Easy Dinners that Bring Smiles
We know that family meals are good for our health, and to combat the diet messages our children see on social media, we need to model healthy eating behavior at the kitchen table. One benefit of family meals is that we tend to eat more vegetables. Another correlation is that our kids engage in less risky behaviors like unprotected sex and underage drinking and drug use.
Still, even when family meals are a priority, they aren’t easy. Most of us struggle with finding the time for planning and cooking. There’s also the creative component of satisfying different food preferences and keeping the menu somewhat interesting. Then, we have the challenge of schedules lining up.
Here are 5 steps to make your family meals easier:
Let’s start with agreeing to mealtimes. I encourage families to find time to come together around the table whenever they can - Sunday night dinners, lunch on Saturdays, breakfast on Wednesdays. Agree to come together at least a few times per week and stick to the plan. Dinner is what we traditionally think of as a family meal time, but it doesn’t have to be.
Now the menu solution. If you are the primary food buyer/planner/cook, ask every member of your family for meal ideas every week. I don’t recommend being alone in the “ideation phase,” otherwise resentment can build and any joy you have around cooking may soon diminish. Be open to meal ideas that aren’t what you’d choose. One client’s young son suggested grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. She added a plate of snap peas and carrot slices to round it out and now it’s a go-to meal. She sometimes offers two different store-bought soups since tomato soup isn’t her favorite.
Make a list of meals you know how to make, enjoy making (at least a little bit), and that your family likes to eat! Post this list somewhere visible so that you have some past ideas to refer to quickly when new ideas aren’t coming easily. Also, invite others to add to the list. If you need help getting started, ask friends and family outside your home for their favorite go-to recipes and dinner ideas.
Plan your next family meal 24 hours ahead of time. Let’s start with this scenario: Everyone helps clean up after a family meal or someone is assigned to that task other than the cook. While the kitchen is being cleaned, you look at your produce drawer, pantry, and freezer to plan what’s for dinner the following night. By giving yourself 24 hours, you have time to thaw something, buy a missing ingredient, or plan to order in or go out if the task of preparing another meal feels too big. By planning the night before, you can focus more on what you want the next day - like work, your next art project, whatever - without having that nagging voice in the back of your mind saying, what are you going to do about dinner tonight?
I’m a big fan of clearing out headspace, especially around food and body issues, and this meal planning tip has helped many clients over the years. Planning one meal seems manageable since most people I’ve worked with aren’t able to plan multiple meals several days in advance.
If you don’t know how, learn some basic cooking skills. Contact me for an in-person cooking class in your home! I’ve worked in professional kitchens, as a recipe developer, and consider cooking a serious hobby. Plus, I’m a mom who’s faced similar challenges to yours, so I’m passionate about easy techniques that produce delicious, crowd-pleasing meals without tons of clean-up. I suggest techniques and menu ideas according to your family’s preferences.
Here’s a list of 10 dinner ideas from my table to yours:
Frozen meatballs with spaghetti and marinara + green salad
Breakfast burritos with scrambled eggs, avocado, sour cream and salsa + snap peas, cherry tomatoes, and carrot sticks
Grilled chicken with tangy Tajin seasoning, jasmine rice, tzatziki sauce, whole wheat pita bread, and sliced tomatoes
Sauteed ground turkey, pork or beef with taco seasoning, canned pinto beans, tortillas, guac and sour cream + carrot sticks
Baked chicken thighs, roasted vegetables, focaccia or Acme’s herb slab bread (for Bay Area folks!) + salad with sherry vinaigrette
BLTs and chips + carrots and snap peas
Rice cooker creamy polenta, braised greens with garlic and hard grated cheese like Pecorino Romano, fried eggs
Grilled or broiled fish (halibut, cod...) with chili, cajun, or Old Bay seasoning, corn and wheat tortillas, spicy slaw, and avocado slices
Grilled salmon with coriander, grilled zucchini, grilled corn on the cob
Spaghetti carbonara + salad with sherry vinaigrette
Would you like to share your easy dinner ideas with our community of 550+members? Comment below.
