Build a Default Dinner Formula: Protein + Vegetable + Carb + Sauce

Instead of staring at the fridge wondering what to make, build a formula: pick one protein, one vegetable, one carb, and one sauce. Chicken thighs, broccoli, rice, soy-ginger glaze. Sausage, peppers, pasta, marinara. Tofu, green beans, noodles, peanut sauce. The combinations are nearly endless.

This is not about following a recipe — it is about having a reliable framework. Write it as four columns on a piece of paper, pick one from each, and dinner is solved in under thirty minutes. Once this becomes second nature, the nightly question of "what should I eat" disappears entirely.