It’s past 5 o’clock, the kids are home from school, all hungry and tired. Everyone’s energy is running low and you know it’s time to start preparing dinner even though you just feel like crashing the couch for a little while before getting started.
On top of the mixed feelings the fridge is half empty if not empty and as for great ideas on what to prepare for the family your mind is even emptier…
From friends, family and clients I know this scenario is quite familiar to many of us, if not all of the time at least some days or weeks.I hit rock bottom earlier this Summer feeling completely drained and uninspired about cooking and preparing the daily dinners.. Truth said I have been sad and frustrated about it, because I used to find cooking and baking so much fun and rather therapeutic. So I needed new inspiration.
Things had to change and during the last vacation week, to break the vicious circle, I decided to create weekly dinner menus and grocery shopping lists to overcome the hurdle and to get the happiness about cooking back again.
Here’s what you can do to create your own personal dinner menus:
• Find your cookbooks (if you have any), pen and paper or open up a document on your computer, if you prefer digital notes
• write each day of the week in one column and grocery list in a second column.
• start searching for meals you like in your books or online. Go for meals that are easy to prepare and that you know wouldn’t require ingredients that are difficult to find. Note the meals you wish to prepare under each day of the week.
• once the meals are in place, look in your cupboards and fridge to find out what needs to be purchased.
• write your grocery list based on the dishes you have decided to cook during the week
Discovering new ideas and finding old favourites could help you in the process. The joy of preparing a nice meal is back. Knowing exactly what to cook each day has made less overwhelming and it’s now possible to eat dinner earlier in the evening. For my part my oldest son has participated in making the dinner menus and he also cooks from time to time out of interest. In a busy family with younger brothers, we have been able to connect and do something together. So definitely a win-win. As for the grocery shopping, I find the list helps shopping less and possibly just once a week instead of us having to think about what to buy on our way home from work.
