Create a list of fallbacks (to ease your cooking woes)
I hope you enjoy Starting from Scratch, my second book, published each week online, one chapter at a time. Before the book’s final publication, I hope to sprinkle readers’ thoughts, opinions and advice throughout. After all, you each have helpful systems and solutions in the kitchen worth sharing. By making a contribution, your comments will be printed, crediting you and/or your blog, and you’ll get free copies of the book. In addition, for each section, I’m consulting an expert blogger – for this excerpt, it’s Karen Evans, author of Fitness: A Journey Not a Destination.
As much as I try to plan in advance, I sometimes fail miserably. There are also many nights when I try to tap into my creativity, but I am too pooped to pop. Out of ideas. Not in the mood. Or experiencing a complete mental shut-down.
Do any of these sentiments sound familiar?
If so, create a list of fallbacks, or staples, to fall back upon when you can’t think of anything else to prepare.
Fallbacks relieve cooking stress, increase your confidence and provide peace of mind. After all, these are meals you can cook successfully with your eyes closed. Many can be created from items you’ll have on hand, thus alleviating the need for a last minute grocery run. Fallbacks are easy to make (usually), taste good and make everyone happy.
When Rob and I first got married, we loved making a mental note of favorite family meals. Since those days, our list has evolved and grown and some items have even dropped off. We usually prepare one fallback every week, but who’s counting?
Our current list looks something like this:
Turkey burgers – This is probably our #1 fallback, as the meal is so easy to make. We sprinkle a variety of spices on the ground turkey meat to add flavor (e.g., cajun seasonings, steak seasoning or even a combination of onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper). We also like to serve them with baked sweet potato “fries” and a green veggie. Then our “burger” night is a healthy one.
Turkey tacos – We spice up the ground turkey with packaged seasonings or ones made from scratch. By using soft tortillas instead of crisp shells, we save a few calories, too.
Turkey Goulash – Though the name might not sound that appealing, Rachel Ray has a great recipe that really takes 30 minutes or less to fix (even if you’re slow).
Turkey chili – We use a family recipe for chili that contains traditional chili ingredients, but substitute ground turkey for beef and cannelloni beans for kidney beans. If cooked all day in a Crockpot, it tastes even better.
Chicken fajitas – This is one of the easiest, most delicious dinners! I marinate sliced chicken in lime juice and plenty of cumin, then cook alongside red peppers and onions. I add more cumin, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper while the mixture is cooking, then serve with soft tortillas. Though I’m a sucker for avocados and good salsa, I don’t think any cheese is needed!
Parmesan chicken over tomatoes and basil - This meal is great to make in the summer when basil and tomatoes are plentiful. This idea originated from Donna Hay and is also simple to prepare and delicious!
Chicken pasta – I made this recipe up, and typically use ingredients I have on hand. The basic “must haves” are chicken (usually grilled and then sliced into bite sized pieces), lots of garlic, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil and “fried” capers (capers sautéed in olive oil or butter till they are crisp). I usually add tomatoes, and sometimes cheese (e.g., mozzarella). I actually like albacore tuna in place of chicken if I have time to run by the fish shop.
Spaghetti casserole – I have been making this dish for years, from a recipe in Cooking Light. It is wonderful and a nice diversion from the standard spaghetti with meat sauce (and as you might guess, we usually use ground turkey instead of beef).
Grilled pork with mango salsa – This is a Real Simple original that has been on the fallbacks list for years. We use mangoes instead of pineapple for the salsa because no 0ne (except me) likes pineapple in our family!
Slow cooked pork with Salsa Verde. I will post this recipe later in the week. Of the easy dishes, this is #1 on the list. I got this recipe from a participant when I was doing marketing research last year.
Asian grilled shrimp – This is a WONDERFUL recipe in my favorite cookbook, License to Grill. You marinate the shrimp in a soy-based marinade, grill then serve with a booster. This one never gets old.
Barbecue shrimp – I got this recipe from my friend Marti in my Seattle running club. In a nutshell, it’s shrimp baked with butter, a few slices of bacon and spices (e.g., Old Bay seasonings, thyme and others). I’ll be the first to admit it’s not the healthiest of dishes on this list, but we do halve the butter and bacon the recipe recommends.
Stuffed baked potatoes - When you have very little food on hand and would prefer to leave meat off the menu, this one’s a delight. I bake the potatoes thoroughly, then stuff them with raw veggies (e.g., broccoli, mushrooms, onions and whatever else I might have in the frig), top with cheese then microwave for a few minutes. On special occasions, I top with a little cooked bacon (thus defeating the n0-meat night, but boy does it add flavor!).
Asian chicken salad – The salad base consists of lettuce, cabbage, mandarin oranges, green onions and broken up (uncooked) Ramen noodles. The secret “ingredient” is the sugary, soy based dressing.
Stuffed grilled trout – If you want to make this one, I’ve got step-by-step instructions.
Fish baked in banana leaves – This is a Jamie Oliver original, but I bake it in parchment paper or aluminum foil because it’s easier than searching at numerous markets for banana leaves. This one is SO good!
Salmon – Baked in the oven, grilled or pan fried with soy and sesame oil, this fish is hard to beat on flavor, ease and nutrition.
Fish tacos - re-created this one from the WONDERFUL fish tacos they serve at Anthony’s Restaurant in Seattle. Though I almost have it perfected, I just found the recipe online! OMG – and after all these years!
Karen’s fallbacks are:
Breakfast for dinner. Scrambled eggs made with mainly egg whites, a few yolks and a splash of skim milk is our entrée. Sometimes I’ll make an omelet instead. If this is the case, I’ll stir fry a few frozen green peppers and onions to toss in the mix. Also, since I always chopped veggies soon after getting home from the weekly grocery trip, I’ll toss in whatever I have on hand. Add some whole wheat toast and fruit and the meal is complete.
Stir Fry. If I forget to take meat out of the freezer, I rely on my old standby, stir fry. One of the staples we keep in our pantry at all times is brown rice. Also, I buy frozen green pepper, onion and sugar snap peas for this sort of “emergency”. In addition, I’ll add whatever chopped veggies I have on hand.
What are your favorite family fallbacks? Send me your recipes and I’ll give them a try!
About Karen Evans
Karen Evans is the author of the inspiring and informative blog, Fitness: A Journey Not a Destination. Karen majored in Public Administration/Community Service, but at the age of 37, was inspired to start a career in the field of health and wellness. That is what led her to attend massage therapy school and become licensed to practice. She is a wife and mother of two on a journey to lead the healthiest life possible through exercise and nutrition. She firmly believes we can all lead healthier lives if we have the desire to do so. She maintains her own health and well-being while helping others do the same.
Good stuff! Will have to try some of these since my fallback too frequently involves grab-and-go. 
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I am not good at any part of menu/meal planning. I do have what I consider standby recipes that we all like, which is saying a lot with two picky eaters. But they are never anything I have in the house. BUT, before I started eating lower carb, we had several easy fallbacks like breakfast for dinner (pancakes, waffles) and pasta. I do have a lot of fallbacks for myself for healthy lunches, but that’s it.
Good stuff! Will have to try some of these since my fallback too frequently involves grab-and-go.