Last Tuesday at 5:47 PM, I stood in my kitchen staring at a half-defrosted chicken breast and three wilted carrots. My phone was already in my hand, thumb hovering over the DoorDash app. The kids were melting down, we'd just gotten home from a hectic day, and cooking felt like climbing Everest in flip-flops.
I closed the app. Made quesadillas instead. They were eating dinner in under seven minutes.
Here's my challenge: Join me in going all of September without ordering food delivery or bringing home takeout.
The Reality Check
61% of parents are using Uber Eats or DoorDash at least once a week. I've been there-- hitting it twice a week, sometimes three. Thursday nights especially—exhausted from the week, Friday feeling impossibly far away.
The soggy pad thai that arrived 45 minutes late last month was my breaking point. $87 for mediocre food that my youngest wouldn't touch. I could've made pasta in the time I spent scrolling through the options.
The worst part? Half the time I'd order, eat the disappointing food, and then find myself in the kitchen at 9 PM snacking away while making tomorrow's lunches anyway. The delivery wasn't saving time—it was creating a procrastination loop that pushed everything later.
What's Actually Working
Reuse: I'm not meal-prepping Instagram-worthy containers. I'm just trying to make at least one meal a week that can be two or three dinners. Roasted Chicken, casserole, pork tenderloin. I spatchcocked and roasted a chicken for dinner on Monday, tonight, I pan fried some leftover pulled chicken in a little butter and made a 4-ingredient mustard cream sauce to put on top, and tomorrow we'll make chicken salad with the rest of it.
The Emergency Meals List: The fallbacks. Quesadillas. Pancakes from a mix. Pasta with butter and parmesan. Smoothies. Nothing fancy. But knowing the options stops the 6 PM paralysis when my brain refuses to function.
The Freezer Strategy: Doubling recipes when I can. I have three chicken-and-rice casseroles sitting in my freezer right now, waiting for the night I'm too tired to cook.
What's Not Working
Don't let the name fool you, there's nothing instant about an instant pot. It's a great tool, but I've tried one too many times to pull it out in a rush, and we've ended up eating dinner at 7 (AKA bedtime in the Technonymous household).
I've also completely failed at involving my kids consistently. They always offer to help, but too often I'm trying to hit a schedule and neglect to slow down and pull them in. Working on this.
The Unexpected Part
We're eating earlier, and the evenings feel longer. Calmer. We aren't shoving food in to get finished before bedtime.
The Real Challenge
It's not about the food. It's about breaking the reflex. That automatic reach for the phone when things feel hard. The "I deserve this" rationalization at 6 PM. The belief that we're too busy to feed ourselves, when it takes less time to make a simple meal than to order delivery.
Join me for September? Tell me what your emergency meals are. I need more ideas to keep things fresh.
My emergency meals are sesame noodles with vegies (udon takes 3 minutes to cook, and you can throw frozen veggies in at the same time), rice bowls, or eggs and hashbrowns.