When faced with a challenge, look for a way
not a way out!
- David Weatherford
This 6th week of staying “safer at home” has really tested my menu planning and shopping knowledge and fortitude! Up until Sunday night, I had done fairly well at enjoying balancing our ingredients and protein entrees for dinner. However, Monday morning I hit a wall. I felt like I was becoming bored and lost in my own kitchen. As if I had run through all my taste bud tricks for the items on my pantry shelf or refrigerator shelf. Knowing that there were at least a 7 more days before I “needed to go to the grocery store” for new, fresh ingredients, I needed to figure out a plan. I did not want to absently cook and eat my way through the week. So, what did I do last night to address my mental situation? I decided to make staying "safer at home" a personal cooking challenge game! And of course, any challenge comes with a fun reward at the end of our social distancing situation!
My challenge is called the “Creative Concoction Challenge”. Why? Because I found out what would motivate me to step up and take on a week-long challenge and to get out of this slump. Knowing myself, I determined I needed something positive to guide my cooking enjoyment decisions. I decided that cooking at home is doing 2 things for me financially. 1. My dining and entertainment budget is greatly reduced. I am saving money from not eating out or going out with friends for drinks and a movie. And my grocery budget: I am saving money by not going to the grocery store at a moment’s notice. In addition, I am using all of my ingredients on hand. Seeing these budget reductions, I decided that for every week I use cook awesome tasty meals at home, I get to place a set dollar amount each week into my savings account. The reward of the savings: a fun 30th anniversary celebration that we have coming in September!
To start the challenge, I posted on the refrigerator a list of the proteins I had available for dinner. Turns out we have 14 options to pick from in the freezer, fridge or pantry! Then about an hour or so before dinner time, I look at what ingredients I have that could work well together. After dinner, my husband and I decide if the concoction is a “winner, winner chicken dinner” to perhaps do in the future. For my challenge, I am only competing with myself, so the bottom line in determining if I stay a weekly winner, is if I feel good about creating meals again. (and in the end my total weekly savings)
Last night I started the Creative Concoction Challenge.
I made a really tasty meal that I would have paid for in a restaurant! (honest..my photo doesn't do it justice)
I chose to use frozen fish fillets, a bag of pearl couscous, miniature colored bell peppers, a red onion, garlic powder, salt, lime, butter, Parmesan cheese and fresh green beans!
I felt a little like being a contestant on a cooking show and it was fun.
And even though I didn’t have a time rule, I was pretty much done with my dinner for 2 in under 30 minutes! 😊
In thinking how others could adapt this gaming option in their homes, I came up with these 5 simple twists for challenge ideas:
You could rotate who cooks daily during the week.
Have more than 1 or 2 people in your household? Maybe make up cooking teams of 2 or 3 to compete against so every age group and skill level can help?
Write down each protein for dinner on a piece of paper. Place them in the jar and pick one out in the morning that you have to use that night. (allows it time to thaw, if the protein is in the freezer)
Have a list of ingredients that are on a shelf each week that are “Bonus” (odd ingredients that are in need of using like almond slivers, capers, roasted tomatoes, pickles, bread crumbs) Anyone who uses those ingredients in their dinner creation gets extra dinner points.
You could vote on specific items for each dinner. The person or team gets 1-5 stars for each meal. At the end of “safer at home” practices, the winners with the most stars get to pick the first family meal out of the house.
I think gamification of a healthy challenge is a fun way to make a difficult situation more palatable. (pun intended).
If you are finding yourself in the same rut, I would love to hear how you decided to make it more fun and less of a drag to cook at home during “safer at home” practices. Drop me a line at costeffectiverd@comcast.net!
written by Alicia Cost, MS, RDN, LDN
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