Dinner should be an easy and fun time for the family to enjoy great food together. Make weeknight dinners easier and more delicious with these 5 simple tips.
Dinner time should be an easy and joyful time for families to connect and enjoy a great meal.
But often dinner tends to be a rushed and exhausting experience that everyone just wants to be over as quickly as possible.
The kids and parents are both tired from long days, the schedule is cramped thanks to homework and after school activities, and everyone is hungry!
How to Make Dinner Easier
Make life easier with these easy tips to make weeknight dinner quicker and easier.
How to Make Easy Meal Plans
Meal planning tends to get a bad rap for being boring, tedious, stressful and time consuming. But… (and don’t shoot hte messenger, here)… that really only happens if you aren’t doing it right.
Spending a small amount of time planning can seriously lessen the stress and craziness of the average weekday, reduce the amount of trips you take to the grocery store, and stop you from turning into Cersei Lannister whenever tour kids mention they are hungry.
Meal Prepping!
Once again, you find yourself at the grocery store with small children on a Saturday morning, when the entire freaking universe also happens to be there. You spend the entire time either ignoring the fact that your children are crazy monsters or giving them cookies and samples just so they will shut up and stay with you.
And I don’t even want to mention how many times you wonder how acceptable it would be to open the wine before you leave the store (I mean, its ok with cookies, why not the wine?!).
I am fully aware that the last thing you want to do the second you come home from the grocery store is prep food. I sooo get it.
But a few minutes of washing and chopping ahead of time can lessen your work load later tremendously. A few things I suggest doing:
- Prep kid’s snacks ahead of time, both for during and after school. Not only will this help those angels of yours gain some independence by allowing them to choose what snacks they have each day, but it also frees up some of your time every day. I suggest using containers like the YumBox Mini Snack Boxes, or the Sistema Snack Containers. They are great for turning snacks into grab-and-go items!
- Prep ALL your fruits and veggies for the week. Instead of chopping an onion every single night, chop a bunch at one time and then each night you can just grab what you need. This makes prepping school lunches and dinners so fast your family will think they are at Jimmy John’s. Store your prepped fruit and veggie in glass containers.
How to keep kids busy while you cook
Sometimes it seems impossible to get dinner on the table with young children at home. Planning special activities for them to do while you cook will help you be able to get food on the table quickly and easily.
How to Cook and Bake with your Kids
There is nothing cuter and more beneficial than children cooking. Being able to teach your children independence, life skills, and have special time with them is so important. These easy tips will show you how to cook & bake with your kids without loosing your mind. AND once they know how to do it, it actually does help you get dinner on the table easier!
How to Make One Meal For the Whole Family
Learn how to make one meal for the whole family to enjoy – from baby and toddler to adult! Enjoying a meal together as a family is an important part of your day – and learning how to cook one meal that satisfies everyone makes life easier, quicker, and cheaper. No more being a short order chef for you!
How to Explore the Sense of Taste with Kids
Once you actualy get dinner made and on the table, its time to sit down to eat! Frustrated that your children don’t eat better? Worried that your kids are headed down the road to becoming picky eaters? Learn how to explore the sense of taste with kids, and how it can impact your family dinners and improve your meal times!
Dinner Table Conversation Starters for Kids
Dinner table conversations with kids can be enjoyable and relaxing! No really, they can be!
Weeknight meals don’t have to feel like an exhausting event – they can be used to reconnect and refuel after a long day. Read on for simple ways to connect with your kids in effortless ways!
Looking for more ways to simply dinner? Try these ideas:
Liz @ I Heart Vegetables
Wednesday 6th of September 2017
I've been trying to get better at meal planning because I find that I waste less groceries that way! These are good tips!
Roxana
Wednesday 6th of September 2017
Meal planning tips are so much sought after these days. Thanks for sharing.
Allison - Celebrating Sweets
Wednesday 6th of September 2017
Meal planning is the key to keeping myself sane. It helps SO much!
Dana
Wednesday 6th of September 2017
Luckily I'm not feeling the weeknight chaos just yet, since I'm currently childless. But that should change in a few years, so I should probably bookmark this for later, haha ;)
Patty @ Spoonabilities
Wednesday 6th of September 2017
These plans are awesome! Thank you for sharing -- I know my weeknights get crazy!