If you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I really, really, really don’t feel like cooking dinner tonight” you know that there aren’t very many viable solutions. You can either spend way too much money on a healthy meal at a nice restaurant, or save money and skip the nutrition by heading to a drive-through.

But thanks to Stokes Kitchen Dinners, soon Stokes parents won’t have to pick between “easy” and “healthy”!

Stokes Kitchen Dinners, a pilot program that is a part of our award-winning Wellness Initiative. Stokes Kitchen Dinners are full meals - side dishes included - prepared in the Stokes kitchen with fresh, all-natural, often locally-sourced ingredients. Each meal is made to order and kept refrigerated until pick-up, and a simple online system manages orders and payments.

With meals like crunchy tilapia with mango and black bean salsa, chicken pot pie made with Amish-raised chicken, and all-natural, organic beef stew at very reasonable prices, Stokes Kitchen Dinners are designed to provide a healthy alternative to restaurant fare. The dinner program is very much a natural extension of our Wellness Initiative; we want to ensure that our families, faculty, and staff have access to affordable, nutritious meals every day, no matter whether they are on Stokes campus or in their own kitchens.

Stokes Kitchen Dinners will be available three nights a week; Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Interested parents and faculty should note that you must order your Stokes Kitchen Dinners one day in advance; for example, if you are planning to try out Tuesday’s dinner, you must place your order by Monday at 3:00 p.m. Please also bear in mind that because this program is brand-new, we are sure to encounter some bumps in the road. We will provide opportunities for parents, faculty, and staff to provide feedback on the program so that we can make things flow as smoothly as possible.