Ask Chef Walter: Stressful dinner decisions – Chef Walter Potenza

by Chef Walter Potenza, contributing writer

How to manage work stress, and family meals, without losing your mind.

Friends:

Ginette L, from the lovely Sapulpa, OK., had a question about dinner decisions and the stress associated with the idea of constantly having an idea.

Being an adult can be challenging. With deadlines, meetings, and the constant mystery of why your printer never works, cooking a gourmet meal is often the last thing on your mind. When you finally get home, cooking feels like climbing a mountain in sandals. So, again, you reach for the pizza menu, frozen lasagna, or cereal for dinner.

Stress doesn’t just mess with your mood but also your appetite. When you’re overwhelmed, it’s easy to end up craving comfort food—think greasy, salty, and super quick to make. It happens in every household, including mine. But there is an easy catch!

These quick fixes might feel good but can wipe you out afterward. So, how do you break that cycle? How do you serve your family nutritious meals without going crazy? Don’t worry.

Here are some practical tips to help you tackle dinner chaos.

1. Simplify Meal Planning. Meal planning doesn’t have to be complicated. Spend 10 minutes on Sunday jotting down dinner ideas for the week. Consider pasta on Monday, stir-fried on Tuesday, and leftovers on Wednesday. This approach prevents the nightly “What’s for dinner?” panic.

2. If you don’t have a slow cooker, consider getting one. It acts like a personal chef. Add chicken, veggies, and broth in the morning, and a hearty stew awaits by evening. Coming home to a ready meal is incredibly comforting.

3. Keep Meals Simple. Dinner doesn’t need to be perfect. If you prepare scrambled eggs and toast, you’ve created a balanced meal. Protein? Check. Carbs? Check. Add some baby carrots for a vegetable. The aim is to nourish your family, not win cooking awards.

4. Embrace batch cooking weekends can be your ally. Spend a couple of hours prepping: chop veggies, cook rice or quinoa, and grilled chicken or tofu. A store in mise en place (everything) in the fridge makes weekday dinners quick to assemble, hassle-free, and fun.

5. Pre-washed salad greens, pre-cut veggies, and rotisserie chickens are practical choices. Taking shortcuts is fine. A healthy frozen meal or the grocery store salad bar can be helpful in a pinch. You’re being efficient, not lazy. Remember, the solution is temporary.

6. Involve your family and share the responsibility! Get your kids or partner involved in cooking. It might take longer and get messy, but it’s a great bonding activity. Plus, kids are likelier to eat what they helped prepare.

7. Accept Imperfection.  Sometimes, dinner won’t go as planned. The pasta might be overcooked, the sauce too salty, and someone will complain. Laugh it off, order takeout, and try again tomorrow. Food matters, but so does your sanity.

8. Balance Nutrition Over Time: You don’t need to include every food group at every meal. If breakfast was a banana and lunch was a lackluster salad, it’s okay if dinner is more indulgent.

Consider cooking food for other’s palate and NOT your own. Do not impose your taste level on others, which may be very different and uneven. Cook balanced, which means “accepted by everyone.” Some people use more salt when cooking because they like salt, but balancing is the key!

Balance occurs over time. If your family eats veggies a few times a week and pizza once, you’re doing well. Feeding your family is about love, not perfection. Embrace the chaos, and remember: even if dinner is just cereal, you’re together. That’s what truly counts.

Now, pass the milk.

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Chef Walter is featured HERE every Sunday with his regular Ask Chef Walter column!

Meet Chef Walter!

There is a constant, recognizable thread in the career of Walter Potenza to elevate the level of Italian culinary culture in the United States. Besides his unquestionable culinary talent and winning business perspective, Chef Walter has been a relentless educator with passion and knowledge who defeats stereotypes. His life, career, and values are a model, an example to follow by any chef of Italian gastronomy working outside Italy.  

Chef Walter appears regularly on National and International Networks such as Food Network, ABC, CBS, NBC, RAI, FOX, and Publications such as NY. Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine, Saveur, Gourmet, and several Italian media outlets.  And now “RINewsToday”!