FYI, I have a guest post today on the Storked! blog at glamour.com about not pitying kids with special needs, please swing by and weigh in—it would be awesome for more of our voices to be heard.
First, though, share your two cents here! I was recently chatting with Laurie David, a dynamo who's passionate about raising awareness of environmental issues—check out her Stop Global Warming Virtual March.
Not long ago, as she was at dinner with her kids and they were having a great conversation, something major occurred to her. Her epiphany, in her own words: "This is one thing I've done really RIGHT with my kids!"
The result is an upcoming book on family dinner, filled with stories, Laurie's tricks, recipes and quotes from famous foodies and parenting experts. As Laurie says, she's doing it "so that everyone looks forward to sitting down together as the high point of the day."
Here at our house, we are not so great with family dinners during the weekdays because of work schedules, and it bothers me; Laurie's inspired me to figure out a way. Meanwhile, she would love to hear your dinner tricks for when you're "short on time and chaos is looming." Just a few sentences about your proven successes and your family's name for the dish/dinner. She gives this example from one mom she spoke with:
"Sometimes for dinner all we do is make scrambled eggs with a bit of cheese and whatever vegetable we find in the fridge. We serve it on toast with a salad. We call them 'Scramble Nights' and the kids love it!"
Given that my favorite tip is "Hey, let's order in!", I'm figuring you guys are going to have better ones. Share?
Photo by Siouxsiette
Last week we had a winter picnic. I made hot dogs and hamburgers (mine was a veggie burger), fresh fruit and a pasta salad. My husband helped by being the grill-master and my daughter helped by setting the table and making paper ants! It was a lot of fun - and a very easy meal to throw together.
ReplyDeleteWe eat dinner every night as a family and some nights are much more elaborate than others. On nights I need it simple and or fast, I pull out spaghetti sauce from the freezer (I make a huge pot ever few weeks or so for our Sunday early and nice family dinner) and serve it with salad and garlic bread. I use the crockpot on days I know I will be gone late. I freeze the leftover half pans of lasagna.
ReplyDeleteOur last name is Henry and we make "Henry Salad". Everyone gets to pick out something to put in the salad, and everyone has a job. My husband, and son wash and cut veggies, I deal with cutting the meat, eggs, bacon, or whatever, and my daughter with special needs likes to put the dishes, salad dressing, napkins, etc. on the table. She loves to move all of that stuff around and stacks the plates, and do it all over again. That keeps her busy, and she gets to help too!
ReplyDeleteI just posted my go-too meal to do on crazy nights when the goal is to fill the bellies and avoid chaos. Waffle Sundaes. Here is a link to my post that mentions them: http://lifeintrixieland.blogspot.com/2010/01/catch-up-lunch-post.html
ReplyDeleteMost nights, to be honest, we eat at my folks' house. My mom is a great cook, and we have a real Beaver Cleaver time of it (though there's no fine china, in fact, paper plates aren't uncommon). It's really easy to have great family dinners when you're not the one doing the heavy lifting! I make/bring dessert or salads some times (where I work the cooks make some great pies and cakes) but I don't have to do the hard work much of the time.
ReplyDeleteIn good weather we do a lot of cooking out, but in winter, we have stews and pretty much anything that requires the use of the oven (to heat up the house).
We do salmon a lot. I just pour barbecue sauce over salmon and broil in the oven for 15 minutes. For sides, I cut a potato and a an eggplant into flat slices, cover with italian dressing and put in the oven below the salmon. Then you have veggie, potato and fish. The eggplant and potato end up looking pretty similar so my son will usually just dip both in ketchup and not realize he's eating a veggie.
ReplyDeleteWe will also throw anything in a tortilla and eat it. Leftover chicken, black beans, pork, steak, scrambled eggs, stir fry, veggies...so many things can be hidden in a tortilla and with salsa and shredded cheese on top....it all tastes v. good.
We try for the 'fast but healthy' option and usually anything that can go in the oven does. Salmon with baked potato and baked veg, that kind of thing. (sprinkle some cajun spices on the salmon and you will never go back to 'naked' salmon again!!). I, like a previous commentor, cook two dinners and freeze for another night. Its not easy to do the 'delicious dinner from scratch' for many people, but the important thing is to try and sit down together, even if it is with takeout. Dinnertime is when we do 'newstime' and each of us gets a turn to tell something good and something bad that happened during the day and we chat about it. Once thats done then conversation just rolls back and forth:) Jen.
ReplyDeleteWe do a wraps / taco bar. I have wraps or hard taco shells, and put out baked beans, shredded cheese, cottage cheese, diced tomatoes, cucumbers and canned corn all in their own bowls (we're kosher, so no meat with cheese). And ketchup, of course. The kids can make any combo they want, as long as it contains both a veggie and a protein. My kids now know what falls into the starch, vegetable and protein categories, and that a meal usually contains all three.
ReplyDeleteOn Shabboses, I'll sometimes do a similar thing with rice, steamed brocolli, mushrooms, canned chinese vegetables,chunks of chicked cutlets and beef cubes- build your own chinese. The chicken and beeg can be made in advance and stored in ziplocs in the freezer.
We're lousy about family dinner, but Charlie is an ace at restaurants. New Orleans culture involves LOTS of eating out, so Charlie had already been to his first big-name restaurant before his first birthdya. We have maybe one day a week where we all sit down to dinner, and maybe one other night a week where we go out. We're working on it, but it's hard.
ReplyDeleteSince Laurie is from Los Angeles, she must be aware of the enormous popularity of tacos, and my sons' favorite dinner is taco night. I think it's the little bowls of fixings and make-it-yourself aspect that excites them. Their Dad is a chef, though, so food is part of their make-up. Sadly, they don't appreciate his thirty years experience and would rather just have a taco bar. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteSandwiches and soup and cut-up apples. The kids love it. The soup is usually a veggie soup, so it's healthy (I usually make a big pot on weekends). Cut up apples happen to be my daughters favorite food. So, dinner in a snap!
ReplyDeleteWe're suckers for the boring ole Friday Night Pizza Night! I finally honed in my dough recipe and made it repeatable, so we look forward to it all week long (it also marks the start of a few video games for the weekend!)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up about once a week we would have "Smorgasbord Dinner" - my mother would call my brother and I each to the fridge to choose which of the week's leftovers we wanted for dinner and then she would reheat them and we would eat together as a family. It was a quick meal, and it made sure the leftovers got eaten. We could also choose a sandwich & soup if we did not like any of the leftovers.
ReplyDeletePowerful column on Glamour!
ReplyDeleteHaven't had a chance to respond. Congrats -- excellent.
I'm so glad you posted a link to your Glamour article. I went searching for it the other day and couldn't find it. Now I have read it and it made me cry. You are such a good writer. Anyway, we are not good with dinner during the week, my husband is gone Monday thru Friday so we really snack for dinner. I'll get Laurie's book when it comes out.
ReplyDeleteI heard a great line today ...
ReplyDeleteKeep your fork.
As in, as the dishes are swept away, keep your fork as the best is yet to come.
I like that about family dinners and life in general!!
My crockpot can be a lifesaver. There are so many great recipes on the web and I try a few a week.
ReplyDeleteWe also have family taco night and everyone gets to make their favorite tacos for dinner.
When my son was close to 1 year of age, I told my hubby "okay it's time we start eating at the table regularly as a family". I had always eaten at the table w/my parents and brother and it was important that I do that w/my own family. We made a compromise-Fri & Sat night could be dinner & a movie or catching up on shows, but the rest of the week was at the table, conversating and connecting. My son is now 20m and we're going strong! :)
ReplyDeletesoup is always a good quick dinner with some crusty bread
ReplyDeleteWhen we're running short on time (or energy) we have "greasy noodles night". Basically it's linguine noodles with butter, parmesean cheese, basil, garlic salt, black pepper, red hot pepper flakes, parsley flakes and a touch of olive oil. Then we toss in the mystery meat; whatever is handy...shrimp, chicken, or maybe just more cheese! The only thing you have to do is cook the noodles and the meat and then toss it all together. I don't even measure the spices, just toss 'em on top, much as you like.
ReplyDeleteBefore I had kids I thought routine was boring but now that I have twin boys (age 5) routine is my friend! Mondays leftovers (because I usually do a big meal on Sunday), crockpot, mexican, breakfast and Friday is pizza night. The meals change but with having a starting point helps me plan.
ReplyDeleteWhen in a pinch, I usually make waffles or pancakes, with a canned fruit salad and some frozen sausage links.
ReplyDeleteSometimes for regular meals, we liven things up with fun party napkins with pictures on them. Not a groundbreaking idea, but it adds a little excitement to an otherwise boring meal.
I try and have "crockpot day" once a week to relieve some of the dinnertime crazies and other times when we've got bits and pieces of leftovers and a smattering of things in the pantry I make "refrigerator soup" and throw in all in a big pot with some pasta or rice. Family dinner is important and so I try to have some quick meals (spaghetti, Boboli pizza) for those crazy days when i can't cook anything else.
ReplyDelete