Rosemary Summers
Life has changed since “ancient times†(or so my kids call it) when I grew up. We rarely ate anywhere but in the family kitchen, where one of my fondest memories is arguing with my brother about not crossing into my side of the table, no matter what food was on “my side†that he wanted. Mom would have dinner on the table promptly at 6 p.m. when Dad walked in the door. Of course, it required help from us as kids or else you were left with washing the dishes. I always chose preparing the food, usually involving a trip to the garden to get the vegetables.
So today, what’s the most common question faced by parents at the end of day? “What’s for dinner, Mom (or Dad)? I’m starving!â€
Failing to answer within 30 seconds brings the inevitable next most-common question. “Can we go out to eat? I’m starving, and fixing dinner will take too long!†or the whine “There’s nothing to eat in the house.â€
With tightening budgets, we all think twice about eating out quite so frequently. A Caesar salad with chicken at a restaurant averages $8. You can buy all the ingredients for this same dish for about $3 per person.
We decided to regain control of our waistlines, our budget and our family time together around a table. We needed a game strategy (this was the only way to get the guys involved) to get started. There were two parts to the strategy: planning and action.
Planning meal menus for a week and a written shopping list was the easy part. Using a shopping list cut down on the odd assortment in my cart that wouldn’t yield a full meal. I always try to visualize the colors on the plate, making sure that I have a red, yellow or orange and green filling up two-thirds of the plate. We are indeed lucky that we have an abundance of farmers’ markets throughout the county, with excellent local produce. Summer is especially exciting for the variety of fresh, colorful fruits and vegetables.
The action part was more difficult – sticking to the menus and eating together without the TV on! Food Network to the rescue, filled with all kinds of tips and tricks for making food preparation easier. For example, when you bring your produce home from the market, wash it and bag it before putting it in the frig, saving a step during food preparation. Find a night of the week or weekend and do some prep work with some of the ingredients, like sautéing the ground white turkey with the chopped onions and keeping it in the frig until you need it during the week.
Pre-preparing parts of the recipes helped me stick to the plan, especially when I was tired or cranky. On weekends, I try to fix at least one casserole or dish that I can freeze and use on a really busy night.
As far as the TV goes, the off switch works fine (and so does the automatic record/delayed viewing button).
Not too much grumbling about this “new experiment†and there were requests for repeats on some of the menu items. Wonder of wonders, lunchboxes started filling with some of the healthy leftovers, leaving me with another dilemma: “What am I going to do on leftover night?â€
For tips, recipes and more on preparing meals at home, check out our new Eat Smart, Move More Orange County website at co.orange.nc.us/health/esmmoc.asp
Rosemary Summers, DrPH, is director of the Orange County Health Department and a member of Orange County Healthy Carolinians. She is an avid cook.