Dinner!!?? Dinner's a Thing of the Past! Forget Dinner!!!

I caught up with a friend recently who has four kids, and having not seen her for a while, we were talking about family and she began to list off the various after school activities that she spends her life ferry-ing her offpring around to each day.

I felt tired after about 30 seconds and when she was telling me that some of these activities can take her up to 8.30 at night (!!), I asked her when she has time to make dinner. The title of this little blurb was her response.

Well, I became hysterical, for some reason I got the giggles and kept laughing for the rest of the day at the thought…”Don’t be ridiculous child, what do you mean you want to be fed? We’ve got to get to soccer practise!”

She saw the humour in it too and went on to tell me that one night of the week is Maccas in between games and the rest of the time she just throws something together and hopes for the best.

So I got to thinking, how can we make dinner actually work in this hectic day and age? (Over-scheduling our kids is a whole other post, see the archives for some previous discussions)

We have 1 or 2 nights a week that are pretty crazy and so on those nights we either do take away (Thai or some sort of Asian can be good for veggies) or I make the meal during the day. When I have to work or study and don’t have a chance, I try to make a big batch of something the day before and keep or freeze extra portions.

I am actually a big fan of dinner after school if you can make it work. You get a good meal into the kids when they’re hungry and then they can have milk or fruit afterwards for a snack before bed.
Often dads don’t get home in time to eat dinner with the fam and on those nights I try to get the kids to have a snack or a hot drink with dad when he’s having his meal so we can sit around the table and chat.

Because this is all about logistics we make sure that Friday nights are family nights eating together as well as most meals over the weekend.
You have to do what works for your family, but can I encourage you to think it all through and do what you can to get control. Don’t just let the schedule happen to you and your family….make it work for you!

If you have done this and you’ve got a plan, tell us! Share your secrets!

On the topic of easier dinner times…this is what we had last night and it took no time at all.

You’ll need brown or basmati rice, 2 tins tuna in brine, a tin of brown lentils, a tin of chopped tomatoes and some garlic and onion to taste.

Chop up and sauté the garlic and onion, pop the rice on, then throw the rest in the pan with the garlic and onion. Let it simmer till the rice is cooked, add some salt and pepper to taste and off you go!
Easy and really nutritious and the kids won’t even notice the lentils!

Have a great day,
Lv Jane