One of my personal goals this year was to cut way down on DoorDash. In a world where almost anything can appear on your doorstep within the hour, it’s very easy to lean on convenience, especially on the busiest days, but I know I feel my best when we’re eating home-cooked meals and I would cringe seeing how much I was spending monthly on food delivery, so at the start of the year I decided to create a seasonal “house menu” and actually display it like they do in restaurants.
Partly whimsical, partly practical, and an unexpected piece of home decor that feels extremely personal.
Instead of the usual back and forth of “what’s for dinner?”, I simply glance at the menu (usually on Sunday’s and loosely plan ahead) and choose. It removes the daily decision fatigue and replaces it with something that feels more intentional… kinda like running a very tiny cozy restaurant.
Our first month was a success. We ordered out far less, ate more balanced meals, and had a better variety of nutrients throughout the week. For this month, I took it a step further and leaned more into seasonal produce… broccoli, asparagus, spinach, arugula, lots of early hints of spring coming!
I used Canva to grab this menu template and if you’d like to use the same one, I’ll link it here!
Think of this menu as a fairly basic restaurant… nothing too fancy is in here because I wanted meals that felt familiar, seasonal, quickly achievable, but tasty enough to curb my DoorDash cravings for weekdays. I know this will change throughout different stages of life too.
Apps & Salads
We don’t always have appetizers at home, especially on weekdays, but if we’re having people over or just want to have a fun dinner at home on the weekend, we do have some go-to’s.
TJ has a really good version of a salad we order at a restaurant, Poole’s Diner, which is a bibb lettuce salad with a champagne vinaigrette topped off with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Another app inspired by a restaurant (Academy St. Bistro) is just baked brie with crackers topped with some sort of berry jam.
Will we make all of these this month? Maybe not. But having the list is what removes the mental load and keeps me from ordering online!
- Bibb Lettuce Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette
- Chips with Guacamole & Salsa (personally, I love the mild guac that Whole Foods sells and buy it weekly)
- Baked Brie
- Veggies & Ranch
- Caprese Salad (cannot wait for tomato season)
- Olives, Cheese, Nuts combo
Main Courses
We kept a few staples on the menu this month: chicken enchiladas, homemade pizza, a classic spaghetti night, etc.
Friday night pizza has quickly become a tradition in our house to kick off the weekend and I included a few of my pizza night essentials here.
- Homemade Pizza Night (super easy if I can find a little time earlier in the day to make the dough)
- Stuffed Peppers (usually will ground turkey)
- Sheet Pan Veggies & Potatoes
- Grilled Steak (or rotisserie chicken) Salad
- Chicken Caesar Wraps (again, rotisserie chicken for the win usually)
- Baked Fish with Orzo or Couscous (tilapia, cod, halibut, chilean sea bass if I’m really feeling fancy)
- Salmon/Rice bowls
- Lettuce Wraps with Ground Turkey
- Spaghetti Night
- One-Pot Spring Veggie Pasta
- Garlic/Lemon Angel Hair with Tomatoes (Ina Garten’s Summer Pasta is my go-to)
I’ve also been trying to incorporate more bean salads into my days as we get more into spring… it’s just the most refreshing, nutrient dense thing to keep in the fridge. I’ve also been big on roasted broccoli, asparagus, sweet potatoes, baby potatoes as a side!
As mainly a reminder to myself that sweet treats can be had at home without needing to get something decadent, I added a simple dessert section too:
- Fresh strawberries with whipped cream
- Dark chocolate covered pretzels
- Yogurt with honey and berries
- a bowl of cereal
- Frozen yogurt bars
When I’m ordering groceries, I look at this menu. When I’m planning ahead, I look at this menu. When I have no idea what to eat, I look at this menu. When I’m 6 seconds from ordering frozen custard with m&m’s to be delivered to my door, I look at this menu. And it’s actually broken a lot of bad habits of mine!
If you find yourself standing in the kitchen at 5:30 with no plan and no desire to make a decision… this has been a fun and surprisingly effective little change. With a little added structure and a bit of creativity, my DoorDash spending has been cut by probably 80% and dinner now feels a little more special at home.
Click here for the template I used!
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