Have you planned dinner tonight?

I’m sure all of you usually plan out your meals well ahead of time. But every so often there will be a busy week where you suddenly find yourself in an unplanned day, or where this week's shopping is a day overdue. When this happens, it’s vital to have an emergency list of “pantry dinners.” These are a few of my favorites:

Beef BBQ with cornmeal biscuits (you can substitute milk for the buttermilk) and Baby Carrots
Chicken – Citrus (almond garnish can be omitted) with savory rice
Chicken – Maple Orange (if I have an orange) with frozen/canned veggies and elbow noodles
Easy Puff Pancake with Berry syrup and fresh or canned fruit
Fried Rice with frozen egg rolls if I have them, or just by itself
Parmesan Chicken with bread
Salmon: Maple with baby carrots and fresh or canned fruit

Purchase ground beef, chicken breasts, and salmon in bulk so you will have at least one of those in the freezer, along with some frozen vegetables. Stock eggs, onions, minced garlic, real maple syrup, soy sauce, and Parmesan cheese in the fridge, and some cans of mandarin oranges, spaghetti noodles and tomato sauce in the pantry. With these in hand, you'll be able to glide through dinner without a hint of chaos.

Add these to your Recipe Box, or come up with your own arsenal of "pantry dinners." The important thing is to be prepared for the unexpected!

The fight again Obesity

Do your part in the fight against obesity, starting with you and your family! Barry Popkin, author of The World is Fat is a leading expert in the study of obesity world-wide.

Even if home cooking is of the fried-chicken-and-mashed-potatoes variety, it rarely produces extreme obesity, said Barry Popkin, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Almost any kind of cooking you can produce in a kitchen is healthier than fast food.” The decline of home cooking worldwide, he said, is an underlying cause of obesity. – New York Times, 2/4/09 pD1

Take the DinnerBeat challenge! Make a commitment today to eat only home-cooked food for the next ten days. Compare your weight, amount of energy, and state of mind before and after. I’m certain you’ll want to continue! Tell me about your experiences: Liz@DinnerBeat.com.

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