Confidence in the Kitchen: Sharing Cooking Experiences with Your Preschool Child

When trying to think of something for dinner the other day I had a brainstorm. Why not write down some ideas that you can carry with you for when you’ve got to come up with something quickly and are having a brain block??

I carry a tiny notebook in my purse to record things I want to remember later. I’ve started a section for each type of main dish that I fix on a regular basis. So far I have sections for beef dishes, for chicken dishes, for vegetarian dishes, and a soup section. Whenever I start thinking about what’s for dinner I record any idea that comes to mind under the appropriate heading. Since I always carry the little book with me it will be there when I’m shopping for just one meal to try to put off a major shopping. When I’m sitting down to do planning for a “regular” week’s worth of meals, the list can also help me to get those last few meals into the plan.

This approach also works for making those few minutes of time between other commitments productive. Whenever you’re hungry the ideas flow better for meals, and writing something down instead of putting chips in your mouth can save you a few calories too.