Avoiding Dinnertime Boredom

One of the biggest pitfalls involved in pulling out food to cook for dinner in the morning is getting home and realizing what sounded good at 7 a.m. no longer is appealing. When this happens, many people cave into the urge to pick up the phone and order take-out or hop in the car and visit the local drive through. While it's nice to give in to an unhealthy or spur of the moment craving once in a while, do this on a regular basis and your budget will soon run into the red. It is possible to overcome the issue almost entirely. In fact, avoiding the dinnertime blahs is more than possible if a smart strategy is brought into action.

There are several ways to present more variety for dinner than just the meat that is pulled out of the freezer in the morning. Some of the most cost effective, healthy ways to pull this off without visiting a take out restaurant include:

• Have a spare ready. Meat keeps very well in the refrigerator for several days. Consider keeping two nights' worth of meat out for any given evening. That way if chicken sounded great in the morning, but beef tacos sound better when you walk through the door, you've got your bases covered. Have the chicken the next night instead.
• Create dinners in advance and store them in individual serving containers. This is a great way to provide instant variety to suit the tastes of every family member. If Mom feels like chicken and Dad wants pork chops, they can both satisfy their tastes without having to double up on cooking, dishes and hassles after long days in the office.
• Buying fresh on the way home. While this can add an extra stop at the end of the day, this is an excellent way to satisfy instant cravings without caving into the take-out temptation. If a grocery store is convenient on the way home, plan a quick run in on the way home to pick up fresh meats and vegetables to fit the present desire.
• Keep light alternatives on hand. Sometimes a big meal sounds great, but on other nights, something more simplistic suits better. Keep ingredients on hand for chef salad dinners, fast sandwiches and other less heavy meals.

The problem with planning dinner first thing in the morning or days in advance is what sounded good then might not later. When avoiding the blahs and take-out is the desire, there are ways to make this happen.