Somebody's Got to Feed These People!

So, have you ever had one of those phases where you don't feel like making dinner?

The very idea of even planning it, much less shopping for groceries, or preparing the meal is just the last thing you want to be doing.

Yeah, well, I'm there.

Maybe it's that summer's here and it is about a billion degrees outside, so food that is not fruit just doesn't sound very appetizing to me.

Or maybe it's that the kids are out of school and I rather just hang out with them, or the fact that they're out of school has thrown my meal planning, grocery shopping, meal prep. routine completely out the window.

Or maybe it's because I have a new love for sewing and would rather be creating adorable things for my daughter to wear like this precious skirt than cooking.

Probably all of the above.

But still, I look at the other 4 members of my family and think, "Man, it's time to feed you people again!"

And I still have the goal of eating out a maximum of once a week (which includes take-out and lunch counts). We eat healthier when we eat at home and we waste less money.

So what to do when you just don't feel like cooking? Here's what I've come up with:

* Find some new recipes

Fixing something new just might get you excited about the process again. I love allrecipes.com as a recipe source. All the recipes are rated, so you know if something has been rated highly by 300 people, it's got to be good! There are also tons of blogs with great recipes.


*Tap into your freezer meals

I do a lot of "cooking once eating twice", meaning I double recipes so I have a meal my family can eat right away and one to freeze for another day when I'm too busy or too lazy to cook! Also, I buy chicken breasts in bulk at Sam's but before I freeze them I put some marinade in the freezer bag with them, then I can just pop them right into the crock pot set on low in the morning and dinner's magically ready by evening!


* Don't cook dinner

Mix things up by serving breakfast for dinner. Eggs, whole-wheat pancakes, bacon and fruit can count as a pretty healthy meal even if served as dinner. My kids love this concept, so I do it often!


* Make it a family activity

Bring the kids into the kitchen to help! My 7 and 4 year olds are great at snapping beans and measuring ingredients and my 3 year old? Well, he's good at tasting things and spilling half a bottle of vanilla ensuring a good smelling kitchen for days!


* New perspective

A friend of mine got a terrible stomach virus and was in bed for over a week, she couldn't cook or do any chores around her house and she said when she was finally able to get out of bed she was so glad to be able to cook and clean again, even though before the sickness they were things she dreaded! So, I'm not wishing a confined-to-bed-sickness on anyone, but maybe we could borrow the perspective of being thankful for the ability to cook for our families without suffering the illness?

What about you? Ever get in a cooking slump? How do you handle it?

This post is part of the Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge.

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