24 Comments
User's avatar
Abby's avatar

Picky eater / deconstructable options!

We do a lot of sliced raw veggies or fruit as sides, and I can always use some reminders to get out of a rut with those.

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L Smith's avatar

I love your plan and recommend it often. I have not subscribed but use the weekly list. I've been tetris-ing meals around here for a long time LOL. I am always looking for dairy-free, and a lot of your recipes work fine for that. Slow cooker, yes. Make ahead, even better, we have so much going on in the evenings even without doing anything outside the house! And I have a swimmer who is CONSTANTLY hungry.

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Sarah Torretta Klock's avatar

Ditto to using the slow-cooker more. Bonus for instant pot—and I especially appreciate big batches that it worth make dragging out my giant my insta pot 😊 Other than that, keep on keeping on!

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Jennifer's avatar

This may be out of the usual purview but I'd love meals every so often that really are so easy a kid could do it! My kids want to be in the kitchen more but there's so many of them, it's nice when I can sit on the other side of the counter and just let them at it with supervision!

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Kate's avatar

I like this idea also for husband training!

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Debbie Koenig's avatar

Ooo a challenge! I'll give that some thought.

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Jes's avatar

We’re pretty happy over here! Even use your recipes on the weekends. Probably on your radar but St Patrick’s day is coming up. We dig eating for holidays. Wonder if there are any fake food holidays coming up?

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Debbie Koenig's avatar

That's a fun suggestion! I'll take a look.

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Jennifer's avatar

Also, more slow cooker meals and then more springtime produce focused meals are always fun this time of year where spring is trying to appear!

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Debbie Koenig's avatar

Noted! I'm always worried about planning early-season produce since it varies so widely across the country. My assumption is, once it's available in the Northeast it's probably a safe bet.

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eryn's avatar

Hello! I feel bad being a special snowflake when there are thousands of people on your list, but since you asked, I'm going to suck it up and share. My deal is that I have to eat gluten-free, and I have to feed a toddler. She's shockingly willing to try new things, but some foods are just not happening-- like leafy greens. The net result is that I have to change something from nearly every meal. That's not a huge problem because I am pretty used to modifying things to be GF. But a lot of meals with a light main dish that end with "serve with crusty bread" or "serve with a green salad", and it gets to be a bit of a bummer. I would love ideas for simple, more substantial sides, even if it were a separate list.

More universally applicable: I LOVE one-pot/one-skillet/one-sheet-pan meals. I have a hard time juggling more than one thing cooking at a time. And here's another vote for crockpots, since I don't have an instant pot.

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eryn's avatar

p.s. as a person with ADHD, I cannot thank you enough for helping me outsource some of my executive function tasks

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Debbie Koenig's avatar

As the mom of a person with ADHD, any time I can make EF easier, I'm thrilled!

Don't think of yourself as a special snowflake--those are really good thoughts. I'm going to see if there's a way to pin a post for paying subscribers with things like sides.

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Erika's avatar

I love your recipes! I don't have to think about dinner anymore...and with limited brainpower, this has been a lifesaver during Covid. I have a 2 year old at home so any recipes that include a "make your own" element for him to experiment with different toppings/additions are fun (tacos, pizza toppings, baked potatoes, etc). I would also love to see more 1 pan/sheet pan meals (the less dishes I have to wash the better!) Thanks again for your meal ideas!

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Jessica Rosenthal's avatar

I’m loving the meal plans — they are a saving grace. Sheet pan/one pot dishes are a favorite for me too. My little guy (9) struggles with food mixed together or bold flavor so figuring out ways to deconstruct dishes or dial them down would be awesome. Also, another ditto for the slow cooker (I’ve yet to invest in the instant pot, though seems it is more versatile...?) Thank you, thank you for helping my brain plan meals!!

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Debbie Koenig's avatar

Good suggestions--noted! Thanks

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Roxanne Hawn's avatar

I kinda feel like it has been FOREVER since I had beef. Not that it's a bad thing, but I might have to add a steak or something to my next grocery pick-up order.

All in all, though, we're playing along fine with food orders like every other week (for the 2 of us), and often my hubs will say, "new favorite"!

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Debbie Koenig's avatar

Wait, what about this week's pot roast? I'm not sure I get what you're saying here!

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Roxanne Hawn's avatar

Oh! I haven't even looked at this week's plan yet. I'm only doing like every other one, so I may be missing beefier weeks. No worries.

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Debbie Koenig's avatar

I was missing beef, too!

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Roxanne Hawn's avatar

FWIW - I do not have an instapot, so I always just assume I can do those recipes in a crockpot too. Just takes longer.

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Roxanne Hawn's avatar

This week is slaying me (work, PRO Act crap, trying to get my hubs a vaccine appt), so we've been punting each night since I've run out of recipes from my last food order. I need to place another one soon for pick up. I'll definitely look for the pot roast.

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Becky's avatar

It’s working well for us. We love the deconstructed meals for our picky one but otherwise no complaints. Could use less cheese some weeks (we may love cheese too much so it’s nothing other than to diversify 😂). Always love the vegetarian options on weeks we feel like we are meat-heavy. Don’t have a slow cooker so always will need an alternate for those types of recipes.

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Debbie Koenig's avatar

Oooo good reminder about the slow cooker. I'll include alternative cooking instructions when possible.

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