Five Ways to Figure Out What's For Dinner

Guest post by Katie of Finding Home.

Getting dinner on the table can be a chore. I like cooking and baking sometimes, but for some reason, all the people in my house want to eat more often than once or twice a week. So I am always on the lookout for fresh recipes that are quick and easy, and that don’t have too many ingredients. And if at least half of my people like the same thing at the same time? That’s a winner.

So where do I find recipes that fit all of these criteria? Here are a few of my favorite places.

1. My kitchen binder

For me, this looks like a three-ring binder with photo inserts in it. They fit 3×5 note cards perfectly, and it’s where I keep our family favorite recipes, or a note with the name of the recipe and the cookbook and page number. They’re organized by category, and I flip through the binder when I’m doing my menu plan for the week.

For you, this might be a specific cookbook you always turn to, or a list you keep up on the side of the fridge. Or maybe you print out recipes and keep them in a folder or favorite recipes binder. However you keep them, it’s nice to have some old faithful recipes to choose from.

2. Pinterest

If I see that canned tomatoes are on sale, or I realize I still haven’t used up all of the zucchini in my freezer from last summer’s garden harvest, I’ll head to Pinterest and enter the ingredient name and “recipe” and see what pops up. This almost always leads to something yummy! Beware of getting distracted by food pictures and not realizing two hours have passed, however. You should read more about meal planning with Pinterest because Stacy did a great job covering that topic a while back.

3. Recipe round up posts

I go to these when I’m looking for a specific type of food, like vegetarian, or a certain way of cooking, like using the crock pot. Not every meal will be to my tastes, but in a whole list of them you can bet I’ll find at least a few that sound good!

4. My physical cookbooks

I keep a row of cookbooks on top of my refrigerator, and while I have certain recipes I know by heart, sometimes I like to pick a book and try something new. After all, we’ve usually only made a handful of the 50+ recipes inside, and the ones we’ve tried have been delicious!

5. Ebook cookbooks

I’ve collected quite a few digital cookbooks from bundle sales or online freebies, and I sometimes forget to use them. But I shouldn’t! These are usually a little more focused in one category – crockpot recipes, desserts made without sugar, or gluten free dinners…that kind of thing. If I’m looking for something a bit more specific, these usually have just the thing. If you like looking through free ebooks for recipes, you’re in the right place. You can get Gluten Free Recipes from Finding Home for free (shameless plug for my own ebook). Inside you’ll find Entrees, Soups/Stews/Sides, and Sweet Treats. These are recipes from a mostly gluten free home.

What’s mostly gluten free? We have four children, two of whom have a gluten intolerance. Eating gluten won’t kill them, but it makes them really uncomfortable for a few days. So gluten is still present in our home, but the girls don’t eat it. We have soups and stews with a side of biscuits or breadsticks for those who can have them. We have two boxes of crackers in the cupboard – wheat and gluten free. Most of our main dishes are gluten free because it’s easier for me to just cook one meal.

Whether you’re gluten free or not, I hope you’ll enjoy these recipes. The food is simple, real food, with a short list of ingredients. It tastes good, and it’s filling, but it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to make. And it’s free! Go here to see a sample recipe.