I made strawberry jam yesterday and it turned out delicious. I know it did because we just had jam sandwiches for dinner. I know what you’re thinking. Do people really have just jam on a sandwich? And I was thinking that too. I was thinking that right up until I took a bite, and then I decided that jam sandwiches are going to be my new favorite non-dinner dinner.
Everyone has a non-dinner dinner up their sleeve. It just comes with the territory of life…. besides, people that say they ALWAYS eat a “good healthy dinner” are liars.
So, here are some of my favorite non-dinner dinners that we eat, you know, when the need arises.
- Cold Cereal. Like fruit loops and cheerios and stuff. Pour it in a bowl with milk, and you’re set. If people tell me they’re still hungry, I give them another bowl.
- Jam Sandwiches. We had them tonight, because I read a book where the little girl always eats jam sandwiches (Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos) and we didn’t get HOME until we were actually supposed to be in bed, and I had jam and leftover biscuits. So we had jam sandwiches. AND THEY WERE DELICIOUS. And no, I have never included Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches to my non-dinner list, because I’m sorry, but those sandwiches are a mess, and if I’m not up to making a real dinner, I’m not up for doing dishes and wiping counters and floors and sticky tables either. I HAVE MY LIMITS PEOPLE.
- Cheese Crisps. Except that they’re not actually crispy, because I make them in the microwave. You know, tortilla, cheese, heat for 30 seconds. If you serve them with salsa, they’re practically a salad.
- Ramen Noodle. My kids love ramen noodle to death. And half of my kids want just broth, and half of them want just noodles, so it works out perfectly. Plus, sometimes I even get “fancy” and put in a half a bag of frozen mixed vegetables which basically makes it vegetable noodle soup. I know, it’s super clever.
- Crackers and Cheese. I figure, if there can be a whole deli section dedicated to this, it totally counts. Besides, anyone that knows me knows I only buy Triscuits, and have you see the nutrition information on the side of that thing? No? Me neither. I only buy them because I think they taste good. Sometimes, I even remember to buy lunch meat, and we’ll include that in our non-dinner as well.
- Fruit/Vegetable. It was really hot the other day, so for dinner, we had watermelon. And that’s it. I was home and had groceries, and could have made dinner, but I decided not to. BECAUSE IT WAS HOT. And you know what? Nobody even cared. If we went completely vegetarian over here, nobody would care and it would probably take two weeks for my husband to notice. What can I say, we’re low maintenance. (Once, we had tomato night, and I have to tell you, it was magnificent.)
And I think I should probably clarify that for ME, a non-dinner dinner involves little to no cooking AND takes less than 5 minutes total, including the prep time and clean up. Which is why things like macaroni and cheese (who has time to wait for water to boil?) and the drive thru (seriously? the fastest fast food takes too long. plus it’s kinda gross) don’t make the list.
SO. What do you have on non-dinner nights?
