As part of our Family Dinner Dilemma discussion, Lunch Tray reader (and friend) Donna recently alerted me to “No Take Out,” a free recipe service that provides you with a new dinner menu each night.
There’s a lot to like about No Take Out. First, cooking steps are divided into “When You Walk in the Door,” “Prep” and “Cooking” so you can get a meal on the table in the least time possible by, for example, putting water on to boil right away.
Second, the entrees are appealing and kid-friendly enough to make dinner go smoothly, but interesting enough to keep adults happy, too. And there are neat resources under the “Food for Thought” tab, (including a “How Do I Do That?” section on various cooking techniques like peeling fresh ginger or adding pasta cooking water to a sauce). The site also features guest chefs with a lot of culinary star power – people like Alice Waters and Mario Bitali, to name just two.
The only downside of No Take Out is that, unlike paid menu services, you don’t get complete weekly menus sent to your inbox, nor do you get a complete shopping list for the week. (You do, however, get a shopping list for each dinner you choose, so it wouldn’t be terribly hard to combine them.) But for a free service, No Take Out has a lot to offer busy families seeking to answer the eternal question, “What’s for dinner?”
Do you have any sites that help you get dinner on the table? Let us know!