The Strategy: Pick the Right Recipe for the Moment
The Story: Donβt let all of Laurel and Becβs gorgeous Athlete Food photos and our scrumptious recipes fool you: we are not immune from the cooking fail. On a small scale, there are the ingredients left out every time we cook with our kids. Off hand I recall carrot-free carrot cake cupcakes and an accidentally sugar-free version of chocolate chip banana bread muffins (tasted good; went stale in less than a day).
And sometimes we go big. You can hear Bec relive her raw Thanksgiving turkey and find out how my steamed fish set off the smoke alarms on the podcast we did with Another Mother Runner radio.
We have noticed that our biggest fails happen when we choose the wrong recipe for the moment. Bec attempted to cook an entire Thanksgiving dinner for her extended family, Downton Abby-esqu table setting includedβwhile training for a half ironman and with her then 1-year-old underfoot. I decided to try out my new fish steamer while home alone with three kids on a school night.
Better dinners happen when we realistically consider not just what we want to eat, but how much time we have to get dinner on the table and when we have that window on a given week or day. Today, we pass our hard-won wisdom along to you. --Melissa
If you haveβ¦
-1 hour on Sunday to cook for the week
Then make Athlete Food Meatballs and chicken fajitas
If you haveβ¦
-30-minutes flatβ¦
If you haveβ¦
-15 minutes and pre-cooked rice in your fridge
Then cook Pesto Shrimp Rice Bowls
If you haveβ¦
--muscles too tired to hold a knife
Thenβ¦avoid eating ice cream for dinner with a no-cook power bowl