Pick a Card, Any Card...

Are you sick of trying to figure out what to make for dinner?

Do you get tired of thinking of yet another way to make chicken?

Do you want to make dinner a special time where your family leaves the table feeling blessed?

Well, I have an idea that might help you. A few years ago I incorporated an idea that I learned from author/speaker Lauren Littauer Briggs (Making the Blue Plate Special)and here's how it works.

The first thing you do is gather your family to brainstorm and come up with every possible dinner option you can think of. The sky is the limit here. You might end up with your kids favorites like chili dogs and tater tots (my son's favorite), tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, your husbands' favorite stroganoff, your favorite salad but don't forget that you can also include things like breakfast for dinner (i.e. pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit, omelettes and smoothies...), or new recipes you'd like to try...

Next, write each idea down on an index card or on scratch paper that's been cut into rectangular pieces (your family can help with this too...you could even start the brainstorming session by gathering around the dinner table and handing each member of the family a stack of index cards and a pen-or crayons for the little ones so they can draw pictures of the food they like and you can label the picture at the top).

Once this is done you now have a whole bunch of dinner options close at hand (I keep my stack of cards in the drawer next to my stove). The day you are making your grocery list (for me that's Sundays) pull out the stack of cards, put them on the table and have each member of the family pick one card (one dinner) that they'd like to have that week.

Not only does this system help you with your creativity, it can also help your household run a little more efficiently... you may be able to reduce the number of times you go to the market per week and you may also save some money by sticking to your list (not to mention the gas you'll save by not going back and forth to the market). The other nice thing about this system is that it gives you the opportunity to teach your kids that, while dinner might not necessarily be their favorite one night, it is someone else's favorite and they can be patient knowing their choice is just a few days away.


I hope you find this idea helpful. So far this week our family has enjoyed teriyaki chicken and rice and my mom's famous beef stew recipe (and when I went to get the chicken, it was on sale so I was inspired to make homemade chicken soup early on in the week and have left-overs for lunches).

Next time you're tired of all your dinner ideas tell your kids to "pick a card, any card!"

Bon Apetit!
Tracy Klehn