5 Easy Dinners

Being a food blogger has it's perks - I deal with food every minute of the day.

It is fun to research about food, the nutrition aspects, interesting recipes and also the history behind the dish. Just like I provide the healthy dishes for my family, I bring the healthy dishes to you. Of course, with some occasional indulgences.

Now, I deal with food most of my day, but  when it is dinner time, I am exasperated. I stare at my fridge and pantry with the hope that ideas will pop into my head as to what to cook.

I was not good at planning my meals. I cooked whatever fancied me at that moment in time.

Well, it works, but my experience says that it does not work all the time.

There is no denying it - we all lead busy lives. But we all need to eat, and I understand that cooking will probably be the last thing on your mind when you are back from a busy, tiring day. You have to bring food to the table. If you don't think ahead and meal plan, it is not going to happen - you will end up at a restaurant.

How do I know this? Been there, done that!

There was a time when I did no meal planning and cooked whatever popped into my head at that particular moment in time. Sometimes it worked, but there were many a times when I did not have ingredients for the dish, which meant a trip to the grocery store - the last minute shopping with a hungry cranky kid in tow - not good!

And when I went grocery shopping, I didn't stick to my list, I bought impulsively which lead to sky rocketing grocery bills. So, my friends, who have been doing this for years, advised me to meal plan.

Now, here is the thing - I love to cook, but that does not mean I have to slog in the kitchen to whip up delicious, nutritious and wholesome meal for the family.

We all need recipes to tide us over the days when we do not have so much enthusiasm to cook elaborate meals. These 5 easy dinners are intended to help you with that.

Trust me, cooking is pretty easy. With a little bit of planning, you can avoid the drive thru's and convenience foods.

Now, how to meal plan?

The idea is to sit down with your family and decide what you all wanna eat in the coming week. When you involve the family, they are more likely to eat what you present at the dinner table. Consider your dietary needs, schedule and weather while planning the menu. Write it down. Along with the dishes, write down any prep work you need to do beforehand. Once you have a list of the dishes you want to create, get your recipes ready, take a look at your pantry & fridge and make a shopping list. Go grocery shopping (Note to self: stick to the list) .

Meal planning avoids the need for several trips to the grocery store and you will always know what you need to cook for dinner that evening.

I plan 5 main meals and the 6th night is a leftovers night which ensures that my fridge is clean and ready to stock up for the next week's meals. And I give myself a break from cooking once a week, to try out different restaurants in town.

My meal planning went like this - I picked 5 easy dinner recipes that come together pretty quickly. These dishes get ready in 30 minutes to aa max of 60 minutes.

I decided to have a

1. Meatless Monday Night
2. Chicken Night
3. Fish Night
4. Breakfast-for-Dinner Night
5. International Night
6. Leftovers Night
7. Eat Out

We grew up eating rice and hence it is a staple for us. This week's menu has rice, but I often mix and match dishes to include other grains in our diet.

Going by the popular Meatless Monday theme, you can skip non-vegetarian food for a day.

Chicken and Fish Night: Pick your favorite chicken dish and a fish recipe and make your sides revolve around that. Do not forget to include vegetables.

Breakfast-for-dinner:  Whoa!! How can you not love this?

International Night: Do you have an Italian recipe that you always wanted to try? Today is the day to try it out.

Leftovers: Finish all your leftovers - provide a menu (leftover menu) to your family and ask them to pick! Trust me, kids will love this!

Eat-Out: You pick a day that works well for you. Eating out for my family usually happens on Sunday. We do photo shoots for the blog mostly on Sundays and I am exhausted by the end of the day. So, we eat out either to celebrate the successful completion of a photo shoot or just to forget the disappointment of the photo shoot (there are some days, when the food styling I had in mind just does not translate well into a photograph).

With me so far? Good!

Now, lets get into the nitty-gritty of the 5 easy dinners.

Meatless Monday - Erissery

I am making our favorite dish from the Kerala Cuisine - Erissery. A wonderful and easy dish that has butternut squash, cow peas (you can also use black eyed peas) in an aromatic coconut gravy. This dish is typically served with rice. Adding pickle and pappadam completes the meal. This works well for next day's lunch too.

Time Required : About 1 hour (time can be considerably reduced if you do your prep work ahead)

Recipe Here

Chicken Night - Chicken Fry

Typically, I save this for nights when Sonshine has tons of activities and I don't have much time to get the dinner ready. Chicken dinners are easy and get ready quickly. And the best part is that I can make a little extra to be packed for next day's lunch.

Time Required : about 25-30 minutes (if you do the prep work ahead)

Recipe Here

Fish Night - Kerala Style Fish Curry with Coconut Milk

This recipe was shared by my friend Pooja  and whenever I make this, I make extra so that we have leftovers 🙂 . Like chicken fry, fish curry is also super easy to prepare. This is extremely flavorful, creamy and delicious. Don't take my word for it, try it yourself.

Time Required : about 25-30 minutes (if you do the prep work ahead)

Recipe Here

Breakfast-for-Dinner Night - Vegetable Uthappam

I almost always have dosa batter ready at home . So, there are days when we have Uthappams for dinner. Loaded with vegetables, carbs and protein, this is a wholesome meal... Something Sonshine happily eats.

Time Required : about 25-30 minutes (if you do the prep work ahead)

Recipe Here

International Night - Minestrone Soup

There is still a slight chill in the air that makes me want to tuck into a warm bowl of soup. I make minestrone soup, when I am sure to be at home for about an hour or more before dinner time. Well, there is not much hands-on time, but the soup needs to simmer for about 45-50 minutes. Loaded with vegetables, and served on a bed of Quinoa, and you won't miss the rice.

Time Required : about an hour

Recipe Here

5 Easy Dinners : Prep Work/Make-Ahead Tips.

Prep Work

You can make dinner time less stressful by planning ahead and doing some prep work ahead of time.

1. Don't forget to soak pulses and beans, they cook faster. Use a pressure cooker to cook your pulses and beans. Even vegetables can be cooked in a pressure cooker.
2. Make spice powders and mixes ahead of time and save in air tight containers.
3. You can marinate the chicken with spices ahead of time.
4. If using frozen fish, do not forget to thaw it. If using fresh fish, clean it ahead of time.
5. You can chop vegetables and keep them ready to use.
6. Make the dosa batter. You can make this for breakfast too.
7. Do not forget to include vegetables in your meals. They are very important 🙂 .

Make Ahead

I have friends who cook all their meals on a single day for the entire week. I love the idea that there is always food to serve. If you are worried about the nutrition factor, it is definitely better than eating out on a regular basis.

All the dishes (except Uthappams) I have planned for this week, can be made in advance and stored in refrigerator in air tight containers.

Well, give yourself some wiggle room and plan for some little unexpected situations. You never know when your tween suddenly decides to finish an extra bowl of soup 🙂 .

Just curious, do you meal plan? What does your dinner plan look like?

If you liked this meal plan, do not forget to subscribe to our mailing list. Click on Subscribe and enter your name and & email. We will not spam you, we promise.

We are active on social networks too. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest,Google+and/orTwitter.

Deliciously Yours.