Last night, as we were doing the dishes, I asked my husband to help me brainstorm some dinner ideas for this week. He shrugged at me helplessly. 

“Name some things we eat, and I’ll pick some.”

I told him I have no idea what we normally eat. (I was too exhausted to go through all my Dinners This Week posts, which I started in part FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE.) “Tacos?”

That suggestion was shot down.

My poor husband is well and truly done with tacos. He says we eat them WAY too frequently, which is true, and yet they are easy and all three of us like them, which is Very Rare.

That is how I ended up buying some zucchini and a few onions at the grocery store, some yogurt and cheese, some eggs and bacon… and nothing else. 

(Well, okay, I also bought two containers of Dawn Power Wash. I almost never venture into the Cleaning Products aisle anymore, which is such a HUGE difference compared to a year ago. There are still gaps on the shelves – my favorite Lysol is once again out of stock – and there are still signs saying that cleaning products are limited to two per person. But it all feels much less dire than it once did. Anyway: when I was at Costco last week – shudder – I bought a giant container of Dawn, as one does, and the checkout person asked if I’d tried Dawn Power Wash. I had not, but after our conversation I determined that I NEED Dawn Power Wash in my life. It seems like it has a lot of uses beyond dishes. And now I possess two containers and need to figure out what to do with it. I am thinking it will be very good for cleaning Carla’s bathtub; I’ve always felt a little squicky about cleaning her tub with bleach. I end up washing it out again with soap so that she doesn’t take a bleachy bath, but that seems like double work.)

We are getting takeout tonight; I recently discovered the spicy cauliflower at a local Lebanese restaurant and have been CRAVING it. Who knew I would turn out to be a person who craves cauliflower? But then after that, I am just going to wing it, I think? 

Dinners for the Week of May 11-17

• Breakfast for dinner: Eggs, bacon, maybe some pancakes if I feel like mixing up a batch. 
• Greek chicken kebabs: This will only happen if the weather permits; it’s been rainy – and SNOWED on Sunday, though hopefully that was our FINAL SNOW – and I don’t care to grill in the rain. (OR SNOW.)
• Soy-ginger pulled pork: I am going to do this bowl-of-noodles style, as per Lazy Genius Kitchen.
• Chicken fajitas: Easy and delicious and close enough to tacos. Well. Not close enough for Carla, but I will find something else for her to eat.
• Black bean burritos: This is not quite tacos, but super close? And also very easy. And I also usually have all the ingredients on hand. 
• Chicken and zucchini stir fry: This is probably my go-to easy, yummy meal after tacos. Zucchini last for a surprisingly long time in the fridge, and we always have the other ingredients on hand, so it’s the perfect I Don’t Want to Make What’s On My Meal Plan meal. However, my husband is rapidly approaching a saturation point with this stir fry. So maybe we’ll just grill some chicken and zucchini and call it a day.
• Takeout: Spicy cauliflower… * Homer Simpson groan of yum * My husband suggested that maybe we just get takeout from the same Lebanese place every night this week. We could get something different every time, really explore the menu. Very funny. But also pretty appealing…?

If one of the above options doesn’t pan out, I have some pizza dough in the freezer so we can make pizza. Or, you know, more Lebanese takeout.

What is your go-to easy, satisfying meal you eat so often your family never wants to see it again?