Drive-Thru Quickie: Three Tips To Abstinence

An “angry burger?” Are you kidding me? Who thought of that? I have two angry teenagers. A “drama ‘tween” trying to be twenty. A cat with anxiety issues, and an eighty-pound Lab who thinks she’s a lap dog. When I find myself falling for the lure of fast-food, the last thing I need is an over-emotional Whopper with fries.

My dear husband is overworked and over-tired, yet manages to keep the grumpies away most of the time. (Much better than I could). We all seem to be in motion. It can be really hard to get all schedules in sync to have dinner at the table. The temptation to accept the call of the drive-thru sometimes can be stronger than the pride of providing a thoughtful meal for the family.

We all know the drive-thru quickie doesn’t meet our nutritional or budget needs.

Tip One: Identify Your Weakness

Are you always rushing after a long day at work? Are you always out the door again to another soccer practice/piano lesson/Pilates class? pre-preperation part of your meal. When you get home all you have to do is put ingredients together. For those times you are on your way out again; maybe a wrap sandwich or other easy to eat on the run food? Waffle sandwiches, French toast sticks, apples or bananas.

Tip Two: Prepare For Battle

The second tip is to plan and develop strategies for those times.

Ideally you should be able to make one meal from pantry staples. Always have at least one meal in the freezer. These meals should be table ready in less than 20 minutes.

A few examples are: Pantry meals. Tuna noodle casserole. Breakfast-as-dinner is always a quick option, such as pancakes. Examples of freezer meals are spaghetti and meatballs, stir-fry with rice. In our house, a fast favorite is fajitas. Easy to heat and eat.

Tip Three: Expect The Unexpected

Tip Three is to prepare those meals for the quickie fix. Prepare a double batch of a family favorite. Now you’re ready for a quickie at home. Always have ready extra meatballs, frozen chicken to be added to as casserole or skillet meal.

Other reasons we tend to need a quickie are road trips. There are many things that can be packed for a road trip. Drinks are the easiest to pack. Depending on the length of the trip, you may want snacks only or picnic like foods. A restaurant may be a good place to take a break on a longer trip; get out stretch you legs, take a restroom break. Apples and protein bars are a healthy low mess option. Our experience is leave the goldfish home! We still have some ground into the carpet and will when we trade the car in; soon I hope!

The moral of the story is, choose your quickie wisely. Soon you will be having it your way.

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