Just So You Know, This Is Dinner
A meal hack from my mom
My brother and I often joke about a memory from our childhood that didn’t resurface until we had our own kids: “Just so you know, this is dinner.” My mom pulled out this phrase whenever we were eating anything of substance after 4:00 PM. Typically, this was announced over slices of pizza and Cherry Cokes at the local pizza place in between after school activities.
These spontaneous meals out always seemed like a treat to me. A testament to my mom, our dinners at home were typically more health focused, including the requisite protein and vegetables. Pizza and soda were a rare occasion, so I was more than happy to consider our late afternoon slices and fountain drinks to be dinner for the day.
Now, as a mother myself chauffeuring my own kids from one activity to another, I recognize that these stops were probably not intended treats, but just nights when dinner logistically was not going to happen. Maybe we had back-to-back sports games, music lessons, or a less than ideal dentist appointment time slot. “Just so you know, this is dinner” was a proclamation my mom was making to us, and probably also to herself, that there would be no official dinner that night and most importantly, we should not be expecting it.
We were never hungry – there would always be a bowl of cereal or graham crackers and milk later on when we got home. But the full family dinner, with place settings and family-style serving dishes, was being called off for the evening.
Rather than feeling tricked, I am impressed by this move and will be adding it to my own list of dinner hacks. Though I try not to overload my kids’ activities, the calendar inevitably fills up as they try new things, adding classes and rehearsals to the after school run-around.
Some days, my husband and I can tag-team these hectic hours, one doing activities while the other figures out a meal. Others, I’m on top of my game and throw something in the crockpot. Yet, there will always be days when there is just no plan. Instead of scrambling to pull something together every time, I’ll take a page from my mom’s playbook. We’ll grab a slice (or whatever we can at whichever time works) and I’ll say, “just so you know, this is dinner.”
Readers: a question for you! What’s the best dinner advice or hack that you’ve learned from family or friends?
Recipes & Links
Some helpful and interesting finds from around the internet:
An actually-easy recipe: Ridiculously Good Air Fryer Salmon, from Pinch of Yum (the only salmon I’ve been making lately)
The 16 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2024, from Eater. I am anxiously awaiting Julia Turshen’s upcoming What Goes with What.
In case you were wondering: Why Does Lettuce Turn Pink When You Cut It (And Is It Safe To Eat)?, from The Spruce Eats