Calm the Chaos of "What’s for Dinner?"
You’d think that because dinner happens every frigging day, you would have an answer for that age-old question: “What’s for dinner, Mom?”. But you don’t, and we’ve all been there. It’s 5pm, the little mouths (and you) are getting hangry, and you have no idea what’s for dinner. Again.
Let me walk you through the three stages of taming the “What’s for Dinner” beast.
Solving the Eternal “What’s For Dinner” Problem
Stage 1: Denial. Despite your best efforts at ignoring dinnertime, it just keeps showing up (rude) and the kids still want to be fed. Since you had hoped it wouldn’t arrive today, you have no idea what to make and have to wing it. You end up feeling frazzled, hating meal times, and no one ends up liking what you made, anyway. You mean green beans and lunch meat on noodles isn’t delicious?
Stage 2: Meal prep. Sick of the disaster that dinnertime has become, you decide to embrace meal prepping. After spending 72 straight hours binge-learning about meal prep strategies and recipes, you head out to the container store and spend $100 on reusable containers that stack perfectly. The grocery shopping is done, and all the food awaits your meal prepping expertise. Ahhh, organized bliss!
The prep begins. You spend all of Sunday in the kitchen ignoring the kids (how are they hungry AGAIN?!), telling your husband to GTFO of the kitchen, and stepping on the dog, who is looking for dropped food. By 5 o’clock, everyone is starving but is afraid to ask “what’s for dinner”, which you kind of forgot to make. If you eat the prepped meals now, then the whole week’s plan is RUINED. So you order take-out, but you are so sick of looking at food that you just eat some peanut butter crackers and go to bed early.
Stage 3: Find a sustainable rhythm to dinnertime. Luckily, there is a balance between a frazzled last-minute meal and a regimented all-or-nothing prep plan. I am not good at winging things, and yet…the idea of preparing a whole week’s worth of meals in one day for a whole family is VERY overwhelming. I mean, planning and prepping a whole week of meals is hard for ONE person, let alone a family with different likes/dislikes. Oh, the 4 year old is ONLY eating pink food this week? There goes the meal prep!
The “What’s for Dinner” Answer
It’s time to welcome more ease into dinner time, with one tip that - even for just one day - takes meals from madness to magic. Here it is: Choose what’s for dinner in advance for ONE DAY of the week.
Yes, just ONE DAY. Let’s make it Monday. Decide right now what you will eat EVERY Monday. It could be a roasted chicken dinner, McDonald’s, or even taco Tuesday (but on a Monday). It’s one day. One meal. And zero meal stress for once a week.
Yes, some people do this every day, but I’m not asking you to make sweeping changes all at once! Here in my little corner of the internet I am offering you simple and quick wins to give you confidence.
The Benefits of Choosing One Meal for One Day:
There is no thinking involved! You get a mental break, and soon you’ll be whipping up that regular Monday meal without even breaking a sweat.
It’s an opportunity to create a little tradition for you and the family to look forward to. Make the meal one of your family’s favorite recipes, or get creative. Make your own pizza night, breakfast for dinner, or what about soup and sandwiches?
Small changes like this often spill out into other areas of your life. If you can make Monday meals easier, what else can you “hack” in your life? Each little success builds confidence and momentum!
By picking one meal for one day of the week, you no longer have to ask “what’s for dinner”, and you’ll have a meal on time with happy full bellies. Mission accomplished.
In my “Harmonized Home” course that is coming out later this year, (or at some point…) I’ll have a whole module on mealtime planning that is aligned with this easy idea. But for now, one meal for one day is my number one best tip on simplifying mealtime.