4 Part Operating System to Becoming a Meal Machine
Just 4 little letters "PSCE" can power family dinner...see what it means and how it's going to make you the family hero.
Feeding you and your family can be overwhelming.
Think about it.
You’re a family of three.
Between breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner there are 4,380 meals per year to worry about (3 people x 4 meals x 365 days per year).
That’s a lot of room for error.
Add the phrases "just one more bite", "mouth over your plate", “sit down” don’t make these meals any easier.
Take a deep breath.
You're here, and I want to help you transform your kitchen chaos into stress-free family dinners with my four-part system.
Enter Meal Machine OS
My goal is to turn you into a meal machine for your family and I’m a sucker for frameworks and systems.
And the Meal Machine OS is broken down into parts…
Plan and program
Shop
Cook
Eat
These parts sound obvious but put in motion it helps you develop a repeatable and reliable way to program meals.
I’m going to focus on dinner but you can scale the Meal Machine OS to breakfast, lunch and snacks.
1. Plan and program
Fail to plan; plan to fail. The saying goes.
Without a plan, you're staring into the fridge like a deer in headlights, hoping for a miracle.
I like to spend 15-20 minutes on a Friday to search for recipe inspiration—maybe something festive? Or nutritious like a Mediterranean diet recipe? Or something ethnic or seasonal.
What we’re looking for is a flavor profile to help us create a base set of meals that we will combine to make a whole bunch of meals throughout the week.
Our goal is to prepare a balance of
1-2 proteins
2 carbs or grains
2 veggies
1 dip, sauce, and/or 1 dressing
I tend to lean on Mediterranean, Mexican and French themes to inspire my menus. I have a resource swipe file below 👇 where I share my favorite sites and books to glean inspiration from.
We create leftovers to remix them into new meals throughout the week that are fast and easy to prepare.
Imagine you have some leftover roasted broccoli? Sauté it with some sliced onion. Add 4 eggs, some cheese, cook, flip, cook and boom, you got a veggie omelet. Add a small salad and now you have a light and complete dinner that takes less than 10 minutes to make.
Program
Some people cook once to last the entire week.
I want more variety throughout the week.
I cook enough food to last until Tuesday and do a shorter 30 minute meal on Wednesday to power us to the weekend.
Here is my weekly programming:
Sunday is meal prep day. This prepping day should only take about 1.5 hrs to complete
Monday is a reset day. We’ll use our veggies and protein to make a simple salad with a light dressing
Tuesday is “taco, sandwich” night
Wed is a one-pot/sheet-pan meal. This should take about 30 minutes to make
Thurs is for leftovers
Friday is for planning and leftovers
Saturday is for shopping, eating out or making something special for friends/family
👉 Resource: Check out my swipe file of my favorite recipe sources.
2. Shop
Because we have an idea of what we’re going to make, we can be efficient in our grocery shopping.
I tend to shop on Saturdays.
We hit up the local farmer’s market first—great for the kiddos and local produce—and then alternate between Costco, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe’s.
Bulk-buy your proteins and grains. You can freeze the protein and store the grains to optimize trips and budget.
Shop like a grandma
“Everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face” - Mike Tyson
You may go to the store planning to make a pork loin but notice that there’s a crazy sale on organic chicken. I give you permission to buy the chicken!
Save the money and change your recipe. This is how grandmas shop.
The more you plan and shop this way, you’ll be able to stay nimble and pivot if you need to to save a few bucks.
I know this seems like a lot of running around town but what else are you doing over the weekend?
This is a special time with your family.
I like showing my son how to pick veggies and fruits. We smell the difference between cilantro and parsley. We try samples of different kinds of apples. We talk to the farmers to learn where carrots come from.
We want to teach our kids that nothing comes from nothing.
3. Cook
Most of my cooking happens on Sunday, and it’s a 1.5-hour culinary blitz.
Read your recipes once over. Then read them again to identify rate-limiting steps so you cook fast. (Rate-limiting steps include things like boiling water, pre-heating oven, marinating).
I like to start with preparing and cooking in this order:
Proteins
Carbs
Veggies
Dips, sauces
Dressings
And I try and do mis-en-place as much as I can to make the actual cooking easy.
Involve your kids in this step. Have them mix, wash, pour, crush. Whatever it is, involve them.
The kitchen is where we make memories.
Throughout the week, dinner comes together on the table ready to eat in less than 15 minutes.
For example, if it’s Tuesday, you might take that roast chicken from Sunday, shred it and make quesadillas. This takes 5 minutes.
The beauty of this operating system is that we’re reusing and remixing ingredients to reduce stress.
Remember, cooking is a way to provide nourishment, care and generosity to you and your family.
4. Eating
Eating family dinner together is the most sacred time of the day that many people around the world don’t get to experience.
This is the time we get to connect, appreciate the food you created and create memories that will last a lifetime.
Budget permitting, intersperse family dinners with occasional dining out to keep things exciting and taste new flavors to inspire your cooking for the week.
👉 Resource: My family rules and dinner conversations
That’s it.
PSCE is how you become a meal machine.
The Meal Machine OS isn't about food; it's about transforming from being a one-dimensional dad into a hero in the kitchen and the heart of your family.
Death to Delivery!
-Mister Branzino
PS. We go deeper into Meal Machine OS in our School for Culinary Dad Cooks where I show you in great detail how to do PSCE with more tips and ways to make every meal count.