Shortcuts for the Busy Life

Do you need a few short cuts to help smooth out daily life? Try these tricks.

Enroll in a menu planning subscription such as www.savingdinner.com so you can skip the weekly chore of planning dinner and creating the shopping list.

How can you capture those spur-of-the moment thoughts quickly? Try Jott’s (www.jott.com) free service that translates your voice into an email. Just call Jott, say your message at the prompt and an email is sent to a destination of your choice – after you enroll of course.

Have you ever wished you had a phone book with you in the car to look up a restaurant or find a store? Use Goog411 and you can leave the phone book at home. Call 1-800-goog411 and the menu system based on voice recognition will get you to the information you need – and it’s free! Check out www.google.com for more information.

Speaking of Google, did you know Google Street-view has a library of photos of streets all over the world? It’s a great reference if you want to see what a building looks like before you drive to a new destination. Go to www.google.com’s maps and click on “street-view.”

Help! What Will I Fix For Dinner?

The subject of dinner can be overwhelming. Sure, you know that meal planning eliminates the daily panic of what to put on the table, and it’s a great way to control the food budget. But planning a menu that is nutritious, varied, family-friendly and easy-to-make can be a little overwhelming. Thankfully, there are solutions – and they don’t include fast food!

Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely is a book of weekly menus that is organized by seasons. The menus capitalize on in-season produce and offer a variety of delicious meals. The shopping lists that accompany each weekly menu streamline shopping. Most meals can be prepared in about 30 minutes. One of Leanne Ely’s strategies for quick meal preparation is to use very simple side dishes: lettuce salads, steamed or braised vegetables. The easy-to-follow menus are great for the beginner and seasoned cook. The Saving Dinner series also include Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way and Saving Dinner for the Holidays. Want more variety? Leanne Ely’s website www.savingdinner.com offers more than 12 types of menus. You can subscribe to a weekly menu mailer for more convenience. For about $30 a year you will be emailed weekly menus complete with shopping lists.

Another online option is “More Thyme” at www.morethyme.com. “More Thyme” offers yummy, family-friendly meals without grueling menu planning. The personal profile provides flexibility to accommodate the fussiest of eaters or the strictest dietary restrictions. The wide variety of recipes eliminates menu boredom. It’s easy to add your family’s favorite recipes to your collection so your menu can include your personal comfort favorites. The menus also include breakfast and lunch options plus a shopping list -- all for $52 a year.

Don’t cook at all? Check out the “Rush Hour Cook” website: www.rushhourcook.com. It’s creator, Brook Noel, has called herself the “Queen of Incapable Cooking” so you know her recipes are super easy. A monthly email brings you four weekly menu plans complete with shopping lists for $24 a year. You will need to add your own side dishes to the plan. Brook Noel’s menu subscription is an extension of her book The Rush Hour Cook’s Weekly Wonders Cookbook that lays out 19 weekly menus with their shopping lists.

If regular indecisiveness over the dinner menu overwhelms you, then these tools can simplify your life immensely. Life is hectic. Provide balance by taking the time to slow down, relax and refuel. Dinnertime is a natural opportunity to enjoy each other’s company and connect as a family: to nourish the body with wholesome food, and nourish the spirit with togetherness. And you can make it happen – with just a little planning!