Dinner Tips
Healthier Eating
Include more vegetables in your meals. Instead of thinking of meat at the center of your plate, think of it as a garnish to vegetable-based meals.
Keep healthy snacks on hand and don’t bring junk food home. Try keeping cut raw vegetables in the fridge for after-school snacks. Instead of a candy bar, try a sliced apple with peanut butter spread on the slices.
Watch portion sizes. We tend to eat what’s on our plate, so use smaller plates to provide the impression that your plate is loaded with food. Also, keep an eye on how much you put on your plate. Serve food onto plates in the kitchen and leave the serving dishes off the table when you sit down to eat.
Eat more whole grains. Substitute brown rice for white and whole wheat pasta for white flour pasta, for instance. Bring home a new grain and give it a try. How about quinoa, millet or barley?
Try non-animal sources of protein like tofu, beans and rice, and nuts. In addition to being cholesterol-free, non-animal proteins are usually cheaper as well.
Speedy Meal Preparation
Remove the stress around getting dinner on the table with some simple steps – find the ones that work for you and your family.
Whenever possible, plan your meals at least a few days in advance. You can remove a lot of stress if you know what you’re making for dinner ahead of time.
Keep a well-stocked pantry. Think about the kind of meals your family enjoys and keep those ingredients on hand. It’s a lot easier to pull a quick meal together when you don’t have to run to the store first.
Do your “mise en place”. That’s a fancy way of saying: read the recipe first and make sure you have everything you need to make it. Get all the ingredients out and prepared before you start cooking. There’s not much more frustrating than starting to cook and realizing that you’re missing a key ingredient.
Cook ahead if you can. Prepare meals when you’ve got time. Make an extra casserole or roast two chickens instead of one (you can use the second chicken for sandwiches or tacos). If you’re making soup, make a double batch and freeze half. Consider your freezer a “savings account” for future meals.
Get everyone involved. Even the youngest members of the family can help out in the kitchen. Assign mealtime tasks to everyone in the family: someone sets the table, another person makes the salad dressing and someone else washes the salad greens while you put the finishing touches on the main course.
Making Dinner Time Extra Special
Candles at the table. Even young children can learn to slow down a bit and be careful enough to enjoy candlelight at the dinner table.
Music. Consider revolving choices: perhaps a different family member chooses music to accompany dinner each night with some guidelines (for example, not too loud, not overly distracting, appropriate for all family members).
Fancier place settings: perhaps have special placemats or plates for dinner only.
Begin the meal with some kind of ritual: touch glasses for a toast, toast with simple words such as “bon appétit”, hold hands during a moment of silence, or say a prayer. Start your own family ritual, or ask relatives what they did when they were young and discover an old tradition.
Wait until everyone (including the cook) is sitting at the table to begin the meal.
Turn off the television. Don’t bring cell phones or other devices to the table. If the phone rings, let voicemail kick in.
Involve the whole family in the process of preparing the meal. This not only involves the preparation of food, but it also includes setting the table, choosing music (if you decide to play music) and cleaning up afterwards.