Dinner at home??

I have identified yet another area of my life that could stand some improvement. Some serious improvement. Some might even say critical to my family’s health improvement. I don’t know if it is because I am not any good at it or I just don’t like it, but I don’t cook a lot of meals for my family. There – I’ve admitted it. Now that it is out in the open, I can address the issue and begin a process of improving.

Now before you think me a terrible mom, we do eat SOME things healthy. I can cook chicken fingers and bake french fries. I can make soup, though that’s not such a good item for the summer months. And we LOVE grilled chicken from KFC, sandwiches from Subway, and salads from Quiznos. Yes, I must confess, we eat take-out a LOT, MUCH too often.

As I try to solve this problem or move closer (even an inch) towards a solution, I have to identify the constraints (don’t I sound like I paid attention in science?)

• I am tired when I come home from work. (I know, who isn’t?)
• My husband will NOT cook
• Nathan has to be at football practice three days a week at 6pm. If he is late, he pays. They also have to be at church one night a week at 6:30pm (although Hannah will tell you it is 6pm – she does like to socialize.)
• The kids and I don’t eat until after practice, though Andy wants to eat at a reasonable dinner hour (who can blame him.)
• I don’t know what to cook that is WW friendly that I can do in Crock Pot.
• Who has time to cook something between the time I get home from work, take the kids where they need to be, and will still be edible when we get home?
• Nathan is a picky (VERY PICKY) eater.

Now that I have a list of constraints (some would call excuses) I can plan for some forward progress.

I think that if I don’t put something in the crock pot, there won’t be anything cooked for dinner. But I believe that both Hannah and Andy can either assemble dinner (if given step-by-step instructions) or simply put something in the oven (that has been pre-assembled and again comes with step-by-step instructions).

I have the beginnings of a solution. Next step, planning a menu and preparing a shopping list.