Carolyn Balch's mother had to shake some sense into her.

Balch, 49, a part-time teacher in Vienna, Va., had been complaining about her frustrated attempts to manage the evening meal for a busy family. Dinners were one of two extremes: "I would try to do something impossible, or I'd serve noodles with cheese." The former didn't work, and the latter didn't meet her nutritional standards.

During a phone call to her mother in Florida, "she was exasperated with me," Balch said. Mom had simple, direct advice: "Cook more like I did." In other words, let go of attempts to make unfamiliar, sometimes complicated global food and return to more basic meals of grilled or roasted meats with steamed vegetables and a simple starch.

As the school year begins and busy family schedules get even busier, it's worth asking: Why do Balch and many others lose their way in the attempt to put dinner on table?

It's a matter of time, no doubt. Balch's mother, Marilyn Schmidt, was a stay-at-home mom, and her daughter works part-time. But Schmidt also didn't attempt to re-create restaurant-quality dishes. Even though she doesn't consider herself a natural cook, Balch wants interesting food for her husband and two children (she even taught herself to cook Thai food), but ambition has outstripped her skill.

Perhaps most important, she didn't develop any real strategies, unlike her mother and many others of that older generation. "I don't know why I hadn't followed her lead earlier," says Balch. Once she did, she no longer needed a pantry full of exotic ingredients or a raft of involved recipes. Following a simple plan of plain meats and vegetables, she could cook without making dinner into a production.

When she was raising four kids in Cheverly, Md., Doris Deegan had a straightforward strategy: She made a big weekly shopping trip to stock up, and she always cooked double what she needed, producing one meal for dinner and one for the freezer. She made meatballs, chili, chicken dishes, goulashes and pastas with vegetables.

Even when her kids started getting into soccer and the evening schedule became more difficult to maintain, she made sure her family sat down to eat. "It was a struggle," said Deegan, 72, "but I came from an Italian family, and this was what we did."

In Fort Washington, Md., when Kathy Connor's seven kids got hooked on competitive swimming, she fed them in shifts, working around their practice schedules. Connor, 71, who worked full-time, made such family favorites as hamburgers, hot dogs, Swiss steak, spaghetti and stewed chicken over and over again. And she guaranteed the kids would eat what they were served by employing a simple strategy: "I fed them when they were hungry," she said. That meant the children ate a very basic meal at 5, and she added salads and more complicated sauces for her and her husband to eat in the "parent meal" later.

Kay Barto worked as a teacher in Detroit, meaning she got home early enough to prepare dinner for her seven children. "Mom made the best spaghetti, goulash, paprikash chicken and stuffed green peppers," says son Steve, 51, a financial adviser.

But to pull that off night in and night out, Barto, now 78, needed a plan. On Saturdays, "I sat down and planned out the menu, then I'd make a list," she says. "I did feel a little robotic, but this was my life. I had my job and my family to take care of." She also employed the cook-one-night, reheat-the-next strategy, turning beef roast into a second meal of barbecue beef and leftover pork into a quick chop suey.

A looser approach can be just as useful. When Sue Koonce, 76, of McLean, Va., raised four children in Louisiana, she didn't plan a weekly menu so much as project a list of possibilities. But she always bought enough food to get the family through the week. "I had a routine of what kinds of things we were going to eat - beans, pork and the like - but no set menu," she says.

Koonce was a homemaker, but she had so many church and civic responsibilities that she was practically as busy as a full-time office worker. Echoing Schmidt, Koonce says sticking to more familiar, easy-to-prepare foods is key. "Just because you eat ethnic foods out doesn't mean you have to make those foods at home," she says.

When we have a stocked pantry and easy, crowd-pleasing recipes, there are no last-minute decisions, no hand-wringing over what we should or shouldn't have for dinner. Stop by Koonce's house today, and she'd be ready to serve something pretty quickly, thanks to her reliance on precooked meals. "I always keep something like a Cajun pasta casserole in the freezer," she says.

Like Connor, she believes in the power of an appetite to build interest in a meal. When the kids begin asking for food, hold off on the snacks and start chopping. "When they smell dinner cooking," she says, "they'll be more excited if they are hungry."



Quick-Braised Pork With Sweet Peppers and Onions
6 servings
Call this a riff on sausage and peppers. Instead of sausage, thick strips of "country-style" pork chops are used. They're cut from the flat end of the pork loin and are easy to find in most supermarkets. The pork is braised in the oven with the sauteed peppers and onions. The broth is well-flavored by the vegetables, which also serve as a garnish for the pork strips.

The recipe calls for double-concentrated tomato paste, which comes in a tube and can be found in the Italian section of most supermarkets.

The dish can be made in the morning and reheated in the evening. Serve over rice, noodles or smashed potatoes.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds "country-style" boneless pork chops, cut into 1-inch-wide strips about 3 inches long
3 red, orange and/or yellow bell peppers, cored and thinly sliced
1 medium sweet onion, such as a Vidalia or Maui, thinly sliced (about 5 ounces)
Salt
2 teaspoons double-concentrated tomato paste or 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste (see headnote)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large ovenproof braising pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Add as many of the pork pieces as will comfortably fit without crowding them. Brown the pork on at least two sides for 2 to 3 minutes per side; transfer the browned pieces to a plate.

When all of the pork has been browned, add the bell peppers and onion, the remaining tablespoon of oil as needed, and the salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes or so, until the vegetables are soft and just starting to brown.

Add the tomato paste and stir to incorporate; cook for 1 minute, then increase the heat to medium-high, add the wine and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the broth and the black pepper to taste.

Return the pork pieces to the pot, partially covering them with some of the vegetables. Cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the pork is tender and cooked through. Let it sit, covered, for 10 minutes.

If serving right away, transfer the pork to a shallow serving plate and spoon the vegetables over the meat. Return the pot with the braising liquid to the stove over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil; cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the liquid has reduced by half. Pour it over the pork and serve.

If serving later, transfer the pork, vegetables and braising liquid to a shallow baking dish. Cool, cover and refrigerate for no more than 12 hours before serving for optimum taste. Reheat, covered, in a 350-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes until warmed through, then proceed as above.

NUTRITION: Per serving: 250 calories, 8 g fat, 2 g saturated fat


Mom's Beef and Potato Stew
Makes 10 to 11 cups (6 to 8 servings)

All family cooks have their own version of beef stew. Stephanie Witt Sedgwick's evolved over time as she tried to feature the ingredients everyone likes most - the beef and potatoes - and hide the ones that weren't greeted as warmly: the carrots, celery and onion. Her solution was to cut the vegetables into small cubes that almost melt into the sauce. The vegetables are still there, but what stands out are the chunks of beef and potatoes.

She starts the stew on the stove, then transfers it to the oven to cook slowly. That technique solves a few problems. First, it gets the pot off the stove, so she can either cook something else or clean up. Second, the meat becomes tender and stays moist because it remains covered. Third, she doesn't have to worry about evaporation: The covered pot doesn't allow the liquid to reduce.

Like most stews, this is a go-to dish that's just as good after a day or two or when defrosted later. You can serve it over rice or noodles, or just as is, with a green salad.

The recipe calls for double-concentrated tomato paste, which comes in a tube and can be found in the Italian section of most supermarkets.

MAKE AHEAD: The stew can be made 2 to 3 days in advance and stored; or it can be portioned into freezer containers, cooled and frozen until ready to serve. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.

2 to 3 tablespoons mild olive or vegetable oil
2 medium onions, cut into 1/4 -inch dice (2 cups)
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 -inch dice (1 cup)
2 medium ribs celery, cut into 1/4 -inch dice (1 cup, 4 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1 tablespoon double-concentrated tomato paste, or 2 tablespoons tomato paste (see headnote)
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
3 tablespoons light brown sugar, or more to taste
2 cups lager-style beer, or beer of your choice (16 ounces)
Freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
2 1/2 to 3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes (If you are cutting the meat into cubes yourself, buy 3 pounds to allow for trimming)
1 cup water, or more as needed

Preparation: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 5- to 6-quart ovenproof pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions; cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the onions start to soften. Add the carrots, celery and salt. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat so the vegetables soften and brown lightly but do not burn. Stir in the tomato paste; cook for 2 minutes. Add the flour, stirring to distribute it evenly. Add the mustard, brown sugar, beer and salt and pepper to taste; stir to combine. Once the mixture starts to bubble at the edges, reduce the heat to low.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add as many of the beef cubes as will fit without crowding them. Brown the cubes, adjusting the heat so the meat does not burn. As the cubes are ready, transfer them to the pot or Dutch oven.

Repeat with the remaining cubes, adding oil as needed. When all of the beef has been browned and has been transferred, increase the heat under the skillet to high and add the water. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula to loosen any browned bits.

Transfer the liquid in the skillet to the pot or Dutch oven; increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, then cover and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, then add the potatoes. Cover and braise for about 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender.

Let it sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Taste the braising liquid and add salt, pepper or brown sugar as needed. Serve immediately; or cool, then refrigerate or freeze as desired.

NUTRITION: Per serving (based on 8): 450 calories, 20 g fat, 6 g saturated fat