Favorite dinnertime strategies?

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2007
Favorite dinnertime strategies?
17
Fri, 03-23-2007 - 10:29am

Hi - I am a Food Professional and love talking to consumers about food and recipes. Being a Mom myself, I always am looking to see what other Moms find helps them beat the "what's for dinner" blues - do you have some particular strategies that help you?

And not just to make the dinner, but get the kids to eat it?

I love precut and washed veggies and salads myself - and with some cooked steak or chicken on the salad (rotisserie chicken perhaps?) it can come together quickly. Jazzing it up with some fun toppings (cheese, chow mein noodles, etc.) helps to get the kids to eat.

What helps you???

Lisa

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Fri, 03-23-2007 - 11:32pm

When my kids were growing up, I owned restaurants so dinner was always in a carry out container, home made, but they started to really have an issue with me cooking for them at work and bringing it home.

hunk 'o, hunk 'o burnin' heartburn!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-16-2004
Sat, 03-24-2007 - 10:47am

I am no longer a step mum but I used to be one and my my favorite

Avatar for ntaylor908
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Sat, 03-24-2007 - 3:14pm

My lifesaver has been writing out a weekly menu and planning one weekly shopping trip. This ensures that I don't have 5 different recipes that "sound good" but missing ingredients for each one. It also gives me more freedom to try new things since I bought the ingredients ahead of time.

We make dinner time a priority--we never eat on the go--it's always at the dinner table. My 2 year old always helps me make dinner (even when I'd rather that he just go play and let me do it myself--he's glued to my side). Even if it's just getting potatoes out of the bag and handing them to me to wash and peel, he loves to be involved. He loves to know the ingredients that go into things, so I sometimes feel like I'm hosting my own cooking show each night as I give him a play-by-play of everything I'm doing. He's got some each recipes memorized. He definitely knows how to whip up a fabulous fruit smoothie and he knows how to make Kraft Mac & Cheese by heart!

I stick to simple recipes--most of our meals are meat, starch, and veggie. I do a few casseroles too. Sometimes I give the food a fun name to get my son more interested in it--like eating "trees" instead of broccoli or "chips and dip" instead of Mexican Chicken Casserole.

This was a fun topic, thanks!

Nicole
Mommy to Aaron and Claire

PS--I am the aforementioned "daughter" to k-roni!

Nicki
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sat, 03-24-2007 - 4:25pm

We DO have the same approach, Nicki!

hunk 'o, hunk 'o burnin' heartburn!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2007
Sun, 03-25-2007 - 7:27pm

What great thoughts - thanks.

Even when the meal is prepared, it is often so hard to get the kids to eat it - especially the veggies.

When we were little my Mom let us put catsup on verything - and now they say that catsup is a vegetable - so I guess it wasn't a bad thought.

My daughter Julie likes catsup and spaghetti sauce on her food - but hates tomatoes - go figure it! But she really likes to have either cheese sauce or shredded cheese over her veggies to "disguise" them. Is this something your kids like?

We always eat in our eat-in-kitchen. I have a dining room but don't even have furniture in it - I am not into the formal eating area myself. Having everyone in the kitchen is more comforting to me.

Lisa

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Sun, 03-25-2007 - 10:46pm

My brother was diabetic, so the veggies and fruits were SOOO important.

hunk 'o, hunk 'o burnin' heartburn!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2007
Mon, 03-26-2007 - 3:05pm

So many people are like Dear ole Mom - cooking veggies way too much. I agree - just lightly steam them or saute them and they are DELISH.

And put a bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some freshly ground pepper and you are good to go.

Does your family like to grate their cheese on food at the table or do you buy it already grated?

Lisa

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 03-26-2007 - 7:17pm
I LOVE fresh grated, but keep the store bought stuff on hand because it's just me here and I don't cook all that often anymore.

hunk 'o, hunk 'o burnin' heartburn!

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-04-2003
Tue, 03-27-2007 - 12:57pm

For a long time, my littlest brother would only eat his veggies if he had "dip" for them. It didn't matter what dip was, he just needed something to dip them in.
So, sometimes it was catsup, salad dressing, or what other thing we could find.

He's over that now and loves his veggies along with other foods. :)



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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2007
Tue, 03-27-2007 - 2:59pm

I got to try something new through my work in the Kitchens at Kraft - a new Parmesan cheese called Grate-It-Fresh. It had the grater built into the canister and is a nice big chunk of real Parmesan cheese that is a good quality. And since it is fresh, it has a really great taste.

So I can just put the canister on the table and the kids can do it themselves - and don't they love that! No more looking for the grater and having to help the little ones.

We've started using it for everything - veggies, salads, pasta. I hope we can see some other varieties in the same format - because we love having different choices at my house.

LISA

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