Since then I have posted a few photos of quick and easy dinners on the Yuppie Farm Girl Facebook Page
Some of you are are probably thinking... ya that is nice Miss Yuppie Farm Girl, but I don't have time to make a meal from scratch every night...But you do, you really do!
In this post I hope to give you real insight on how I plan my menus and make real food the easy way!
Where do I start?
When we first starting eliminated items from our pantry and fridge, I was worried, I kept asking the same questions... What am I going to cook for dinner? It seemed that everything I wanted to make had items on the "do not eat list".... then it hit me. The reason my family is not feeling great and my husband has been suffering with allergies is because all my go-to recipes have things on his "do not eat list"... we need to CHANGE and simplify this new way of eating.
First step is to change your way of thinking about dinner.
But I don't have time....
With a new baby, both of us working outside of the house, and not having family nearby to help, I felt like I didn't have time as well... I had to come up with a "recipe" to make Real Food Fast!
How do I make "Real Food" = "Fast Food"
1) Choose a Protein
First, I stopped thinking about dinner in "recipes". Instead I simplified it into: what protein am I going to focus on for dinner?
My weekly meal schedule looks something like this now:
Monday - chicken
Tuesday - pork
Wednesday - beef
Thursday - turkey
Friday - fish
Saturday - chicken
Sunday - out /cheat day
2) Fit in your Veggies based on what is available that week
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Once I have my protein listed for the week I "fit in" my fresh veggies and starches based on what is available that week in the grocery store and for us my weekly order at the Backyard Farmer or trip to the local farmers market.
We always try to have two sides, but if you are happy with one, that is great too!
List with veggies "fit in":
Monday - chicken+carrots+summer squash
Tuesday - pork+sweet potato+kale
Wednesday - beef+green salad+asparagus
Thursday - turkey+sweet potato fries+purple cabbage
Friday - fish+asparagus+spagehiti squash
Saturday - chicken+parsnips+green salad+green beans
Sunday - out /cheat day
This concept really helps us to eat what is in season and what is fresh and tasty! There is no reason to eat green beans with your dinner this week if when you go to buy them they look terrible!
3) Have a system to put it all together in under 30 minutes?
Making dinner in our house looks the same almost every night, unless I have energy to whip something fancy up... but we like to keep it simple most of the time
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Short and sweet break down:
1) We grill a meat
2) We sautee a veggie or two
3) We bake a sweet potato, spaghetti squash, or other "starchy non white potato" veggie/tuber
If you can get your head around just those three items, you will save yourself, time, money, and countless hours "planning dinner".
NO MORE "What do you want for dinner???....I don't know what do YOU want for dinner?" Ughh I hated that conversation on the way home for work. Vow to stop it now and just keep it simple!
Need a more detailed breakdown on how to execute those three steps? (I know we are all at different levels) Here is the process to get your dinner (or at least the dinners I listed above done in under 30 minutes) - I do assume you have a little help and can enlist your helper to grill the meat!
