Isn’t this a reality? We love to cook but then we don’t.
There have been many days that although I have a menu plan all set and ready to go for the week, I’ve either forgotten to defrost my meat, haven’t soaked my beans overnight, or I simply don’t feel like cooking.
If our budget allows, on those days my family packs up and heads out to Mariana’s for tacos or Felix and Oscars for pizza but more often than not, I have to put on my game face and make something at home that doesn’t take a lot of time to make, tastes great, and will nourish us from within.
Tip #1. Pour yourself a glass of red wine
“I enjoy cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food I’m cooking.”
– Julia Child
I can’t imagine cooking without a glass of vinto tinto. On days that I’m feeling sluggish and feel a lack of inspiration to cook anything, a small glass of a dry red wine with a bite is usually all it takes to get me going. It slows down my ever thinking mind and gets me into a groove where I can leave the day behind me and hone in on creating something tasty for my family. What can I say, it’s the Spaniard in me.
Tip #2. Stock up on Broth and Other Staples You May Need
When I think about simple meals that I make when I just don’t feel like cooking, what makes it easy for me to put simple meals together is having a stock of pantry staples frozen or canned. It’s definitely worth the time it takes in advance to prepare them.
My essential pantry staples
Tip #3. Beans and Rice Baby!
During the fall and winter I like to cook batches of dried beans to freeze. It’s definitely essential especially for those days that you don’t feel like cooking.
Once you have a stock of beans in the freezer it’s so easy to pull them out and make any simple dish with rice and beans like the Mexican tostadas above. That meal seriously took 20 minutes to make, with only 5 minutes of hands on time.
Other beans and rice dishes of interest
- Lentil stew with pumpkin, carrots, and Spanish chorizo sausage
- White Beans, Rice, and Swiss Chard
- Lentil soup recipe
- Tuscan Kale and White Bean Soup in the Crockpot
- Mexican Ranch Style Beans with Ham Hock Tacos
Tip #4. One Skillet Meals
I love to make one skillet meals. They’re quick and easy to put together and you can customize them to whatever is growing in season. I generally like to add seasonal vegetables and then toss them in oil and whatever spices I may have. I make them complete, filled with protein, by adding either backyard eggs or farm crafted sausages.
Super simple to make and it’s something the entire family enjoys.
One skillet meals of interest
- Roasted Sausages and vegetables tossed in a garden fresh pesto
- Red peppers, zucchini, and eggs
- Roasted Balsamic Vegetables with Chicken Sausages
Tip #5. Simple Ground Beef Meals
There’s a lot you can do with a simple pound of ground beef. As long as you have your staples prepared like broth and canned tomatoes, the sky is the limit.
Simple ground beef meals of interest
Tip #6. There’s Nothing Wrong with a Sandwich for Dinner
Don’t feel bad about serving sandwiches for dinner. When filled with fresh vegetables, pastured meat, and homemade mayonnaise…what can be better than that?
Other nourishing sandwiches of interest
- Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Spinach and Spanish Chorizo Sausage
- A Nourishing Chicken Salad Sandwich
- Grilled Mediterranean Sandwich with Mashed Avocado
Tip #7. Breakfast for Dinner
Who doesn’t like breakfast for dinner? It’s quick to make and ALWAYS devoured by the entire family 😉
If you want more breakfast for dinner ideas you’ll have to check out my friend Beth’s new eBook called The Breakfast Revolution, Recipes from Outside the Cereal Box.
It’s a gluten free book with a great mixture of breakfast ideas that I think would double up great as dinner! Click on the banner above to find out more about her book.
Please share with us in the comments below your tips to eating well when you just don’t feel like cooking?
These are great tips! Especially about having the beans and rice and chicken broth already frozen. Those make tostadas, burritos, creamed chicken, or a soup so fast to throw together.
What about when you’re pregnant and your gag reflex cuts out beans, ground meats, shredded meats, meats with tendons or gristle, chunky soups, too many green vegetables, and various other things at unpredictable times?! 🙂 That’s my problem right now–I have to eat a good mix of protein and carbs to stay halfway energetic, but my choices have gotten very limited 🙂 I’ve decided that for now it’s worth it to just buy a bit more expensive things (mostly cuts of meat) and feel better than make a whole dinner I can’t eat. And I’m trying to remember to be thankful that this is only a season (and hopefully a short one!) 🙂
Yes, Diana. The season will pass for sure. You know when I was pregnant, I drank a lot of smoothies where I added greens, flax, chia seeds, coconut oil, fruits including avocado, and raw egg yolks. It saved me especially during the first trimester 😀
I want the recipe for your tostadas, they look awesome!
Anna, it’s so easy! I just fry up the corn torillas on both sides in lard or olive oil until crispy (a few minutes on each side). I then just top them with homemade beans, mexi rice, avocado, and homemade salsa. Super easy! I have all those recipes on my blog.
Thank you! I was wondering about the tostada recipe too! I know it seems so simple, but I was wondering about the shells – and I’ll have to check out your mexi rice recipe!
LOVED this post, Diana! We often do 1-skillet meals.
Thanks for visiting, Jenny!!
Oh, how I love cooking with wine as well! Breakfast for supper is a great suggestion. When my sister and I were kids, Dad often made “breakfast supper,” and for the longest time I think I thought he was doing it as a treat for us … instead of a time-saver.
That’s great, Sadye!
Great post! I’m saving it for future reference. I menu plan every week- but sometimes it just goes out the window and I need something easy. And always start with red wine. Always.
Definitely red wine, definitely ;D
I love your blog. It’s beautiful, practically helpful, and inspiring. I stumbled upon it last year looking for instructions on how to render lard and it has become one of my favorite food blogs since! Thanks for this post. I love the tips!
Joy, thanks so much for the sweet comment! I’m so blessed to hear that! Have a great week 😀
I like the breakfast for dinner idea. It’s an easy one to forget, but sometimes it’s the perfect meal and a quick one to make.
Some tomato juice, fruit juice or fresh fruit (like red raspberries – yummy) and a cheesy scrambled egg sandwich are delicious no matter what time of day it is.
Oh, I like that sandwich idea, Holly! I’ll have to try that next time!
We just had breakfast for dinner tonight, at my two year olds request. Sourdough pancakes and sausage with Apple cider! Yum! Those tostadas look delicious!
Thanks so much for this post! I love cooking, but I’ve been struggling with an immensely painful nerve disorder for three years, along with two failed surgeries in the past 8 months. Sometimes it’s all I can do just to be awake and function enough to get my two kids cereal, sandwiches and a quick dinner. I often feel guilty because I’m not feeding my family as well as I used to, but I also used to have hope this pain would end. Recently my neurosurgeon told me I will be in this much horrible pain for the rest of my life. It’s been a lot to handle, especially because that means my husband will not be able to go back to work and we will have to struggle to get food on the table. I appreciate recipes for the nights when I want to weep in pain, but still want my children and husband to have full bellies. Thank you!