Easy Ways to Answer ‘What’s For Dinner?’

I know at my house as the clock ticks towards 5 p.m., I know the dreaded words are coming: “Mom, what’s for dinner?”

Whether you have children at home or you are cooking for yourself and perhaps a spouse, everyone deals with the question of, "What’s for dinner?" If you are anything like me, without some thought and planning ahead, dinner can end up being pancakes or quesadillas with Pop-Tarts for dessert. While my kids may think this is a fun and tasty dinner, it’s not what I want to be putting on the table to promote health and good eating habits.

Since I have had the opportunity to write about health, I have discovered a few useful tips that have helped me with my meal planning and now it’s time to share my secretes.

First, utilize meal planning websites like the FoodNanny.com and merckEngage.com. Both of these sites are free and help you plan ahead what you would like to make for dinner. They also give you new ideas for recipes and help you to create your shopping list. I find that when I have a one- or two-week calendar of the meals, I’m more focused at the grocery story. Plus, this helps me stick to my list rather than wander through the store looking for something good.

Second, find some new cookbooks that fit your cooking style. There are all kinds of cookbooks centered on various cooking skill and taste. One of my personal favorites is called The Dinner Doctor. I like this cookbook because it has a variety of categories such as one-dish cooking, crock-pot dinners, and everything pasta. On the other hand, I won a cookbook at a family bingo night and I have never used it because there are no pictures. How am I supposed to cook without pictures? My point is, find something that works for you.

Third, ask your family what they like. Now this doesn’t mean you have to make spaghetti and pizza every week, but you can take your family’s favorite meals and look for recipes that are a little bit different but still have some of the staple items your family likes. There are apps that give you recipes based on ingredients you already have at your house. This is a great way to take staple ingredients but reinvent the wheel with a new spin how to use them.

Finally, identify the best time of day to cook for you. Of course it’s great to have a hot meal right out of the oven, but sometimes that is not realistic. Many dinner casseroles and side dishes can be prepared earlier in the day and then either heated or reheated when it’s time to eat. Besides having a meal planner, this has been my best strategy for preparing dinner. When my kids are at school, I get as much dinner preparation done as possible. That way when tummies are growling and the baby is crying, I’m armed with a dinner ready to pull out of the refrigerator and into the oven.