Inspiration for eating dinner at home

Social distancing has meant we’ve all been eating at home now {and for my husband and I– we are now making coffee} for a week. I’ve always enjoyed cooking dinner and recipe planning but part of of that process is physically choosing food; touching it, reading labels and smelling produce at the store. We’ve lost the ability to do some of that– in my case I’m choosing not to go into a store right now, so I am relying on what a delivery service has to offer. Cooking at home is an added task we are all taking on now. We can handle it but it is no longer my favorite meal of the day. Prior to this virus, dinner was a time to connect and learn about each others days and well, we know how everyone’s days were because we’ve been isolated in a house together ALL DAMN DAY. So the time around the table has taken on new levels of communications– how are you feeling about being home and not at school? What do you want to learn about tomorrow? I digress….as dinner and meal planning are the least of our concerns, I am aware! In an attempt to make meal planning a bit easier for everyone, I will share a weekly roundup for you all. Would love to hear what you’ve made in the comments.

Below are the dinners I made over the course of the week for the entire family. Insert a tiny positive outcome from this virus– I am no longer making a kid meal in addition to an adult meal– Mama don’t have time {or patience} for that! Keep in mind these meals were made when we had the freshest ingredients as well as the opportunity to meal plan. This upcoming week, we will provide you with more meals that use pantry and staple items. If you like myself are avoiding stores, these are where I have been placing orders from: Thrive Market & Imperfect Foods. Thrive has a 10 day delayed shipping time while Imperfect delivers weekly. You can also order from Amazon Fresh or Amazon Whole Foods.

Dinners
Day 1: Ordered from our neighborhood spot joint Comet Pizza
Day 2: Defined Dish- Baked Mongolian Beef {we used chicken} Meatballs
Day 3: Delish- Ramen
Day 4: Food & Wine- Pesto Lasagna {we used plant based ‘meat’}
Day 5: Put in an order with a neighbor and devoured {picked up curbside} from Emmy Squared
Day 6: Barefoot Contessa- Crispy Mustard-Roasted Chicken
Day 7: Defined Dish- Whole 30 Steak Frites
Day 8: Defined Dish- Crunchwrap Supreme

Desserts
Smitten Kitchen- Brown Butter Rice Krispies {There is NO better recipe}
Cooking with Coit- Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

My kids were the chefs when it came to the desserts. I’ve decided baking is a time I let g o and allow them to measure while making a mess and be in charge of adding the ingredients while reading the recipe. They are then in charge of cleaning up the mess and after-all it just killed 30-45 minutes of time! These knives have worked great for our kids in the kitchen.

Drink
Restaurants in DC can now deliver and do takeout alcohol, so long as you purchase one food item. Washingtonian has put together a list of options for you! I LOVE eating out, supporting our community, trying new cuisines and new restaurants while socializing and I miss that so much and it’s only been one week. So we may try this option at some point.

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