Happy March, Reader!

I don't talk about it much on Instagram anymore because it feels like a lifetime ago, but for the first 4 years that I was a mom, I was a short order cook.

I was making non-kid friendly dinners where I followed a recipe exactly, then frustrated when my very young kids wouldn't eat it. I would then feel like I had to feed them something so I would make grilled cheese, nuggets, or mac n cheese on repeat without ever asking myself:

Could I be making dinner a different, easier way?

There wasn't one big moment that I switched from being a short order cook to making simple meals that I served to the whole family. It was a steady progression away from long, involved recipes (out of necessity for time and cost!) as well as learning from Kids Eat in Color how to make one meal for the whole family even when I had picky eaters with strong sensory preferences. But if I fast forward to today, it's a night and day difference. I kept finding dinners that were served as separate pieces to be easier than combined dishes.

Meal Planning Quickly

Asking myself "what do I want to make for dinner this week?" is a paralyzing question.

Asking myself "here are 4 types of meals. Which kind of pasta do you want to make this week? What do you want to grill this week?" is a MUCH easier question to answer.

I don't have to write it out anymore because it's automatic, but I think in categories.

If meal planning takes up a lot of mental energy, try dramatically reducing how broad you're making the task ("what kind of tacos" and "what's for dinner" are two totally different questions!).

Another way to reduce the mental energy involved in meal planning and grocery shopping is to make simple meals with basic ingredients that are used many times and can be made without a recipe.

Here's the structure I give myself to do just that!

My Formula for Dinner

Protein/Fat + Carb + Produce.

If I have these 3 categories represented in my meal, I'm good to go! Sometimes they are combined into one dish like spaghetti. I used jarred marinara plus italian sausage browned. That's protein, fat, and produce. The noodles are the carb! Anything else I serve is just an optional extra. If I serve it with garlic bread and roasted broccoli, I hit the carb and produce category one more time.

Grilled chicken, rice, and baby carrots. Protein, carb, produce.
Burgers, fries, apple slices. Protein, carb, produce.
Eggs, french toast, strawberries. Protein, carb, produce.
Ground beef tacos and grilled veggies. The tacos are protein/fat/carb rolled into one, with grilled veggies on the side or on the taco.

Why a Building Block Dinner Works Best

Everyone can add or subtract whatever they want to. If you see my meals regularly on Instagram, you'll notice that I rarely make a dinner that is a casserole or one pot meal that can't be separated into its parts. This allows everyone to eat one meal while still having personal preferences. No more short order cook. It also makes my job as the cook easier. When I ask myself "do I have a protein/fat, carb, and some kind of produce?" it gives me permission to ditch the complicated recipes and opt for simple components.

Leftovers can be re-purposed! I can't make leftover casserole into anything else. But I can take leftover shredded pork from bbq sandwiches and turn it into an omelette or nachos or tacos or a salad. I can take grilled chicken and turn it into tacos or mac n cheese bowls or sandwiches.
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Nothing Bad Will Happen - Swap or Omit!

For a long time, care creates contentment was my most popular phrase. "Nothing bad will happen" is now in close second place! I say it about food and recipes, but it can apply to a lot of other things, too!

Google, google, google.

If I see an ingredient in a recipe that I don't like, don't want to buy, or forgot to buy: my very first step is to google "what can I use instead of ____?"

A Few Examples

My favorite chili recipe calls for fish sauce. No thank you. I also wouldn't have any other use for it so it would probably go bad. I use soy sauce or Worcestershire instead. Similar flavor, no extra item bought.

If I am out of eggs but want to bake something, I make a "flax egg". One tablespoon of ground flaxseed plus 2-3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for a couple minutes until the water is absorbed. This replaces one egg!

I don't buy buttermilk because again, the quantity I can buy it in compared to how rarely I use it means I'd be wasting! I put a splash of vinegar or lemon juice into regular milk and let it sit for a couple minutes. It will start to curdle and that's all buttermilk is!

Cooking is guess and check

Maybe the alternative will work, but maybe it won't. Maybe the ingredient you leave out changes the taste too much. But you won't know that until you try! And if that happens, you have now become a better cook because you have more information, experience, and skill than you had before you tried!
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Use Small Appliances Consistently!

Whether it's a pressure cooker to make perfect rice in 15 minutes or a waffle iron that makes toaster-size waffles perfectly every time, strategically owning and learning how to use a few small appliances in the kitchen can drastically cut down your time involved!

​Instant Pot​
​Pressure Cook - chili, roasts, rice, sweet potatoes, chicken for shredding
​Slow Cook - roasts, large pieces of meat, stews, soups
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​Air Fryer
​When I first got an air fryer, I bought a small single basket one because I was so sure that for how many people I serve, an air fryer would be wasted space in my kitchen. I was completely wrong. It is used every single day in our house for reheating leftovers that can be crispy, making sausage for a quick breakfast for the kids, or roasting veggies or french fries straight from frozen for dinner.

​Waffle Maker​
​The first waffle maker I owned I got on Facebook Marketplace for $8. It made giant Belgian waffles which is what I thought I wanted, but I soon learned it wasn't practical. They couldn't be reheated easily and they were huge for my then really young kids.

So I sold it and ordered this waffle maker instead so that I could make 4 waffles at a time that were thin enough for kids to take bites of and thin enough to batch cook ahead of time and pop in the toaster for breakfast!

I just used it yesterday for dinner to make cinnamon waffles. I had exactly 4 waffles leftover and each kid got one for breakfast today!

Griddle or Blackstone Grill
​We have had an electric griddle since our first kid was born. I use it for pancakes, quesadillas, grilled cheese, etc. I used it so much I would bring it on long road trips with us to make quick food in a vacation house.

Then we moved into a house with an electric stove top that had a large oval burner for griddles! So I got a cast iron griddle to place directly on the stove and we have loved having this! We still have it on our gas stove in this house.

Related to that, we have a Blackstone grill that we just got last summer. The amount of different food I can cook on it at one time is my favorite part about it. Taco meat, grilled veggies, and toasting up tortillas at the same time. Bacon, eggs, and toasting up english muffins. 20 cheeseburgers, etc. I could go on and on. I'm just glad it warmed up enough to be back to Blackstone season!

And Finally: Let Go of Expectations, Comparisons, or Made-Up Rules

You don't have to serve veggies with every meal.

Making frozen pizza counts as eating at home.

Repurposing leftovers into another dinner isn't cheating.

No one will know or care that you buy the pre-seasoned roast so you don't have to do it yourself (unless you blab about it on instagram like I do all the time!)

We aren't trying to win any awards, we're trying to feed our people a plate of food.

You can repeat the same set of meals over and over. I do!

Eating dinner at home does not have to mean following a 20 step recipe with 15 ingredients. Simple building blocks jazzed up with some sauce or condiments and call it a day.

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