How we make a balanced dinner

Published by

Stephanie

on

January 16, 2024

How we started cooking together

I never enjoyed cooking before I met my husband. In fact, I would say I was morally opposed to cooking because I saw myself as a modern, working woman who wanted kids but did not want to get stuck doing cyclical chores that did not product lasting outcomes. I definitely was not going to “cook for my husband.”

But meeting my husband completely changed things for me. He loved cooking. his family loved cooking. They loved talking about food and asking each other what they ate on trips and at restaurants. It was so much more than a meal to them. It was a way of them showing love to each other.

So my husband showed me it was fun to cook and before long it became a way for me to relax at the end of the day. Chopping vegetables and putting them in a pan was easy and a way to ensure we were all healthy.

This meal included sliced steak, roasted carrots, cauliflower, sauteed onions, and pasta with oil, pepper, and parmesan.

Our Routine

All this to say, my younger self never would have imagined it but we dedicate 6-7 PM every night to cooking a large dinner for our family (and the leftovers end up as the children’s school lunches the next day). We all eat together at 7 PM- 7:30 PM. The kids are expected to set the table and help clear the table.

When they’re interested we give the kids roles to help us prep the food or drizzle the veggies with oil and to shake salt and pepper over them before we put them in the oven.

Roasting two veggies in our oven (green beans and sliced carrots). There was extra space on the carrot pan so I added some zucchini that didn’t fit on the pan with its brethren the other night.

Every night we make one protein, one carb, and two or more roasted vegetables. We always cook the protein and vegetables from scratch and not from the frozen food aisle. My husband does the protein and I’m in charge of the vegetables. We take turns on the carb, which is usually an afterthought and could be a quiche, pasta, potato, or a fresh baguette.

A typical dinner: whole flounder, roasted brussels sprouts, carrots, and cauliflower. I may have offered a carb on the side but I can’t recall.

For dessert, if we bother, we typically have each of the kids choose their favorite fruit like a freshly sliced mango or a fresh and juicy orange. Sometimes, if they’re craving what they call ‘real dessert,” (and assuming we did not include a small piece of chocolate with their school lunch), we will give them a piece of dark chocolate after their fruit.

Veggies & Voyages