by Carla Martorello

Created on: September 30, 2009

Dinner is not the same in every country. Food is not the same in every country. And we don't even need to go as far as to say country, dinner and food are not the same in every home wherever that is. So, I'm not going to talk about recipes or specific food suggestions, I'm just going to stick to the basics, which is what works for me and my family at home.

In order to plan a dinner menu for a week (or beyond), we first have to bear in mind what we like to eat, and what we can eat, since we always need to remember our budget, health and time. If your kitchen is already equipped with food, then go and see what you have. It is always a good idea to try and prepare something different every day. This way, you are both introducing to your family various necessary nutrients and you are also introducing different tastes, which will prevent your family from getting bored of a certain dish. And if you have children, especially small children, doing this will be very helpful, because they are the ones most likely to complain and say something like steak again?! And they might even refuse to eat it. Of course, this will depend a lot on what you can afford.

Let's say that you can't buy many different types of food. This is no problem. What you can do is cook the same thing in different ways. For example, let's use the steak idea: if you have a lot of beef, then you can cook it on a pan one day with a side dish of your choice and availability, then another day you can roast it in the oven with some potatoes or something like that, another day you can chop it and make a stew, etc., etc. And the same goes if you have a lot of rice, let's say. One day you can cook it with vegetables, another day with eggs, another day with chicken, or with whatever you have at hand. The important thing is to try and mix whatever you have at home. Try new things; use your imagination and your intuition. Sometimes you'll be surprised at how many different dishes you can prepare! And you never realized that before.

Now if you have to do your grocery shopping and then plan your menu, just go ahead and choose the food you like. Of course it is good to eat a little of everything. But don't force yourself into buying stuff that you don't like but that you want to buy because they tell you it's healthy. If you just don't like something, probabilities are that even if you cook it, you won't eat it. That's obviously not what you want, especially if you are on a budget! However, do try and remember the veggies you do like or kind of like and then use them in different ways when cooking dinner. And if veggies are not a problem for you, then whatever your food problem is, follow the same guideline.

The most important thing to remember is to mix mix mix, this has worked wonders at home! You can mix something you don't like much with something you like a lot, and then you'll be eating something you need without even feeling the bad taste, because the good taste will have covered it. Another thing is to change change change, this has also paid off at home! Since we are not eating every day the same thing, we keep it entertaining, nutritional... and your kids don't complain.

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