Seriously the single best thing I learned on roommate dinner rotation is not to meal plan. I have ADHD, and life is busy. I have no idea if I’ll get home on time. I don’t know if I’ll have an hour or fifteen minutes to cook. I don’t know if the veggies I was counting on will have gone bad. I don’t know how fried my brain circuits will be!
So instead of meal planning, I keep a few protein sources (could be meat, eggs, fish, tofu, refried beans), a few carb/starch sources (rice, pasta, bread, gnocchi, potatoes), some basic fats (oil, butter, dressings and sauces) and some fresh veggies in the house. I never buy anything I don’t actually like. And when it’s time to cook, I put together any protein/carb/fat/veggie combo I have the time and mood for—no plan needed.
I can do this because I learned the basics of a few dinner genres I love, and I made them enough to find them fun. Soup, stir fry, pasta, wraps and oven bakes can be put together from almost anything, since I’m not a purist. If I have extra spoons I can make bread. And if I have minimal spoons, I fry slices of store bread soaked in egg, and while I’m frying snack on fruit or veggies.
I just need the magic combo: carbs for energy; protein for endurance; produce for a functioning gut; fat for satiety and nutrient absorption. That and learning what seasoning I like (always some salt, often a garam masala or a green herb mix) changed my life. Dinner doesn’t have to take all my executive function away! It can be nice.
