Are you looking for some ideas to make dinners a little more exciting? If you’re like us, you tend to wait until the weekend to get together with friends around mealtime. But why not change it up and build that into your week?
In today’s post, I’m going to share the steps for planning a no-fuss weeknight dinner date with your friends or family based on a cool experience Bill and I had last week. I hope you’ll be inspired and excited by this idea and feel encouraged to change things up during the week.
Before we dive into that, I have a kitchen update to share! 🙂
We’re about two weeks into our kitchen renovation, and things are coming along nicely. The demo is finished, the floor tiles have been laid, the electric is wired, and the walls are painted. We are going to clean the new flooring properly before our guests come. Friends of ours have recommended Bissell steam cleaners for flooring like ours.
We’re expecting the cabinets to arrive on Tuesday and the whole job to wrap up in about two weeks!
Versatile Gray is the “Greige” paint color we chose for our kitchen (looks so good!). Aren’t these kitchen towels PERFECT?! And our floor tiles have been laid down and grouted (but not yet cleaned!)
We’ve essentially moved our kitchen to the basement, which happens to be completely finished AND has an extra fridge and sink (serious perk).
Embarking on this basement renovation project has reminded me about the time we found a leak down there! Fortunately, since then we have invested in basement waterproofing techniques to help keep unwanted water out. No one wants a soggy basement after all
While it’s not the most convenient set-up, we have just about everything we need to continue to make meals each week using our blender, induction cooktop, and food processor. Surprisingly, the blender is very versatile with what you can make. From soup, to sauces and smoothies, you can do just about anything with one, so we’ve found it important to keep it around.
At the beginning of the construction process, Bill and I thought it would be a neat idea to become dinner crashers while our renovation was being completed, so we weren’t making dinner in the basement every night.
Our friends and family offered to take us in for a meal or two, and it has been so much fun! It’s given us an opportunity to be more social during the week, something we had not prioritized before now. Here’s the process we followed for having an awesome weeknight dinner date!
Step 1: Pick Your Peeps
Last week, we got together with our friends Kiersten and Zach for a dinner double date. They are in the midst of their own transition, as they’re in the final weeks of preparation leading up to their April 30th wedding. They’re foodies like us and appreciate a wholesome, nourishing meal, so we thought we’d bring the ingredients to them and make the meal together for a weeknight dinner double date!
With our lovely hosts (bride and goom-to-be!) after our delicious meal
Step 2: Choose Your Meal & Shop (from Home!)
I’ve had the opportunity to partner with Relay Foods, a healthy online grocery store that carries everything from organic, local produce to pantry staples, snacks, treats, and even personal care products like soaps, shampoo and lotions.
They have a cool Meal Planning feature on their website that lets you search for recipes by category – One Pot Meals, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Paleo, Dairy-Free, 30 Minutes or Less, etc. You can just use it as its own recipe search and use your own ingredients, but if you want to streamline the whole process, click “Add to Meal Plan and Review” when you find a recipe you like. Your cart will automatically update with the ingredients needed for the meal.
We chose to make this Black Bean Soup with Kale Slaw. The cost of all ingredients for a full dinner plus leftovers for four people was about $30. Depending on where we go out to eat, a single dinner and tip can cost that much…for one person! Also, cooking once and eating twice makes meal planning more doable and less intimidating because you’re saving money and time.
Black Bean Soup with Kale Slaw recipe here
Step 3: Pick Up Your Grub (or Have Them Delivered!)
My husband, Bill, was on spring break last week, so he picked up our bags at a nearby pick-up site, but you have the option for Relay to deliver to your house an unlimited number of times each month for $19/month.
Want to try out Relay Foods? Click here to save $20 on your first order of $60 or more.).
Step 4: Make the Meal & Enjoy!
The day of our pick-up, I got an email from Relay that contained the full recipe we were making that night, so once we arrived at Kiersten’s house, we gave everyone a task to do to make the meal come together. We chopped, diced, shredded, and sauteed the ingredients for this warm, grounding soup topped with a bright, refreshing, perfect-for-spring slaw.
This meal was rich in GBOMBS, which are some of the most nourishing, protective, and healing foods on the planet; food like kale, red and yellow onions, garlic, cabbage, and black beans. That is a recipe for whole body nourishment!
Here is the link to get the full recipe for the Black Bean Soup with Kale Slaw. Try putting a few slices of avocado on top for some creaminess!
Bill tasting the soup and preparing the colorful kale slaw!
Even though I personally LOVE the idea of going to the grocery store, sometimes I’d rather order my groceries from home. If you’re one of those people who gets anxious at the thought of stepping foot in a crowded store, then I’d recommend giving Relay a try.
Also, because you’re auto-populating your grocery list based on ingredients in the meals you select, you will only be buying what you need, which makes you less likely to waste food and more likely to save money!
I also ordered a small gift for the bride-to-be that she was excited to receive – a bag of Hudson Henry Granola and a box of Numi chamomile lemon organic tea.
If you’re making a dinner for friends or family for a special occasion or just as an excuse to hang out, it’s nice to bring a small gift along, especially when it’s in the form of food.