Thinking about how to make the year ahead a great one? This week we’re sharing 9 ideas, both big and small, that we hope will make life a little easier.
1) Eat More Veggies
Doctors agree it’s just about the best thing you can do for your health, and you don’t need us to list all the reasons why. So how to make it happen? We plan our meals around the vegetables in the Meez Kitchen, with grains and protein taking a supporting role. (Try looking at a butternut squash and asking it what it feels like being for dinner.) Or flip the idea on its head and sneak veggies into unexpected places, as we did with these zucchini pancakes (above).
2) Enjoy Family Dinners
Is there anything that says family time more than enjoying a meal together? And is there anything more stressful than trying to get dinner on the table when everyone is hungry and ready to eat 5 minutes ago? Try cooking a few steps ahead the night before. Tuesday’s vegetables can be roasting in the oven while you’re eating Monday’s dinner. Or simmer a sauce while doing laundry. Steal time when you have it, and do the final steps when it’s time for dinner.
3) Use Cloth Napkins
Sound crazy? Dinner feels different when you turn off the tube, set the table and use cloth napkins. They aren’t more effort than paper napkins. (Really. Just Wash them with your gym socks.) But they set a different tone which says the meal matters.
4) Reconnect with Old Friends
Hard to find time for a phone call, right? How about using the time while dinner is cooking to call one friend each week? Read over your recipe first, then place the call. You can talk while cooking, and when dinner’s ready 30 minutes later, you’ll be caught up and reconnected.
5) Waste Less Food
The statistics on food waste are pretty shocking. Rather than focus on greening your commute or kicking the plastic bag habit, how about making a weekly commitment to use up the odds and ends in your fridge to make something new and delicious? Whether it’s braising that celery root you bought but haven’t eaten yet or turning leftovers into a crazy taco or omelet, we bet you can find a way to eat your fridge clean each week.
6) Have Friends Over For a Weeknight Dinner
We’re not talking about formal dinner party here. Try inviting friends over for a casual dinner once a month. No corkage fee. No sitter. And no waiter hustling you out the door while you’re still having fun. (And yep, Meez makes it easy. Tell us to send you a larger serving size, and dinner will be a breeze.)
7) Choose a “Do It” Day
You know all those little jobs that build up all week? Whether it’s writing a thank you note, scheduling an appointment or dropping donations off at a charity, little projects nag at us but somehow keep getting put off. This year choose one day a week where you take care of those little things. You’ll feel freeer without them weighing you down!
8) Bring Date Nights Home
You don’t need a sitter to have a date night. Choose a few nights to skip dinner with the kids and have a grown-up dinner after they go to bed. Get dressed up, cook something special and enjoy time alone together. It might make for a later night for you, but the quality time is worth a little lost sleep now and then.
9) Do More of What You Love
New Year’s resolutions seem to focus on things you don’t love doing, like eating less or going to the gym more. In 2016, how about choosing something you love and doing more of it? Whether it’s cooking more often or finding 10 minutes each night to read your favorite author (perhaps while dinner is cooking?), we guarantee you’ll be happier as a result.
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