We About The Love of … Dinner!

Anybody else remember family dinners growing up? Coming home from a busy day of work and school, watching mama (or sometimes daddy) whip together something real quick, then sitting together at the dining room table, no electronics or TV, actually talking and sharing a meal together?

Yeah, I miss those days and I can't wait to share memories like that with my own children … but I digress.

Dinner is my favorite meal, because there are so many different things I can make for dinner and enjoy because it's the end of the day and I know I'm relaxing at this point of the day (for the most part). So I can make the heavier dishes that I may have been craving all day.

But, I'm also realistic; everyone is so much busier these days. Running from work, to extra-curricular activities, trying to visit family and friends, and that's all hoping that nothing unexpected goes wrong. Some days, that Chick-Fil-A drive thru line seems so much easier and faster, but that's not going to help your belly or your budget, is it? So I hope that I can help make cooking dinner an easy, yet enjoyable, experience for families once again.

One tip that I can offer busy families, and busy people in general, is to have ingredients for a dinner recipe prepared in advance. It's a form of meal-prepping, but you don't have to cook the food. Let's take for example a baked chicken dinner with roasted vegetable. You can put the chicken pieces and veggies in a Ziploc bag, stick them in a freezer, and then take it out that morning to defrost. Then, when you come home, all you have to do it throw everything into the oven and let it cook - no chopping needed, because you already did the hard work!

Another way to make dinner easier, or at least more fun, is to involve the family. Growing up, as my sister and I got older, we would play a part in creating dinner. Usually, that meant we were making a side dish or the drinks, but it made cooking time go by faster for the kids and there is also a built in time of connection that could be missed during the course of the day.

When it comes to dinner, think of those hearty, warm dishes that fill you up and make you crave more. Unlike breakfast and lunch, you WANT to be full, because (most likely), you're going to be going to bed a couple of hours later and sleep 6-8, during which time, your body will need something to digest until breakfast. So don't be afraid to make something rich and hearty.

We about the love of dinner, so it's time to pull up a chair to the dinner table!