Sunday Dinner. And Monday. And Tuesday. . . .

I texted my husband yesterday with a recipe I wanted to try, given my newfound love of the Instant Pot. It was for Instant Pot Indian Chicken Curry. Billy and I enjoy Indian food, and it’s been ages since we’ve had any, so I thought why not give it a try?

His response? “I would have it. Not sure about our children.”

It is utterly exhausting being the one to have to decide every meal for everyone every day of the week. They don’t want to give input, but they don’t want what you’ve come up with, right?

When my birthday or Mother’s Day comes, I get asked what I want for dinner. My response is always that I don’t care. The gift is not having to think about it! I think after 15 years, they’ve finally figured that out, though.

A few years ago, I made the decision that we would have a home-cooked dinner 5 nights a week. Usually this is Sunday through Thursday.

And then I devised a scheme.

Here’s my trick to feeding the family throughout the week.

First of all, I have to plan it. Things never go quite right when I get to 4:00pm with no idea what to have for dinner. I’ve learned it’s easier to have a weeknight meal plan for the week, and if I have to switch it around, that’s totally okay. So on Sundays, I plan dinner for the next five nights.

Second, I know that I’m not going to make every person in this household happy every single night. But they have to understand that the household isn’t just one person, so there has to be a compromise. To that end, I asked them to make a list of home-cooked meals that they like. Which they happily obliged.

So now on Sunday nights, I look through the lists of meals for each person (I keep it in my notes on my phone), and I choose one from each list. That’s only 4 people, though, including me. So I use the 5th night as free reign to try something new. Like yesterday.

I went ahead and made that Instant Pot Chicken Curry recipe. Guess what?

Despite their complaints when they were told what we were having for dinner, both girls really enjoyed it!

If you’re truly stuck as to what you will have for dinner each week, I’ve started a new section on my website under “Food.” called “What’s For Dinner”.

I’ll be posting what my plan is for the week ahead, a little personal blurb about each, and if it’s a recipe I found online, I’ll provide the link.

I hope you find the new section useful, and that it eases your stress as much as it has mine!

Happy cooking!

Jill