What I Make When the Plan Falls Apart
Meals for when you're worn out, stressed out, or capital T tired.
Last week, my husband Will broke his ankle while playing hockey. It wasn’t the worst injury it could’ve been, and we’re getting along ok, but it was a reminder to me of how quickly our plans can fall apart. Here’s me, not panicking about it.
One minute you can be planning for a regular week, and the next minute you can be arguing with insurance companies and scheduling surgery. All the meal prepping in the world can’t save you from the chaos lottery of life. Sometimes the plan flies out the window in an instant, and guess what? Everyone still has to eat. It’s the great injustice of sickness and grief and loss, isn’t it? The world continues on around us and our bellies keep on growling, even when our lives feel like they’re spinning around some other planet’s axis.
Of course, I’m a huge fan of meal trains (I have a whole list of my favorite meal train recipes), and I encourage you to gift meals to folks in your lives who are dealing with a crisis and also receive help when you’re the one in the crisis seat.
But sometimes, even with a lot of support, you’re still left holding the dinner bag at the end of the night. That’s where these recipes come in.
These are my “when shit hits the fan” recipes. They’re my “I’m too tired to think about chopping an onion” recipes. They’re my “welp, this week got away from me a bit, didn’t it?” recipes.
These are non-recipe recipes that are made with ingredients I usually have on hand, are extremely low effort, and generally approved of by the whole family.
I hope they can help you keep your sanity through The Worst Days.
The Laziest No Bake Sheet Pan Dinner- This is my go-to “recipe” for hard days. Grab a sheet pan and dig around the fridge and pantry. Throw together some combination of lunch meat, cheese slices or sticks, crackers/pretzels/pita chips/popcorn, a cut up fruit and/or veggie, and some kind of dip, like hummus or ranch. It’s basically charcuterie, but the extremely lazy, low budget kind. Don’t be surprised if you kids start requesting this meal on the regular. Mine ask for it about once a week!
Red Bag Chicken Dinner- If you’re an Aldi fan, you’re likely familiar with the famous Red Bag Chicken, which is just frozen breaded chicken breast. I try to never be out of a bag of this in my freezer. These recipes for frozen breaded chicken include the chicken wraps pictured above along with the easiest chicken parm, crispy chicken Caesar salad, chicken sandwiches, and chicken and waffles.
Brinner- This ranges from the most basic option, cereal (big fan of this one) to homemade buttermilk pancakes. Let’s face it, if it’s one of those nights, I’m definitely starting with a boxed mix or frozen waffles. If I have a teensy bit more ambition, I’ll cook some bacon in the oven or add a smoothie. My boys love these mango banana strawberry smoothies.
Scrambled Egg Sandwiches- This is technically also brinner, but deserves it’s own mention. These are so fast to make and feel so comforting and nostalgic after a rough day. I love egg sandwiches with Miracle Whip and a side of chocolate milk. It is the way of my people.
Pantry Pasta- It’s called Pantry Pasta because you’ve probably got everything you need to make it in your pantry right now. It requires just four ingredients: any kind of pasta, evaporated milk, an Italian dressing packet, and Parmesan cheese. Add whatever bits and bobs you’ve got hanging out in the fridge if you want to. Or don’t. This is survival food.
Ramen Noodles + Whatever We’ve Got- If you’ve got a packet of ramen, you’ve got dinner. I like to ditch the seasoning packet, and make it with chicken broth and a little soy sauce. Top it with a fried egg for protein (and that delicious yolky sauce) and a swirl of Sriracha for the adults.