This fall I won’t give in (as much). Dining out too frequently is bad for our budget, bad for our waistlines, and it sets a bad example for our kids. Perhaps planning some restaurant-style dishes will help me keep my eye on the ball: healthful meals together at home that incorporate more fruits and vegetables, and encouraging my kids to try new foods. A little web surfing uncovered all kinds of delicious “restaurant style” recipes that will inspire me to stay with it for the nights when my schedule is getting the best of me.

Planning and prep work my key strategies. Some TV chefs make it look easy to pull it all together quickly, chopping alongside a hot pan and tossing things in… and that works when I really have a half hour to myself without interruption. But often I am answering homework questions or assisting in some sort of art project at the kitchen island while cooking at the same time. My attention is absolutely divided. And so I need to choose recipes that can be made ahead, even if that only means chopping the veggies earlier in the day, which is a great strategy for one of our favorite restaurant dishes: Chicken Lettuce Wraps.

Homemade pizza is actually faster than calling for delivery–even a “fancy” pie such as The Pioneer Woman’s version of California Pizza Kitchen’s BBQ Chicken Pizza. (I make mine with store bought pizza dough on a weeknight, or even a pre-baked pizza shell such as Boboli.)

My husband and daughter love Coconut Shrimp with those mysteriously tasty dipping sauces. I was shocked to discover they are simple to make at home. We buy bags of shrimp peeled, deveined, and frozen at our wholesale club for a fraction of the grocery store cost. Having frozen shrimp on hand is also a terrific strategy when I’m not inspired to do any more than boil pasta and open a jar of marinara sauce. Add a dash of crushed red pepper and some shrimp and we have a simple seafood fra diavolo over pasta. Sounds fancy pants, right?

Look at your schedule for the week and think logically about timing your meals. Be sure to read through any new recipes thoroughly to avoid nasty surprises. (What? I was supposed to marinate the chicken overnight?) Any tasks that can be done ahead–making pizza dough, marinades or stir fry sauces–make the rush hour so much less… rushed. Often I fill a pasta pot with water in the afternoon, or set out a cutting board and pantry ingredients on the counter just before I dash out to school pick up and karate. This accomplishes two things: first, the water has a chance to come to room temperature, which will make it boil faster when it’s time to cook. Did you ever notice that Rachael Ray’s pots and pans are already set out for her on the stove, and that whatever she needs in her pantry is right in front? This is not an accident, but hers is also not a real home kitchen. Set out your ingredients ahead of time, and you’ll be much less likely to throw in the towel when they’re staring you in the face. If I know the veggies are already chopped and the chicken is defrosted and sliced, then I am more than halfway to Chicken Fajitas.

Try this restaurant knockoff for Broccoli-Cheddar Soup, paired with fresh bread and a simple salad. Rachael Ray’s Phunky Pho is definitely faux, but it is still delicious and comforting and maybe the perfect meal when you feel a pox on your house. Er, I mean, if anyone is coming down with a cold. Staying in for date night? Serve Fried Mozzarella Steaks with Crispy Salami Salad with a glass of red wine and you will not regret giving the babysitter a night off.

Do you love potato skins with sour cream? Me, too. But you can bake them at home for a fraction of the cost and calories. Even better, you can bake four extra potatoes in the beginning step so that a few nights later you are way ahead of the game when starting this ultra-creamy and comforting Baked Potato Soup. In a similar fashion, Pork & Pinto Bean Nachos are a busy mom’s best friend. While you’re preparing one dish, you can do double duty by roasting a second pork tenderloin for another meal later in the week (or even freeze it). Have a vegetarian in the family? Just modify a second smaller tray of nachos without the meat.

In New England, sandwiches known as “the pilgrim” or “the Thanksgiving wrap” are popular at delis, cafes, and casual dining restaurants. But you don’t need a professional kitchen or Thanksgiving leftovers to create this savory comfort dish. Try Thanksgiving in a Sandwich… nothing could be more simple, and the ingredients can be modified for the pickiest eaters. Another New England restaurant menu favorite is baked or broiled white fish “en casserole.” Roasted Cod with Lemon Parsley Crumbs is a quick and healthy entree; add a steamed veggie and microwave “baked” potato and you’re done.

This fall, keep everyone cozy at home and keep more Benjamins in your wallet by planning and preparing a few simple restaurant-style meals for the rush hour.

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen.

Photo by WordRidden

Fast forward 30 years to the elementary school lunch room of 2010. There are allergy tables and nut-free zones, and kids stow their own anti-bacterial hand gel or wipes. Trading is outlawed due to allergy concerns, lunches are packed in coolers with ice, and almost no one eats a sandwich. It is a constant topic of conversation at my “mommy coffees” and playgroups. Countless email chains have passed through my inbox, subject line: “what do you pack for lunch?” My soon-to-be second grader is a peanut butter and jelly lover, and he’d prefer to eat a PB & J on whole wheat three meals a day (if I would allow it). How easy my life would be if his entire school was not a peanut-free zone. And I don’t know any Mom that buys Twinkies or Ding Dongs on a more than occasional basis.

We all have our various strategies: half a bagel with cream cheese. A slice of oatmeal bread and a cheese stick. Frozen pizza cooked in the toaster oven (in the morning while the coffee is still perking, probably) and then wrapped in foil. Cereal with milk on the side. All of these are fine ideas, and when products are thoughtfully chosen, prepared, and supplemented with fruit or a veggie side, they’re perfectly nutritious.

Ever been tempted to buy Lunchables? Don’t be. I stopped by that area of the market recently and read the labels. Yikes! Save that kind of indulgence of fat and salt for a stop at the McDonald’s play place when the situation warrants it. You can definitely make a Lunchables-style meal at home that you can feel better about.

Try out this cute idea for Snack Stackers–add slices of cucumber and a homemade cookie and you might never be tempted to buy a Lunchables ever again. You can do double duty at dinner by cooking extra chicken strips so that the leftovers can be transformed into this super-cute Chicken Dippers Lunch. If your child will eat turkey but doesn’t love sandwiches, Pinwheel Bites might work for you.

Mix and match whatever cut veggies your kids like with individual cups of low fat ranch dip or hummus and add some fresh pita wedges. You can make your own dips and hummus, fill your own small containers with store-bought versions, or purchase six-packs of hummus and dip at your local market or wholesale club.

Try putting finger foods on sticks–mini skewers or toothpicks. Cut mozzarella cheese sticks into bite-sized pieces, fold salami into a triangle and add a cucumber wedge or a grape tomato. It’s a cute, tasty finger food; pair this idea with a fruit skewer to balance it all.

My son’s favorite thing to do is take something hot in his Speed Racer thermos. Meatballs in sauce with a roll on the side, Alphabet Soup, and Pepperoni Pizza Soup are all perfect for the thermos. My nieces take rice or pasta with butter in their thermoses. They key to a successful thermos lunch? Pour the hottest tap water into the thermos, cover it, and allow it to stand while you prepare the food. Pour out the water (but don’t wipe out the thermos), and then load it up and cover it tightly. Filling a warmed thermos with hot food ensures it will still be warm by lunchtime, and the moisture left from the water will keep pasta and rice from drying out inside.

If you need to make lunches for an anti-sandwich crowd, then you will need some hard working gear. Green-minded lunch monitors will give you the stinkeye if you send in too many plastic bags and disposable drink containers over the course of a week. Check www.reuseablebags.com for some clever earth-friendly lunch supplies. Target and Whole Foods Market also have a lot of products available for packing a healthful lunch.

Read more by Robin Horrigan

Robin Horrigan writes the column Cooking from the Carpool Lane. She lives on Boston’s south shore and is a stay at home Mom to Ryan, seven, and Maegan, three. Her fascination with cooking sprouted from watching Julia Child cook on a little black and white TV; Robin helped her Mom in the kitchen until she was old enough to ask Santa for her very own copy of The Joy of Cooking. She experiments with all kinds of cooking and baking, from quick weeknight dinners and easy cookies to long simmering weekend stews and complicated, fancy desserts. Ryan thinks if his Mom will ever be famous, it will be “for her awesome cookies.” Her friends say it will be for the cocktails. Either way, if she’s not doing volunteer work or shopping for shoes, you’ll probably find her in the kitchen.

Photo by Whole Foods

Part 1: Giving Something of Value

Every morning at 5:30, my 93-year-old grandpa would get up to do his exercises. We would have breakfast together, and his appetite was more robust than mine. I need coffee, while he needed nothing. It’s a little embarrassing.

I head off to work, and he headed out to the backyard garden. He somehow coaxed life out of arid, sandy California soil, and from what was once a plot of dirt now sprung a variety of vegetables. Yeah, the kind you eat. And they were tasty.

So why did he do it? Was it out of boredom? Was he a career farmer? Neither. For him, this was his way of giving something of value to me. As an immigrant, he had nothing but steely resolve to endure. He cherished our family and wished he could do more to contribute. His carefully grown vegetables were the manifestations of his love. Corny, but true.

Part 2: My Kid Hates Vegetables

Unless there is a dollop of ranch dressing, the veggies get no love. So, when my 7-year-old daughter, Libby, decided that she was going to plant a garden with her “BFF,” I snickered.

But there it was–a surprisingly neat row of sown seeds in a neat row of planter boxes. I’m proud of her.

Her mother and I have brown thumbs, so anyone with the ability to sustain plant life–even a cactus–is special to us. So, when our own 7-year-old DNA mash-up made the plant thing happen, you can imagine our surprise and joy.

One great thing about Libby’s latest interest is that she’s learning that food doesn’t magically appear in our grocery stores, and that it takes effort and resources to produce something to put into our bodies. This personal experience is opening up her interest in eating more veggies. Yay.

But the greatest thing is that Libby is learning to give something of value. She’s always been a giver and delights in the act. Part of her plan is to share a portion of her bounty with a local food bank. Three generations removed from a great-grandpa she never knew, she somehow knows that the earth and the garden hold treasures valuable enough to give–and eat.

We’re striving to go greener at my house, but our biggest challenge these days is eating healthier as a family. Four family members, two vegetable haters, one fruit hater, four sweet teeth–it all adds up to a big challenge for the head chef. I’d like to increase my family’s overall appreciation of fruits and vegetables through a little bit of excitement about “our farm.”

My children have the amazing luxury of picky eating habits, and I appreciate teachable moments about the miracle of food in abundance whenever I can snatch one. They haven’t the foggiest idea of how food gets to the grocery store. It’s just there. I’m pretty good at making their meals nutritious while catering to their preferences, but we’ve gotten into a bit of a rut that I’d like to dig out of this summer.

Additionally, becoming shareholders means a more convenient opportunity to actually choose how our family’s food is grown. We will be nudged toward thinking more about the quality of care for the earth for future generations. Best of all, being part of a local farm means family time and fun.

Our farm share will cost $650 for 22 weeks, which works out to just less than $30 per week. The looming question is: what will we get and how much of it will be there? My sister in law is skeptical, “What will you do if one week you get three pounds of parsnips?” I hope that won’t happen, but the truth is that I have always planned first and shopped second. The CSA method might work out really well for me–I’ll get my produce first and then plan the meals around it.

Even a seasoned shopper of farmers’ markets and health food stores is likely to encounter challenges when faced with preparing food straight off the farm. The contents of my CSA farm box will be dependent upon the farmer’s field plan, the New England climate, and the effect of specific weather on the crops. But I’ll get by with a little help from my friends: cookbooks and the internet. Cheers to an adventurous and delicious summer!

Recommended reading: Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables/Seasonal Recipes and Stories from a Community Supported Farm by John Peterson and Angelic Organics

Read about Robin Horrigan

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/galant/ / CC BY 2.0

It’s fresh. At the farmers’ markets in suburban Chicago, much of the produce is coming from farms within a couple hours’ drive. Providers at the market are picking fruits and vegetables within about 12 hours of it arriving at the market, sometimes less. This allows me to have the freshest produce possible. (Of course I neither realized nor appreciated that near where I grew up in Southwest Michigan happens to be a hot spot for growing asparagus and blueberries, among other things.)

It’s healthy! The best reason to shop the farmers’ market is because it is good for you! How can you go wrong with all that fresh, bright-colored, yummy produce? Just think of all the vitamins and minerals, and what tasty dishes you can prepare with the goods–like this Vegetable Ratatouille!

It’s cheap. The farmers’ market allows me to buy more produce for less money. I often just grab a handful of singles or a five or ten at the very most for the outing, and remarkably a pocketful of singles goes pretty far there. I love that red or green peppers are about 50 cents, not two dollars or more for the “fancier” colors.

It’s fun. Going to the market is my Saturday morning summer ritual. It’s an outing for the whole family. It’s entertainment. It’s enjoying the season and all it has to offer–the produce, the flowers, the sights and sounds. My neighborhood market often has someone playing a guitar. It’s interesting to listen to the farmers talk about what is at its peak now, or what’s coming next week.

It’s smart. It feels better shopping at the farmers’ market–giving my money directly to the source instead of paying the middleman.

The variety. I often go to the farmers’ market without a list. I just like to see what is in season and what looks good. I often come home with one of almost everything. It offers something for everyone. And many bakeries and local meat vendors also show up to my outdoor market.

No driving required. At least in my neck of the woods, farmers’ markets are neighborhood events. Part of the appeal is the leisurely Saturday morning walk, or bike ride, to browse and procure the goods. Lots of strollers, dog walkers, cyclists. An added healthy bonus.

No distractions. (No junk food.) Supermarkets definitely serve a purpose, but they can be rife with distractions: all those interior aisles containing products in boxes, bags and cans. I am often guilty of indulging my children in such nonsense, but I aspire to more. (I love meat as much as the next woman, but I recently heard something like “Eat what is a plant or grew on a plant, not what’s made in a plant.” Shopping at the farmers’ market helps me grow closer to living this motto.

No rules. I have always enjoyed the opportunity to create a meal strictly from what I find there. It is slightly more difficult now, with a husband and children, than it was when I was single, but I could still eat this way frequently: dinner consisting of a couple redskin potatoes or corn on the cob, a pile of green beans or asparagus, some berries.

Vegetarian for a day (or two). I am not a vegetarian, though I eat like one frequently. I don’t need meat daily. I am perfectly happy to eat an assortment of fresh vegetables and call it dinner. The farmers’ market not only allows that to happen, it makes it fun.

There are a few weeks still before opening day, and I simply can’t wait. Share in the comments what you look forward to about summer at the farmers’ market.

Read about Julie Hallinan.

As we all got older, some of my siblings moved, some got married and the holidays became smaller. There’s a lot of coordination that goes on behind the scenes of family dinners long before the meal preparation begins. We all tried juggling our blended families’ traditions and squeezing in all the stops that need to be made. Sometimes trades were made: “I’ll go to Thanksgiving at your parents’ if we can do Easter at mine.”

This year will be the first holiday in four years that we’re all celebrating a holiday under one roof again, and instead of cooking for a small crowd, my parents will be hosting Easter for 30. My mother has rehearsed cooking for a crowd many times over, so big dinners like this large are second nature for her.

I’ve recently become the resident baker in the family–a title my mom held for years and is still trying to reclaim–but this year I’m leaving the cooking to her and I’m handling the desserts.

Dessert has always been taken very seriously in my family. The dining room was transformed into an incredible display with tiered trays of assorted goodies and beautiful plates showcasing these edible art pieces.

I certainly have a lot to live up to–my mother’s dessert standards remain incredibly high–but I’ve always been ready for the challenge.

For more Easter recipes, see this recent blog post.

I was a self-taught cook—mainly by trial and error. Most cooks learned from an older family member who knew their way around the kitchen blindfolded and had all their treasured recipes in their head (with no quantities, they just knew). My mother will admit that she is not the most enthusiastic cook, and I didn’t live near enough to my grandmothers growing up to learn in that manner like so many women do. My sister wasn’t into it until much later, and so I was pretty much on my own.

I envy that, for my aunt (who learned much of her cooking from my grandmother), putting a delicious home-cooked meal on the table for us is not only an expression of love but also she makes it look effortless. So I asked her what her secrets are.

Make ahead. She takes full advantage of a spare freezer in the garage and pulls out what she needs when she needs it. She made ahead the stuffed chicken breasts so that she didn’t have to spend quite as much time cooking on our weekend together. She baked them on a cookie sheet and they were magically ready at dinnertime (this is the seemingly effortless skill to which I referred). Same for the beef stew and the cake. I’m sure it was hard work for her, but to the untrained eye, she seemed to whip it all up in a matter of an hour.

Avoid tending to something on the stove. I watched her chop a few sweet potatoes and throw them into a crock pot with some butter. She could then set the gadget on high for 6 hours and avoid babysitting a pot. This is one trick I will surely try at home. The mashed sweet potatoes were perfectly creamy and melted in my mouth.

Canning and freezing fresh fruit and vegetables when they are in season. This deserves its own post.

See what I learned in a few short days of watching a more experienced cook? These lessons are invaluable.

My sister, whose husband is half Italian-American, tells me that her mother-in-law is her primary go-to source at holidays. And both of us have been known to call upon our step-mother, who also cooks by heart, for those big-piece-of-meat type dinners.

We always seem to call on those who have trodden the road before us, and they always seem to have the answers–because they learned from the generations before them.

Who do you look to for lessons in cooking?

In our family, it was oyster stew.

Last week I asked my 90-year-old 100 percent Swedish-American grandmother why she always made oyster stew on Christmas Eve, and her answer was “because that’s what we always did.” Her mother before her had made oyster stew on Christmas Eve, and her mother before her. (Someone on the other side of the family made lutefisk on Christmas Eve, she told me, but oyster stew is objectively a tastier dish.)

In all of the childhood Christmases we spent at my grandparents’ farm in Virginia, there was only one Christmas Eve when oyster stew wasn’t served. And although most of the 17 of us (9 of us children) only slurped at the broth–and only then because of our parents’ disapproving looks–there was a wild uproar the year it wasn’t served.

Embarrassingly, I was one of those in the majority who only tasted the broth.

But now that I have overcome the broth-slurping, strange seafood-avoiding stage of my life–my husband and I devour raw oysters–this year I was determined to re-create the family tradition and attempt the recipe myself.

I interviewed my grandmother, who had never really used a recipe when she made it. She said it was basically oysters, butter, milk, half-and-half, onions, parsley, salt, and pepper. I got to work writing my own recipe. It was surprisingly simple.

My husband and I sat down on Christmas Eve to our homemade oyster stew. My grandmother will be thrilled to know that we intend to make this a new-old family tradition and pass it on to our daughter (we hope she isn’t one of the broth slurpers!).

Here is the recipe I came up with and used:

Christmas Eve Oyster Stew

2 T. butter

2 T. grated onion

2 T. minced celery

2 c. shucked oysters in their liquor

1 c. milk

2 c. half-and-half

1/2 to 1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

The full recipe is available on Plummelo.com.