By: Genna Jenkin
The Your Smart Money Moves Mom
As the mom of three there are many moments that I find “challenging”, but nothing instills true terror in me more me than their daily inquiry of, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” Now, I’ve lived through their sleepless nights as infants, the dreaded potty-training (and RE-training) during their toddler years and am now coping with all the joys of their adolescence, so why is it this daily task that can totally undo me? Perhaps because it is a DAILY task rather than a milestone you reach and then blissfully move on from. The many implications and demands of dinner are countless. In a perfect world this is a healthy, yummy, quick and cost-effective meal in which the entire family sits around the table to bond and share. Cut to reality…everyone wants something different, everyone is on a different schedule and no one has much time so…let’s just order pizza! Every Sunday I vow that this will be the week that that will not happen. Here are some things I’m trying out in the attempt to reach this goal:
- Let the market/meals come to you. I’ve found a wonderful convenience that assures me fresh produce at my fingertips. At farmersfreshcsa.com you can chose from a variety of in-season produce fresh from the farm via their website and have it delivered to you weekly. This takes one errand off my list and also gets me out of my rut of always making the same foods. I can edit what I want and don’t on a weekly basis as my needs change. This is all very budget-friendly since I don’t waste as much food, make fewer visits to the market and thus am not tempted by a lot of unnecessary items I may be tempted to buy.Another wonderful service can be found at garnishandgather.com. This service actually provides you with everything you need to make that elusive healthy, quick and yummy meal all delivered to you along with cooking instructions. They do all the legwork and offer a variety of meals on a weekly basis. Also a great gift for a friend or family member in lieu of the dreaded casserole!
- Employ the little-black-dress method. Just as we’re all encouraged to have that perfect dress that we can always count on in our closets, we should also have one (or two) meals in our repertoire to employ at a moment’s notice. Ideally your pantry should always be stocked with all the ingredients you need to make this go-to meal. For a meal to qualify it should be something everyone will eat and be quick and easy to prepare. For our family it’s usually some version of soup and sandwiches.
- Your kitchen can rival the food court! Take a cue from all those calorie-laden and expensive meals that we often turn to in desperation and make your own healthy and inexpensive versions. I also try to employ a “make-your-own” aspect to these meals to encourage some fun and food-awareness in my kids. We’ve done build-your-own nachos/quesadillas, a pizza bar and even super-subs. By making sure to have fresh and healthy options for them to choose from this can be a great way to get them to eat better and see that food can be good and good for you.
- Make sure to factor time into your budget. As a stay-at-home mom I often lose sight of the value of my time. My husband always reminds me to consider the cost of an item or service versus the time it takes to replicate it. For example is buying a ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken a better use of my money and time than making that same chicken at home? Often it may make sense in our hectic lives to make the decision to save time in lieu of saving money.
SO…if we do end up ordering in pizza this week…that’s ok.
Let me know how you deal with the daily “What’s for dinner?” dilemma!
