What's for dinner?

Why is it that we have to eat dinner every single night!? My most hated question is, "What's for dinner?" I hate coming up with the menu, finding the recipes and then shopping for the ingredients. I love eating healthy, nutritious, whole foods... but I hate trying to find time to make them. I despise eating fast food, but it sometimes ends up that way when our fridge is empty and there isn't anything I can make out of green beans, milk and bread.

That day is inevitable. You know, the day when there is literally nothing to eat, everyone is starving, and the last thing you want to do is throw the kids in the car to go buy some chicken nuggets? That day is the day I dread, but I know it's in my future at least once a week. Even when I prepare and plan meals for every day of the week, something unexpected happens, and the next thing you know we are coming home from a birthday party that I forgot about and we get home too late to roll out pizza dough.

I considered myself an organized person... until I had children. Since I had my first child almost three years ago, I've created schedule after schedule trying to create processes to make my life easier. I've made cleaning schedules, exercise schedules, cooking schedules, daily schedules, etc., but so many of them have failed. I've learned that it's near impossible to plan on anything going the way you want it to when you throw kids into the mix. I wake up with a plan to clean the house, then one child is sick and the other is having tantrum after tantrum, and it throws the entire day off. Though I've come to accept that it's hard to plan, I refuse to believe that I can't make my life easier with a process. I'm sure there are things out there that can truly make a world of difference, and I'm happy to report that I've finally found one!

Last month I took a class that had us prepare 10 freezer meals for our families that we could take home, put in the freezer, and then toss in the crock pot when we were ready for a delicious, healthy meal. It wasn't just regular, old crock pot stuff either. It was meals like carne asada street tacos, boneless pork ribs, garlic parmesan chicken, French dips, and many other mouthwatering recipes. It has been amazing and absolutely life changing having these meals on hand!

This class has prompted me to evaluate my life and see what other things can be done to make things a little easier. For example, I'd love to get into canning! It's something that my mom always did (and currently does) and it seems like it would make life so much simpler! Like freezer meals, it would be nice to have meals/ingredients ready for those nights when you need something quick.

I can't even tell you what a saving grace the freezer meals have been for our family! The days where we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off, it's so nice to throw something in and eat something for dinner that tastes like I had slaved all day for it. I hope to one day be able to make a fresh, home cooked meal every night, but for now, I'll take what I can get.

Published in The Tremonton Leader in September 2018