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My Demystify Dinner Roadmap is a colorful, multi-page guide that walks you through a repeatable, low-stress formula for making dinner every night. 

 

Show notes:

Last week Caleb said, "Mom, you should give your recipes to school. I bet if we had food like this at school more people would eat it."

Now, if you heard your food being compared to school lunches you might cringe, but for me it's all the compliment I need. I am not trying to be fancy, I am not trying to be the best cook. My goal is to make nutritious food each night that tastes pretty good, but I don’t have to think a whole lot about. 

If you are responsible for putting food on the table, you want to eat healthy, and you struggle to come up with ideas, this is the episode for you!

 

If you want to jump ahead:

0:19 In today’s episode you’ll learn 1) How I went from clueless to confident around the question “What’s for dinner?” and 2) How you can Demystify Dinner with a simple 3-step formula

1:30 How I moved from Clueless to Confident around the question “What’s for dinner?”

3:00 Start With Why by Simon Sinek

3:23 In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

3:30 Michael Pollan’s 3 food rules: Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

4:02 Episode 19: The rub against rules. Why people hate rules, and why we need to embrace them!

5:07 How do I “Demystify Dinner?” Step 1: Flavor base; Step 2: Fundamentals; Step 3: Sauce and spice

6:06 : Step 1: Flavor base (onions and garlic) 

6:30 Step 2: Fundamentals: Whole grain + Lean Protein + Veggie

7:50 Whole grain options: Brown rice, Quinoa/Barley/Cous cous, Whole-grain pasta, Whole wheat pita, Whole wheat bread, Whole wheat tortilla, Whole wheat flour, Tortilla chips 

8:43 Lean protein options: Beans/lentils, Chicken, Turkey, Yogurt, Fish, Cheese (feta, provolone, cheddar), Pork/beef

9:20 Veggie options: 

• Red: peppers 
• Orange: peppers, carrots, squash
• Yellow: summer squash, peppers
• Green: kale, spinach, zucchini, asparagus, brussels sprouts, swiss chard, broccoli 
• Purple: beets, eggplant
• White: cauliflower

10:29 Sample dishes I create using my Demystify Dinner formula!

13:40 Riced veggies

17:26 Cook Smarts spice chart

18:22 Frontera enchilada sauce

19:15 Leah’s pasta sauce (see image below)

20:30 Red or green curry paste

21:10 Stir-fry sauce: equal parts soy sauce, citrus, olive oil

21:40 : How do I “Demystify Dinner?” Step 1: Flavor base; Step 2: Fundamentals; Step 3: Sauce and spice

23:38 Cook Smarts spice chart

 

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