24 Reasons to Gather Around the Dinner Table

How often does your family have dinner together? If you’re like most families nowadays, the answer is probably, “Not very often.”

It’s understandable. Modern families are busy. Both parents work and sometimes get home at different times. Children have activities to go to, and Mom’s got to drive them all over the place. Really, who’s got the time and energy to even cook dinner every single night?

You, that’s who! Eating together is good for you and your family. So you better make time and find the energy to make home-cooked meals and sit down and eat together more often.

Researchers have found many benefits to home-cooked meals.  Watch this video to learn about some of them. In my own experience, though, there are many more. Here are 24 reasons I have found to share family meals more often:

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Menu Plan Monday – Busy Week Ahead

This is going to be a super busy week, so I’m shooting for a simple meal plan.

Monday – meatloaf and homemade mashed potatoes, corn, rolls

Tuesday – grilled chicken thighs, salad, garlic bread

Wednesday – leftovers (chicken enchiladas probably)

Thursday – tacos, Spanish rice

Friday – steak, baked potatoes, salad

Saturday – going out to eat!

Sunday – bbq ribs, beans, potato salad

Don’t forget to head over to Meal Plan Monday for even more meal and recipe ideas!

Menu Plan Monday – May 18 Edition

This week is full of graduations and graduation parties, so I only have to plan dinner for a few nights this week

Anyway… here’s my Menu Plan Monday for the week:

Monday – meatloaf, mashed potatoes, hot rolls

Tuesday – hamburgers on the grill, grilled veggies

Wednesday – graduation ceremony, will either eat out or eat leftovers

Thursday – dh’s birthday, plan is to go out to his favorite steakhouse

Friday – steak, baked potatoes, salad

Saturday – graduation party, will be eating at sil’s house

Sunday – brisket (yum!), homemade mac & cheese, corn on the cob

Hope everyone has a great week.  Don’t forget to head over to Meal Plan Monday for more great meal ideas!

Make Meal Planning Fun

Meal planning can help you save time, money and energy, but sometimes it’s hard to come up with a fresh new meal plan each week.

One way to keep the meals fresh and fun is to get the kids involved.  Ask your kids what some of their top choices are for dinner for the week and choose one or two.  Your kids will be happy because they’re getting some of their favorites and you’re happy because you’ve got some dinner ideas for the week.

Another idea to make meal planning fun is to have theme nights or theme dinners.  Have a Mexican night one week with all the fixin’s for a taco bar or burrito bar, and have a Chinese “take-in” night the next week where you prepare your own stir fry at home.  You can make these nights even more fun by decorating or using fun plates for your theme nights, or including entertainment such as a movie or book that fits your theme for the night.

Although the point of meal planning is to make dinner easy, it helps to shake things up and plan some fun in your menus as well.  Have fun!

Menu Plan Monday – April 27 Edition

Here’s my Menu Plan Monday for the week…

Hubby has been itching to do some grilling, so I’ll let him cook a couple of nights this week

Here’s the menu plan for this week:

Monday – tacos, spanish rice and refried beans

Tuesday – chicken on the grill, will probably do a whole chicken and have mashed potatoes, green beans and some type of bread to go with

Wednesday – leftovers!  we have tons of stuff in the freezer, so it will be a buffet leftover night

Thursday – steak (got on sale last week and froze several), potatoe casserole, salad

Friday – pizza (from Papa Murphy’s – didn’t get it last week, so going to try again this week)

Saturday – ribs on the grill

Sunday – not sure yet, will probably do meatloaf or maybe spicy beef sandwiches from the slow cooker

For more menu planning ideas, head over to Meal Plan Monday. Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday

Here’s my Menu Plan Monday for the week…

Now that tax season is over, I’m looking forward to really cooking again (did a lot of carry out and easy menus during tax season).

Anyway, here’s the menu for this week:

Monday – shake-n-bake pork chops, au gratin potatoes, green beans, rolls

Tuesday – chicken thighs on the grill, baked potato, home made mac-n-cheese, salad

Wednesday – will use leftover chicken from Tuesday to make chicken tacos or chicken enchiladas

Thursday – steak (got on sale last week and froze several), home made mashed potatoes potatoes, fancy green beans (with bacon and onion)

Friday – pizza (hubby’s been craving Papa Murphy’s)

Saturday – stuffed pasta shells, salad and garlic bread (yum!)

Sunday – dh is smoking some ribs on the big green egg (a ceramic grill that he can’t live without)

For more menu plans, head over to Meal Plan Monday.  Have a great week!

The Advantages of Planning Your Meals Ahead

By O Quinn

Do you come home from the office tired and wishing you didn’t have to think about dinner? Are you home all day with little ones and the last thing you want to do when they go down for a nap is get busy in the kitchen? Do you open the fridge ready to come up with a good meal only to find you need to run to the grocery store because you’re out of an ingredient. or two?

There is a remedy for all of this. By planning your meals in advance you can eliminate the last minute rush, the stress of indecision, and free up more time for your family.

Plan your menu:  Plan your meals at least a week in advance.   Browse your local grocery store circular for what is on sale.  Poll your family members for a favorite dish they would like to have or subscribe to a meal planning menu mailer and have the recipes come to you.

Organize your Preparation:  Now just because you have the recipes and even the ingredients don’t think you can just sit back and all will be done.  To maximize this meal planning you should do a little reading ahead and maybe even a little before hand preparation.  Chop onions and freeze them.  See which meats need to be marinated. Maybe you can make a crust or bread dough on a slow day instead of waiting until the day you will serve the dish.

Keep track of favorites:  A great meal feels like a pat on the back.  Make sure you make note of which recipes are keepers.  Have a meal planning notebook that you write them into or type them into your recipe software.  This will help you with meal planning in the future.   After a while all you will have are winning meals!

O Quinn is a work at home mom likes to find ways to automate and simplify the homemaking process while still obtaining excellent results. Visit Meal Planning for more information on planning your dinners in advance.

Menu Plan Monday

Here’s my Menu Plan Monday for the week…

I started a new job this week, so this week’s menu is going to be super easy while I get used to my new schedule.

Monday – chicken enchilada casserole (will post recipe soon)

Tuesday – shake-n-bake pork chops, au gratin potatoes, green beans, rolls

Wednesday – leftovers

Thursday – steak (got on sale last week and froze several), baked potatoes

Friday – pizza

Saturday – Chili or red beans and rice, something slow cooked for sure

Sunday – I’m sure dh will want to grill, so probably chicken or ribs

For more menu plans, head over to Meal Plan Monday.  Have a great week!

Is One of Your New Year’s Resolutions to Lose Weight?

If you’re like me, one of your New Year’s resolutions may be to lose weight, or to eat better, or both.  I think those two resolutions make my list every year

Since I started menu planning, eating healthier has become a lot easier because I plan my meals each week and I only buy what I need to cook those meals.

Which means I buy less junk food and I go out to eat less often.

By meal planning, I’m also more conscious of what I eat and therefore I’m more likely to make better decisions.

Sure, I slip up and grab a bag of chips when I’m at the gas station, or I skip the scheduled meal completely for a large pepperoni pizza instead, but for the most part, I know that meal planning has made this family eat healthier at least 90% of the time.

So, speaking of New Year’s resolutions… how are yours going?  So far we have stuck to our meal plan, even during Sunday football (I can’t tell you how bad I wanted chips and dip, but since it wasn’t on the menu this week, we didn’t have any in the house, and I did NOT give in to my urge to go buy some).

Where To Find Recipes

Even with multiple cookbooks and hundreds of recipes, I still get stuck for ideas for dinner.  And I’m always looking for new recipes.

There are two sites that I love browsing for dinner ideas and for new recipes.  They are:

AllRecipes.com and
Meals.com

In addition to thousands of recipes, these sites also offer articles and tips on cooking, cooking on a budget, entertaining, and eating healthier.

What are your favorite recipe sites?

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