Quick question: What are you having for dinner tonight? No plan? You’re not alone. About one third of Americans don’t know what we’re having for dinner tonight. While a dash of serendipity and spontaneity may be good for the soul, when it comes to eating, having a plan helps both the planet and pocketbook.

No meal plan results in – you guessed it – our falling into the convenient fast food, heat-and-eat processed foods and the pricey take-out trap. Like clockwork, we know roughly the times during each day when your body screams "feed me." For most of us, this may be breakfast, lunch and dinner. Granted, we live in a fast-paced, fly by the seat of your pants paced world, but just a little thought today for what and when you eat tomorrow can build into long-term better eating habits, save money, and often reduce our impact on the environment. After all, preparing a salad with ingredients you already have on hand cuts down on resources used up by calling in a delivery for pizza.

Some thoughts on developing a meal plan:

• Prioritize pre-preparation. When you’re famished, the last thing you want is to dice and sauté onions. Instead, decide to have stir-fry for supper the night before and washing and chopping up the vegetables that evening, storing in Tupperware in the refrigerator overnight. When you get home from work, you can quickly sauté up supper.
• Defrost efficiently. While a microwave can save both time and energy for quickly heating leftovers, it is not the place to efficiently defrost frozen food. Think of your bag of frozen mixed vegetables as a mini cooling unit: By slowly defrosting your food overnight in the refrigerator, the food lets off cool air into the place you want it: your refrigerator. This is where the old timer term "ice box" comes from. Your refrigerator then needs to work less (i.e., use less energy) to keep cold.
• Stock up on portable snacks. For those times when you’re rushing out the door for the day and the last thing you have time for is packing a sandwich for lunch, keep a stash of portable ready-to-eat-yet-healthy snacks for an on-the-go meal so you’re not tempted by the fast food drive though. In a pinch, we’ll grab a jar of peanut butter, a package of crackers and a butter knife for a filling snack that stores easily without refrigeration. Dried fruit and granola bars also work well.
• Stick with simple, core recipes. Have a small selection – three or four – of core simple, favorite recipes that you can whip together quickly. When "what’s for dinner?" is just one more decision you need to make after a busy day, having limited options from which to choose makes things easier.

This quick and easy pizza is a last-minute meal staple in our house, since the dough for the crispy crust is not yeast-based and doesn’t need to rise. The dough can even be made in the food processor. This recipe from our cookbook, Edible Earth: Savoring the Good Life with Vegetarian Recipes from Inn Serendipity, can be made even quicker by shredding cheese and chopping toppings the night before.

Quick Pizza

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour
½ c. whole wheat flour
1 ½ t. baking powder
½ t. salt
¼ c. butter (½ stick), chilled and cut into pieces
1 c. milk
3 c. tomato sauce
Pizza toppings of choice

Directions:

• Place the two flours, baking powder and salt into the container of a food processor and pulse until mixed. Drop in the butter pieces and pulse until large crumbs form.
• With the motor running, pour in the milk and process just until a clump of dough forms.
• Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Form 4 balls. Roll out each ball with a lightly floured rolling pin into an 8-inch circle.
• Place two circles on a greased baking sheet. Top with the toppings of your choice and bake at 450 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden on top and bottom. Peek underneath the crust to make sure it’s golden brown.

Yield: 4 small pizzas.