Reduce Mealtime Stress 

Mealtime can be a madhouse.  Kids hiding their peas, feeding their chicken to the dog, and spilling the milk doesn’t seem quite right after you’ve slaved over a hot stove.  Learn to keep stress to a minimum at dinnertime. 

What is the worst part of dinner?  I would say it is the preparation.  After work or a day chasing the kids, the last thing mom wants to do is perspire over a hot stove to fix food that the family will only half eat.  After all that work you may be too tired to even eat. 

Moms, I am coming to the rescue.  Have you thought about a menu planning service?  This service provides busy moms with menus tailored to the needs of their families.  They also provide shopping lists to keep your pantry stocked full of things that can be used for any number of meals.  Some services also offer organizational tips for meal prep to make it easier for busy moms to cope with dinner. 

Most of the meal recipes are simple and can be prepared ahead of time or on the spot with ease.  Sometimes we just don’t know what to fix or what the kids will eat.  They offer kid friendly recipes, as well. 

For the mom who would rather not spend a lot of time in her kitchen, spend some time in someone else’s.  Franchises like Let’s Dish® offer mock kitchens in their facilities for busy people to make meals ahead of time.  The premise is simple.  They take all the guesswork out of fixing a meal. 

Easy to follow recipes are posted at various prep stations.  All the ingredients are right there with the appropriate measuring utensils.  The meats are fresh and lean to provide a healthy meal base for your family.  You can prepare as many or as few meals as you want.  A full portion contains six servings while a half contains three. 

At dinnertime, it takes only about thirty to forty minutes to prepare each meal.  Most of them you just pop it into the oven and set the timer.  They offer side dishes and desserts as well.  You can arrive home at the same time as your family and have dinner ready thirty minutes later with your family instead of washing dishes. 

If there isn’t a program like this near your home, you can create one with a few friends. Make a shopping list to create a few staples. Maybe Chili, lasagna, and chicken soup. Then, instead of making batches for one family, you each make a monster-sized batch, and share. You can do this all together or separately and just meet to split up the meals. Either way, you’ll save a lot of time and money. 

Investing in a crock pot is a great idea.  Crock pots allow moms to cook an entire meal while she’s somewhere else.  Add all of your ingredients the morning of, set the dial on low, and leave for work.  That evening, dinner is served and there’s only one pot to clean.  Some crock pots have removable centers that can be cleaned in the dishwasher.  How simple is that? 

Dinner doesn’t have to make you cringe.  Make it easy by planning ahead.  That way, everyone gets a good meal without the fuss.