When we first began social distancing, one of the hardest aspects of staying home so much was cooking every day.
The first thing we realized is that we rely pretty heavily on the ability to order foods of all types. I’m not talking fast food, but restaurant take-out. We typically ate out or ordered in to give everyone a break over the weekend.
Then social distancing hit and ordering in or dining out was not safe or even a possibility. After a few weeks, we began to realize that we would have to come up with a cooking and meal rotation to survive.
You see, it wasn’t the cooking itself that caused our brains to explode, it was having to come up with new meal ideas so frequently. However, we noticed that consistently eating a few different meals could make our lives simple.
Taco Tuesday
We began to get into a rotation of embracing Taco Tuesday! I happen to adore Trader Joe’s taco seasoning mix, and so does the entire family. Also, tacos are customizable so we do not get bored of eating Tacos every week.
I rotate in my favorite more authentic taco recipe, we make fajita-style tacos, and sometimes chicken tacos. Thus far, fish and shrimp tacos have occurred only a few times, but Taco Tuesday has been a constant in our meal rotation for the last six months!
Pizza Friday
Back in college, I needed cheap easy meals to throw in the oven because I was still in the phase of learning to cook for myself. One meal I often turned to was homemade pizza.
Instead of making my own dough, I would go to Whole Foods or Publix and purchase a pre-made dough ball for a couple bucks! As a large family, it’s the perfect meal option for everyone to customize their food by choosing their favorite toppings.
I will admit that since restrictions have lifted a bit, we occasionally order pizza from a local restaurant. However, for the most part, making our own pizza is a fun Friday night activity that helps everyone destress and relax.
Basic Wednesday
No one in our house is a chef, but we find ourselves trying to maintain an interesting array of meal options. However, those meals take time, and set the bar pretty high for weeknight meals.
As a result, we decided to dedicate at least one day a week to simple food. This is where sheet pan and one-pot recipes come into play. We often turn to or our favorite pasta dish or chicken and rice recipe.
The goal is a simple meal that tastes great, but is also low fuss and comes together quickly. We leave the more complicated meals and grilling for the weekend.
Take Out Frozen Meals
The last option was born of our love for Trader Joe’s frozen meal varieties. If there is a Trader Joe’s in your area, and you haven’t tried their frozen meals, you are missing out!
At least once a month, we throw together a few frozen meals to give the feeling of delicious take out. Our favorite dinner mix is Trader Joe’s Vegetable Fried Rice, Trader Joe’s Sweet & Spicy Beef & Broccoli, and Trader Joe’s General Tsao’s chicken.
We simply cook all three meals and Voila! Each meal takes no more than 10 minutes and the instructions are easy to follow. The best part is that each meal is packed with delicious FLAVOR!
Choosing to dedicate three of the seven days of the week to these very specific meals helps us tremendously. Thanks to choosing specific days each week dedicated to these meals, the burden of daily cooking has lifted.
Plus, occasionally indulging in a series of delicious frozen meals gives us the feeling of take out without sitting in a restaurant. Now that restaurants are open, we do try to support local restaurants by ordering in once a week.
However, we haven’t had fast food in months, and I think the whole family would say that we are enjoying each others company more than ever!
