It’s the end of the day, you’re tired and hungry, and you’re standing in front of the refrigerator hoping it will offer a suggestion...again. In this episode, we talk about why dinner can feel so complicated (even when food is readily available) and how a little “good enough” planning can make weeknights calmer.

Meal planning isn’t just about food—it’s about reducing decision fatigue at the exact moment you have the least energy. We share simple, realistic ways to make dinner easier, including curating recipe lists, theme nights, planned takeout, freezer meals, and low-effort fallback dinners.

What We Talk About

1. 03:00 The “stare into the fridge and hope something occurs to us” problem
2. 04:20 Why being hungry is the worst time to decide what’s for dinner
3. 05:38 Shannon’s Trello-based meal planning system
4. 08:20 Theme nights (Taco Tuesday and beyond) to reduce decision fatigue
5. 09:19 Planned takeout night = guilt-free and actually enjoyable
6. 10:31 Freezer meals (hello, chili) for low-energy seasons
7. 16:59 The power of a super-easy fallback dinner
8. 19:05 Let go of “shoulds” and feed yourself (and your household) in a way that works

Key Takeaways

1. Decision fatigue is real. Dinner gets harder when you’re tired and hungry—so the goal is fewer decisions at the end of the day.
2. Curate your options. Whether it’s a Trello recipe board or a white board of go-to meals, narrowing choices makes planning easier.
3. Theme nights reduce stress. A theme gives you a lane (not a strict rule) and makes “What’s for dinner?” easier to answer.
4. Plan takeout on purpose. Planned takeout can be relaxing and guilt-free; panic takeout is usually stressful and expensive.
5. Have a fallback. Scrambled eggs, breakfast for dinner, or a snack-plate style meal can keep you fed when plans fall apart.
6. Let it be “good enough.” You don’t need perfect dinners—just food that works for you.

Try This:

Pick one small change for next week:

1. Choose one theme night (like Taco-ish, Pasta-ish, Soup-ish, or Takeout Night).
2. Pick one fallback dinner you can make when you’re low on energy.

• Trello | Capture, organize, and tackle your to-dos from anywhere
• Souper Cubes® - Silicone Food Freezer Trays & Kitchen Accessories

Connect With Us

We’d love to hear from you: What are you going to incorporate into your meal planning—theme nights, a go-to meal, or something else?

• Leave us a voicemail: 413-424-GTGE (4843)
• Comment on social media: @gettingtogoodenough on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
• Email: gettingtogoodenough@gmail.com

Want More Like This? (Related Episodes)

1. Episode 209: Meal Planning - The OG episode on meal planning! Some similar topics, some different.
2. Episode 212: A Little at a Time - If you like the idea of a calmer dinner routine but you’re not about to overhaul your whole life, we share how building systems gradually can make change feel doable. This episode was inspired by our first (Episode 209) meal planning episode.
3. Episode 16: Decision Making - We dig into why decisions can feel so draining—and how making “good enough” choices on purpose can reduce stress and help you move forward.

Hey, there. Welcome to getting to Good Enough. I'm Shannon Wilkinson.

And I'm Janine Adams. We're here for practical and fun conversations about living with more ease and way less stress.

Yep. We're all about embracing progress over perfection. So grab a tasty beverage and let's get started. Hi, Janine.

Hey, Shannon. How you doing?

I'm doing pretty well. How are you?

I'm doing pretty well. I'm a little bit hungry because I didn't really eat lunch. Because I didn't really have anything to eat.

Yeah.

But otherwise, I'm great.

Oh, good.

Yeah.

That's funny. Usually you're, like, eating nuts when we're chatting before we start recording.

I didn't even have time for my nuts. I have them, but.

No.

Go figure. Yeah.

Well, eating's a big thing around here. Feeding ourselves on a regular basis.

Yeah, it's not that easy.

No.

I mean, no, it's easy. Like, you know, I felt. Obviously, we have it very easy. We have food readily available. Yeah. It's not like we're starving, but it doesn't feel easy.

Right. Exactly. Yeah.

And. And, yeah. I mean, and especially, like, I used to be very diligent about meal planning and, you know, shopping and making sure we had everything.

And then I have an excellent sous chef that I live with who loves to, like, prep everything for me, and then I come and cook.

That's a pretty sweet deal.

It.

It is.

I am very lucky with that.

Yeah. I don't know.

I'm not sure who, between us is more lucky, because my deal is I live with a trained chef who doesn't want any help, so I get to just sit and watch TV while he makes dinner. When he makes dinner, which is not every night, so.

Right.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

But, I mean, that's a pretty sweet deal because I've been. Well, I've been watching tv, enjoying a glass of wine while your trained chef makes us dinner. And that is delightful.

Or he'll make, like, a specialty cocktail or something.

Yeah. He doesn't do that for just me. And that was for you.

But, yeah, that is pretty nice. But it's funny how, like. Like, complicated it feels. And, you know, I haven't physically really been able to cook.

And, you know, my appetite hasn't been great. You know, it's just, like, a whole lot of stuff because of my shoulder surgeries, and trying to get back into it is hard.

And so, you know, at this point, we're spending a lot of time opening the refrigerator, just staring into it and hoping that Something will occur to us, even though there's probably nothing in the refrigerator, that we would be cooking for dinner, like, invariably it's something we like, you know, meat that we'd pull out of the freezer or, you know, cans that we would open or whatever. Right.

I was going to say, at least you used to always have a great, well stocked freezer in your basement. Well stocked, well organized. So you at least have like, the protein available.

And then the fridge provides perhaps the vegetables or the other accompaniments.

But.

But because I'm not meal planning and not had, and I haven't been doing the shopping, there will be like a whole bunch of stuff will come to the fridge, and then some of it gets eaten and some of it goes bad, and it's. It's not been very efficient, and I hate wasting food. So I would really love to get back into my meal planning.

Yay. I would love to start meal planning so maybe together we can come up with some strategies. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, I think the thing that's so hard is that when you're hungry, that's the worst time to make a decision about what to make for dinner.

It's so true. Yeah. Barry called me from the grocery store today. Well, and I was starving and a little crabby, and we came up with like, one meal.

It's like, tonight. That's it. Right. There was no meal planning happening on the fly like that. Right, Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I go from zero to hangry pretty quickly these days. I'll be like, I'm not hungry. And Mike's like, I know, but in 15 minutes you're going to be starving. And then I'm like, you're right.

And he's like, I'm going to be the one suffering because you'll be hangry. So it seems like, you know, a big step in the right direction is having the things in the house that at least can get you out of hangry.

Like, that's why I have the nuts always. Yeah, but. And then having some basic staples in your refrigerator or freezer that you can put together meals from. Right. Which requires a little.

Well, I mean, I think that makes it easier to sort of make dinners on the fly, but to really make dinner time easy, more advanced planning is super helpful. And the way that I. There's a lot of different ways that you can organize it, but. And I like to mostly cook from recipes.

I sometimes, you know, just freestyle, make stuff, whatever. But generally I like to cook from recipes. And I have a trello board.

That.

I keep my Recipes on. And then I do planning on the trello board, too. So I literally.

Trello, for people who aren't familiar with it, is a app that sort of acts like a kanban board or like sticky notes or cards or something. And so I have a card for each recipe that has the ingredient, you know, and directions on it. And it has a picture of the meal.

And then I have them organized in category columns for poultry, seafood, beef, vegetarian, entree, salad, that sort of stuff. And then I can move the cards to a column that I have set up for the week.

And you went. And when you're meal planning, when you're on it, when you're cooking, that's how you go about organizing your meal planning. Right? In trello.

Yeah, use the trello board.

And then when I'm actually cooking, I can bring the recipe up on the trello board, you know, open that card, have access to the recipe, and then I am using that to cook from.

Right. And I have access to that trello board since I'm such a privileged individual. And it seems like a great system.

It works really well for you because you can see you can, like, make your choices, but it's not like you're going on the New York Times cooking website and trying to pick a recipe. You've already narrowed it down to the ones that you like and.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, when I'm. When I'm using it, it's a great system. It's super easy.

There was a little bit of setup to it, but once it's set up, it's super easy to use. I really like it. I mean, there's a lot of different ways that you could do something like this.

And it depends on if you're a person who likes to sort of cook without a recipe and make more simple things or you just have things that you make. Or if you're a person that likes to cook from recipes, there's different ways you can set it up.

Like, I mean, the other thing you could do is, you know, if you have a. However many things that you cook on a regular basis, just have theme nights.

You know, everyone knows taco Tuesday, but to sort of expand on that and have like a pasta Monday and then your taco Tuesday. And it doesn't have to necessarily be tacos. You could make quesadillas or a burrito.

Yeah, Fajitas burrito bowl or.

Yeah, whatever.

Yeah. Fajitas are one of the few things I make.

Yeah.

Personally. Yeah, yeah.

But so you could have theme nights like that, and Then just, you know, sort of cook the things that are in your repertoire. And the reason that works is that you're not making the decision. Right. It's not like, what do I feel like.

Yeah, exactly. It narrows down the choices even more, and that makes decision making a lot easier. Yeah, I like that idea.

And you could even have a takeout day if you wanted. I mean, if you wanted to give yourself permission, that on Thursdays is takeout. And we just have to figure out what we want to order.

Right. And I think it is sort of brilliant to plan that.

Like, you know, if there's a day where all the people, whether it's one or several, who are responsible for cooking are, you know, have busy days or are extra tired at the end of the day or something, make that your takeout day and. And build it in so you don't feel guilty about it and you can enjoy it.

And it's just part of what you do, as opposed to sort of a reaction to not knowing what else to do.

Right.

Or.

Yeah. Stopping on the way home for fast food or something, which is typically less healthy way to go about it.

Yeah. The other thing I've been trying to do, especially in the winter, I like to make a lot of things that freeze well. Right. So your famous chili.

I love the idea that it's my chili. I got it off the back of the can of beans, the recipe. But it's very good.

It is. It's a good, simple chili recipe. Yeah. And I make extra. And have been freezing portions, so. Which I had done in the past with the chili.

So there are a couple of times when I had to fend for myself in the last couple of months and really wasn't able to cook anything and was able to pull some frozen chili out of the freezer and cook it and have a nice hot meal. It was delicious.

I've been at your house where we. Before you were married, when we just pulled chili out of the freezer, and it was the greatest thing. It's like, just so easy to.

And if I recall, you even. Did you even freeze the rice with the chili? You like to serve chili or rice, right?

I don't anymore, but at the time I was. And so, yeah. And I think I was freezing it in pint jars, glass jars.

And so I'd put the rice and then the chili, and then it was super easy to defrost in the jar. Now I use super cubes.

Right.

Which is S O U P E R. And they're basically like silicone ice Cube trays with lids and they kind of have a rigid frame at the top, so you can stack them. They come in all different sizes.

I mean, I have some that are 1 to 2 tablespoon size, which I freeze broth in that so I can use it for deglazing pans or whatever.

That's extra. That's excellent. Yeah.

And then, you know, half cup, cup, two cup sizes.

Yeah, that's great.

So, yeah. So I know a serving of chili for me is one cup.

Do you heat it in the microwave or do you heat it in a double boiler or something else.

Usually in the microwave? It depends. If it's for both of us, then I might do it in a pan. But I don't use a double boiler. I'm double boiler. I'm not. That.

Doesn'T ever. Is a double boiler not an ordinary thing to use for people?

Oh, no, that's a chef thing.

I see.

I mean, that's exactly how you should do it.

You can walk away. You don't have to worry about it burning. That's what I like about it.

Yeah. No. Yeah.

No.

Okay.

I tried to give her. We had, you know, we got an induction oven recently and so we had to give away some of our old pans and I tried to give away our old double boiler.

It was truly old and to a law student and she. Which then we had to explain what a double boiler was. And she was utterly baffled. Yeah.

And I thought it was her, not us, but apparently it's us, it's you.

That's not happening in a typical household, I don't think.

And I, if, if, if I have soup or chili in the, even if it's in the refrigerator, not the freezer and I'm heating up for myself. Totally goes in the microwave. Barry could come along an hour later to make some for himself. He is just a double boiler. Yeah.

But I think it, you know, just sort of thinking about getting organized, like what's your preferred way to cook?

And even just listing those things in some way, whether it's in a digital note or on cards or post it notes or something so that you can plan, you can organize, you know, what you're going to do on what day.

When the kids were with us, we had a little whiteboard thing that we put on the refrigerator and would put, you know, sort of the rough menu for the week. And then we didn't have to think about it. We didn't get asked a million times, what's for dinner?

Yeah, that would be good. And then Just knowing, like, for us, it's always somewhere around dinner time. We think about dinner.

Right.

And. And not before that. And then it's. Luckily we live a block from Whole Foods, so it's easy to zip out and get an ingredient or something.

And then I feel very European. But it's not optimal. It's not. Because then, you know, you're picking up the ice cream and all the other things that. At $8 a half pint. Yeah, yeah.

So I like that. I just. Anything that makes the week easier, keeps you nourished and keeps you from getting hangry. All those things are good. Yeah.

Well, that's the other thing that when I'm meal planning, I'm also looking at the recipes and adding the ingredients to a shopping list so that then I can purchase them all at once and have everything I need for the week and not go to make something, you know, on Thursday and not have what I need. And, you know, I mean, we do have multiple stores, very close, very.

It's not a big deal, but this time of year, I don't want to go out after dark and go to the grocery store and.

Yeah, yeah, it's true. And also it's. It's.

That weekly strategy, I think, is perhaps better, at least it would be for me, than feeling like I had to keep on hand all the staples for all the things that I make.

Right.

Like, one of the things I make is chili. I don't have to have red kidney beans in my cupboard at all times, but if I plan ahead for chili.

When I go to the store, I.

Can get it for that week. Because in our kitchen especially, we don't have a ton of storage space, so for things like canned foods.

So, yeah, there's, like, lots of wins around this kind of easy planning.

And I think, too, it's also good to have super easy. I don't know. Backup is not exactly the right word, but sort of a go to super basic.

Like, oh, we didn't get the shopping done or some fresh ingredient went bad and I don't want to go to the store. Or. I thought I was gonna wanna make this thing, but it feels way too complicated for me right now, and I still need to feed myself.

Right. Right. So in our house, I think that's scrambled eggs.

Yep. That's. That's, like the most basic.

Yeah.

Breakfast for dinner.

Breakfast for dinner. And if I'm.

If.

If I'm lucky, there'll be bacon, too. It doesn't usually happen, but.

Yeah.

Although today I just. Today I saw in The Washington Post Eat cooking email, which why I read that every day, I don't know, since I don't really. Yeah.

But anyway, it was about French omelets. And I'm like, yeah, Barry can be making French omelets, and he makes them like, he does them very well.

And just a quick, easy omelet without even any filling you could.

That's.

That would feel special. I'm gonna mention that to him. Yeah.

And. And one of my other go to's, this is more of a summer go to is the. I call it Mediterranean dinner because this is like my ideal.

Like when you're traveling in Europe and it's just like local cheese and fresh bread and maybe some nuts and a little fruit and just sort of a plate of whatever you have on hand can make a really nice dinner.

Yeah, it sounds great. And it.

I think I would feel, well, before this conversation made me feel like I was cheating or something, if I just made myself a little charcuterie board or cheese board and called it dinner. But in fact, yeah, you can get all. Lots of food groups in there.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

I like it Mediterranean and dinner.

Yeah. And that to me is such a good point, is let go of these feelings about how you should be feeding yourself.

Like, let it be easy, as you like to say, cut yourself some slack. You don't have to make perfect dinners. You don't have to worry about, you know, what other people are going to think.

You don't have to post pictures to Instagram. You can just feed yourself in a way that satisfies you.

And then, you know, as you get more in the routine you can do, you can figure out, like, what makes you feel better and what doesn't and make adjustments.

But keeping it flexible and allowing it's interesting because it's like part of what you want to do is reduce the options, but you also want to make sure that you're leaving yourself open to options that actually work.

And options for, like you say, when it turns out the thing you thought you'd want to make is too hard or too complicated or just doesn't sound like it would taste good. It's nice to have some flexibility there as well.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I mean, I'm lucky because I love leftovers and I'm married to someone who loves leftovers. So we plan our meals.

Like, I think you've probably had our roasted cauliflower. Yeah, that's like, delicious. We make that almost every week in the winter.

And I can share the recipe if people are interested I adapted it from a New York Times recipe, but we make it to have leftovers to eat it the second night, too.

Which you plan. I love planning that. Yeah. Oh, yeah. My. The things that I make are all like one pot meals that go for several days. I don't bother freezing them.

I just keep eating them. But, yeah, I think that the idea. Leftovers are the greatest if they're. And some oftentimes they're better the second day.

Right, right. That. That red lentil and chicken thing that I've been making that I shared with you. I think it's better the second day.

Well, when I come to your house, I hope you'll make that for me because Barry rejected it just like I expected it to. It was the yogurt that was the problem in his mind.

You don't have to put the yogurt. I mean, you could put the yogurt, but he doesn't have to put the yogurt. It has a lemony yogurt topping, which really does make the dish.

He could just squeeze lemon on it maybe. I don't know.

Maybe I'll make it for me and then he'll eat it and decide it's good.

Yeah. So I'm excited to get back into the meal planning routine.

It just is so settling to not have to make so many decisions and just, you know, to spend a little time on it. I like to do it on, um. Well, it depends when I think I'm going to go grocery shopping.

A lot of times what I would do is plan it on Sunday and go grocery shopping on Monday because I have that flexibility. So I don't have to go to the grocery store during the day. On the weekends when it's crowded. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I feel like winter time is especially somehow in the. In the winter, going to the grocery store is more of a chore.

So.

So doing it so that you're only going once during the week, during the day. That sounds good. Yeah, Yeah.

I think that the thing really is, is thinking about it ahead of time. So you're reducing the number of decisions you need to make at the end of the day when you're tired and hungry and just want to eat.

So, yeah, we would love to hear from you, our listeners. What are you going to incorporate into your meal planning? A theme night, a go to meal.

In Portland, Oregon, and Jeanine Adams in St. Louis, Missouri.

And we hope that Good Enough is getting easier for you. Thanks for joining us on Getting to Good Enough. We hope you heard something that makes your life just a little bit easier.

If you did, leave us a review or share this with someone who's looking for their own version of good enough.

Thanks for listening. See you soon.

Now I'm hungry. I know.

Me too. I'm starving.

I'm having leftover roasted cauliflower for lunch.

Are you really?

I am.

I have no idea what I'm having.