What's for dinner?

That is a question I have heard, and probably said, a million times. When you think about it, it's a great question. We need food, we like food and usually, food is readily available. Being in charge of dinner is a hefty responsibility. You control the dietary health of your loved ones. There are news reports, TV shows, and marketing hitting us from all sides that tell those of us responsible for dinner that we are in control of our families health! What we cook equates to how much we love them. Everything needs to be taken into account when planning out the meal. If my Mom eats to much salt, her blood pressure goes up, my husbands cholesterol is so high a french fry could kill him, Dad shouldn't eat nuts because of his colon, Jake is just plain picky and I get indigestion just thinking about food. Once all that is taken into account, you have to add taste too. Now, add that into what time we should eat. Experts say that you should finish eating 3 hours before going to bed. Hmmmm, that would mean that everyone would need to be home, at the table with food cooked by 7:00pm.  Not possible. It is for Mom and Dad, who are ready to eat while watching Oprah at 4:30. Which is why they have their own kitchen, but the rest of the family, not so much. There is all those practices after school and some people actually work until 6:00. Not to mention those stories that tell us families that eat dinner together are smarter, healthier, and happier. The rest of us are raising the next axe murderer. What to do? If I go through the drive through I make my kid happy and fat, but kill off the husband. Eat in, eat out, take out and eat in, it's crazy! My suggestion is this. If the pizza place recognizes your phone number and knows your order by heart, change pizza places. Same with the nice drive through person you are on a first name basis with. Get take out, bring it home and put it on your dishes. This "looks" like a home cooked meal and should count for something. If you do manage to eat something home cooked, and yes hot dogs do count, a few times a week you're doing great. Now, I have to go figure out what's for dinner. Did I mention that we are supposed to be exercising every day? Take care!