A few years ago, I realized how much food was NOT being consumed in my home. This big “A-HA” made me rethink dinner.

Aside from the annoying job of having to plan, purchase, cook and clean up dinner EVERY SINGLE NIGHT, it is even harder to make dinner one tiny notch above…well…boring.

One thing I do (which I suspect my friends admire, but most certainly razz me about) involves planning each meal BEFORE I go shopping. I found it saves me a LOT of money each week (because it prevents wasted food and it minimizes the number of times I need to drive to the grocery store).

So, here’s what I do. First, I have an overall plan. For example, Mondays are always chicken; Tuesdays are always some sort of beef roast; Wednesdays are always pasta….get the picture? OK. So then I take a moment to figure out what the heck I want to DO with the chicken on Monday and what side dishes I want with them.

To come up with ideas (and by all means, I do not follow these recipes step by step), I go to the  Food Network website, type in “chicken,” and then, of course, I click the “easy” button. Neat ideas pop-up and so I click through them.

This week, I found a great recipe for Garlic-Lime Chicken with Olives. Granted, it was a really nice recipe and it looked delicious. However, Monday came and we got home late. So, the creative plans I had for making a great meal had to be modified a tad [like most things when you’re a full-time working mom of two kids. You gotta adjust and manage].

So, the Garlic-Lime Chicken with Olives, turned into Garlic Chicken with Italian spices. Faster to figure out and it was gooooood. I think it was good because it was different. We tend to make the things we know, ya’ know? It’s easy to make baked chicken with lemon sauce because you’ve done it a million times. But it is worth venturing out and trying new combinations without making it a “task.”

Just add a twist (or delete one) from a recipe you’d like to try. Not only is it fun, it FEELS more organized and less wasteful for me. I like that.

Try it! Seek out new tastes. Introduce your kids to new tastes….it is worth a try for a week or two.

Tonight, I’m trying Panko Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Wasabi Tomato Sauce….doesn’t that sound great!! Wish me luck!

- Lisa