Staying Sane - Weekday Dinner Tip #1

Preparing a weekday evening meal is not supposed to be a stressful marathon or a trial by stir-fry.  After all, it’s just dinner.  You can eat well – and feed others too - with modest effort and planning.  You don’t need tons of money or hours of research online or rummaging through cookbooks either.  

If you've read MotherWouldKnow before, you have already figured out that I am all for sanity, in the kitchen and elsewhere.  I start with a few basic tenets:

• First, leave your competitive, Type A qualities (if you have them) at the kitchen door.  
• Second, if you notice that your dinner plate has a chip or doesn’t match the placemat, resist the urge to switch them.  That’s for company – this is about weekday sanity.  You can throw out the chipped plate after dinner or switch out the placemat next time
• Third, take a deep breath, ditch your heels or your tie (if you dress that way at work) and smile.   After all, it’s just dinner.  

Are you with me? 

Weekday Dinner Tip# 1 Plan – and Shop – Ahead 

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3 Tips for stocking the kitchen in your new place

Earlier this week, I got a question from a summer intern reader that really “spoke” to me:

Dear MotherWouldKnow,

I just moved to (name a city) for an internship.  My summer sublet is an apartment downtown.  I don't have a car.   My apartment is either walking or bus distance to pretty much anything.  The nearest big grocery store is 15 blocks away.  I'm trying to figure out how to efficiently buy food so that I get everything I need but don't break my back carrying a ton of food for numerous blocks. Do you have any suggestions for me? – Summer Intern 

Dear Summer Intern,

First of all, congrats on landing a job and an apartment.  Don’t feel overwhelmed by the emptiness of the shelves and refrigerator in your temporary home.  

I know that feeling of "how will I ever make this place livable & what will I eat?"

You can make great food with simple ingredients. The key is planning and an organized approach. 

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