Step Outside the Box

Dinner in a Glass

Feeding our families night, after night, after night can be exhausting.  Sometimes, we can run out of ideas when our families aren't open to trying something new a few times a month, or have sensitive bellies.  As the "head chefs" in our homes, this can result in us falling into the cafeteria mentality (Monday spaghetti, Tuesday chicken, Wednesday burgers.....) and stunt our creative selves.  So, what can we do about this?  We can't force feed our families new and exciting food each week, nor can we keep serving the same plain ole food for the next 10 years.  Here are a few ideas that have been helpful for my family (for my one child who was a little reluctant to develop his palate) and friends who dared Step Outside the Box. 

*Serve the same meal, but change one thing. Ex. If it's spaghetti night, try it with penne pasta, thus spaghetti night is now-Pasta night! The following week someone else in the family can choose the type of pasta.

*Change up how the food is served, and again change one more thing.  Ex. For taco night swap the type of meat/protein you traditionally cook with and have a taco bar. This means DO NOT preassemble the tacos for your family!!! Believe it or not, the world is not going to come to an end if the people in our homes actually fix their own plates (with the exception of little ones).  You can also change the type of tortilla; flour vs corn, hard vs soft. One week you can fry them yourself (warning, they will become addicting) and take a survey as to which ones taste better, homemade or store bought.

*For those families who are a little more hungry for change you can do what is pictured = Dinner in a Glass, or something or than a plate.  Yes, you read that correctly. That is a meal in a glass. Who said a meal, other an a breakfast parfait cannot be in a cup/glass?  Not I!  In that glass is: flavored rice, chicken sausage, cabbage topped with a yummy salad. So, flavor your rice, spice up that sausage, sauté a new veggie, add an exotic fruit to your salad. Then, put it in something fun!