Finding time for the always-important family dinner can be extra challenging when the fall schedule of activities gets into full swing. Sports and other after-school activities fill the calendar, making dinner preparation — and even eating together — tough to do on a daily basis.
If daily family dinners are not possible for your family, you can still reap the benefits of this valuable family time by planning a dedicated meal together at least once a week (Souper Wednesday, Friday Family BBQ, Sunday Family Brunch).
3 Ways to be a Supper Super Hero in your home:
1. PLAN PLAN PLAN. Having a plan will always make it easier to get dinner on the table. Make your weekly meal planning easier by using themes (Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Pizza Friday, etc.) and/or by picking meal categories (Fish, Soup, Pasta, Stir Fry, etc.). When you plan, you’ll have the food you need on hand, and you can do the prep work ahead of time (make and freeze, chop and refrigerate).
2. Prep for Home and Away.
- Home: Get healthy dinners on the table quickly by preparing the entrée over the weekend or early in the day so that at dinner time it only needs to be heated and assembled. Pre-cook large batches of proteins (roast a number of chicken breasts, cook a large pot of beans), and carbs/grains to use in multiple meals all week.
- Away: If evening events make it hard to eat together at home, eat together on the road. Pack healthy picnic dinners for the car or stadium (we have a friend who eats a lot of picnic dinners at the Lacrosse field). You can pack dinner while packing lunch in the morning or the night before. When you pack a dinner, you won’t be limited to fast-food or concession stand snacks.
3. Enhance Your Super Powers (we’re here to help you, but these are super resources too). These books have recipes and ideas on how to make the family dinner work for your schedule and meals:
- The Family Dinner: Great ways to connect with your kids, one meal at a time, by Laurie David
- The Mom 100 Cookbook: 100 Recipes Every Mom Needs In Her Back Pocket: Solutions for all the cooking-for-kids dilemmas that everyone faces every day, by Katie Workman
- Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy ideas and recipes that make everyone feel like family, by Ina Garten
- Café Cooking at Home, by Pascal Rigo and the Chefs and Bakers of La Boulange
- Family Table: Favorite Staff Meals from Our Restaurants to Your Home, by Michael Romano & Karen Stabiner
You’re Super. Up, Up, and Away!
