night a week that\u2019s not a home cooked meal; it only becomes an issue when it\u2019s multiple nights a week that you\u2019re relying on fast food or take out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now that you have these things in mind, it\u2019s time to spell out each dinner for the week.\u00a0 That includes the ingredients you have in the house and what you need to pick up at the store.\u00a0 Make sure you have every ingredient for all the dinners for the start of the week.\u00a0 We like to meal plan on Sunday mornings, then grocery shop Sunday afternoons in my family.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wait, I have to think of new recipes every week and cook every night?\u00a0 Good grief no!\u00a0 The first few times might take a little while, but after you do it for a few weeks, it\u2019ll be a breeze.\u00a0 Here are a couple options to make it go even quicker:<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Theme night<\/strong>:\u00a0 Mondays are Mexican, Tuesdays are Italian, Wednesdays are Soup, Thursdays are Vegetarian&#8230;and so on.\u00a0 Once you have a general idea of each night (and pick your favorite themes, there are tons out there) it becomes simple to pick an Italian meal vs trying to pick a recipe from all the possible dinner options out there.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Batch cook<\/strong>:\u00a0 Making chicken for Monday night\u2019s dinner?\u00a0 Can you cook extra and reuse it for Thursday in your chicken pot pie?\u00a0 Grill a bunch of veggies for dinner on Tuesday and use the extra in your pasta dish on Thursday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li><strong>Leftovers<\/strong>: One of my favorites!\u00a0 I\u2019m a family of four.\u00a0 But I can cook for a family of 8 and use the leftovers for lunches or dinner later in the week.\u00a0 When I was growing up there would be an \u201ceat the leftovers\u201d night every so often when my mom saw them piling up.\u00a0 We all had something different for dinner, but it was the leftovers we picked, so we all got our favorites and were full.\u00a0 Win win.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Repeat: <\/strong>\u00a0Find 20 or so favorite recipes you and your family enjoy and make a rotation.\u00a0 A 3-4 week rotation (with a pizza night or leftover night built in) is perfect; no one gets bored eating the same foods, and you don\u2019t have to think of new dinner ideas.\u00a0 Literally repeat the same 7 meals you made 3 weeks ago.\u00a0 Every so often you can throw in a new recipe, or maybe you make one new recipe a week to keep things interesting, but it makes the weekly meal planning simple, and the grocery shopping as well!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Planning ahead is the best way to make night time meals as easy a possible.\u00a0 And to help you, <strong><em>download this free<\/em> <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dinner-menu-planner.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Menu Planner<\/a><\/span> <\/strong>from<strong><em> Simple Start Nutrition<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Pro tip:\u00a0 Put it inside an 8&#215;10 frame (I got mine from the dollar store to match my kitchen decor) and you can write on the glass with a dry erase marker.\u00a0 Then clean, and repeat the next week!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Happy Dinner Planning!<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/cM_20G06gmTPZC0H17MA9j8Wp1bm2dejj2U-7jgB1CMarjQcoGuUltXCqcrsJEeTkYMvGt6ZH1maspStndXIWwE-EW3nQIAmVSfCBT1jrnbeWBVXW07ZsNODV3mVN1k1qRcK9rU=s0\" width=\"137\" height=\"105\" \/><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This blog was written by Chris Henigan MS, RD, LDN, co-founder of Simple Start Nutrition.\u00a0 For more blog posts and nutrition information follow @simplestartnutrition on Instagram and Facebook.\u00a0 Also feel free to contact us, by visiting our website (<a href=\"http:\/\/simplestartnutrition.com\/\">simplestartnutrition.com<\/a>) to schedule an appointment to discuss your nutrition related 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