Meal Strategies

Lily choppin' up some peppers for a Blue Apron recipe.

Jason about a year ago, playing with a dollhouse pot that he LURVED!

I wish I could say that this is a new problem, but for the past 2 years or so I’ve been totally burned out on cooking dinner.  If I win the $1.6 billion lotto tonight, the first thing I’m going to do is hire a personal chef so I never have to cook anything ever. 

But until then, Matt and I have been getting by on the following strategies (or “life hacks” as Lily would say).

·      Taco Tuesdays (or Mondays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays).  Ground beef or turkey tacos are just about the easiest thing to throw together and also just about the only thing Lily eats without complaint lately.  We generally serve them on hard-shell corn tortillas with diced tomatoes, radishes, avocado, and queso fresco, with beans (black or refried) and Mexican rice on the side. I buy beans in bulk from Costco so we always have some on hand.

·      Blue Apron.  We’ve taken a little break due to some really lame menus but we’re back this week.  We’ve been doing Blue Apron off and on for about 2 ½ years now and overall I really love it.  It’s pricey ($60/week for 3 2-serving meals or $100/week for 3 4-serving meals) but it saves us a lot of time and indecision over what to cook, and also pretty much guarantees that we’ll have a healthy, yummy dinner at least 3 times a week.  Also, it’s easy. If Matt can do it, so can you!

·      The Instant Pot.  Matt’s been all about making spicy Mexican chicken the instant pot.  It’s diet friendly and we can also serve it in tortillas for lunches.  I used the Instant Pot to make white rice on Friday and it was amazing.  We’re trying to make one Instant Pot meal a week.  One thing to note, that I learned from Shelly, is that apparently the slow cooker feature on the Instant Pot is notoriously bad.  I’ve only used it once and I have to agree…. If only I realized this before I gave away my slow cooker (I figured I didn’t need it anymore since the Instant Pot was supposed to be able to do it).

·      Costco.  In the past I’ve only taken advantage of Costco’s awesome prepared foods section when I’ve had to take a trip anyway.  My go-to’s have traditionally been the rotisserie chicken, stuffed peppers, and meatloaf.  However, last week we discovered the Korean beef bulgogi, which was so amazing that Matt and I have resolved to go back more often just for the prepared foods.

·      Trader Joes.  As I try to get back into shape, TJ’s has been key.  While I LOVE sandwiches so much, and would gladly eat Jersey Mike’s, Subway, or even a homemade PB&J every single day, that’s not going to help me lose weight.  Instead, I’ve been mixing their shredded brussels sprouts salad with their prepared curry chicken salad for a pretty tasty but healthy lunch.  I’ve also been satisfying my sweet tooth with their dark chocolate honey mints.

·      Grub Hub.  Because let’s be honest, 1-2 times a week we just can’t get it up to cook, especially when there’s a heat wave and our kitchen gets ungodly hot.