Got Dinner?

By: Susan Heid of The Confident Mom

“We are so busy!” Sound familiar?  This is the most common excuse for families eating on the go and eating apart.  Now, I know for me, the last few weeks have been just the beginning of things to come.  We have two boys in baseball and it means baseball nearly 6 days a week! I can honestly say that I am thankful my high school daughter did not make the softball team this year; we would never have all the children home at the same time!  But with just the boys in baseball, we will be lucky to have one evening off to enjoy a leisurely dinner together as a family, and I am dreading it.

With the burst of spring also comes the flood of activities for families and the reality that dinner around the table is more like dinner in the mini-van.  But it doesn’t have to be and I think I have come up with some creative ideas that can help busy Family Managers tame the fast-food drive thru temptation and keep the focus on family and time together – even in the midst of some crazy schedules.

· Creativity is key

So, it may be reality that dinner at 6 PM will no longer be possible.  But how about an earlier dinner?  Does your family have a flexible schedule?  Can you eat right when kids get home from school rather than later?  Skipping the snack after school and having dinner right away has worked well for us at different times depending on the various activities our kids are in.  You can just swap snack time and do snack later in the evening while you are at an activity or coming home from an activity.  Or, have a family breakfast in place of the dinner hour.  Nothing says that you have to have “dinner” together, why not make a breakfast casserole and share that as a family in the morning before everyone leaves?  Figure out what other alternatives may work for your family to eat together, it is extremely important, research has shown – so make the effort rather than just throwing in the towel.

· Picnic anyone?

This is another “creative” idea that tends to get sidelined when you are not planning for a special outing.  When I know ahead of time that our family will be at a baseball game at 7 PM that evening, I plan to pack a dinner for us all to share while watching the game.  Are we all together?  Well, not exactly, one child is always playing or practicing, but the feel of ‘most’ of us eating together makes a difference.  It also cuts down on the expense if I have taken the time to make sandwiches or a big pasta salad to enjoy together rather than stopping off for fast food or another unhealthy alternative.  Although I will say, Subway has a great deal on those $5 foot longs and sometimes a mom just has to do it – sanity is important!  But we always just buy sandwiches and bring veggies, drinks and other small snacks from home.

· ‘To Go’ Snack Bin

We have a bin in our big suburban that contains snacks and bottles of water.  It is always someone’s job to keep it filled with granola bars, beef jerky, nuts, and other non-perishable snacks that will help ward off the grouchiness of hunger for everyone – even mom! Now, before I get any bad comments, we always try to put an emphasis on bringing along drinks in re-useable containers, but when we have rushed out or have unforeseen “thirst” these bottles of water are there. Now, whether we are at a baseball game, going to practice or just out doing errands there is always a healthy snack and drink available and I am not tempted to stop or do I have to listen to the often accompanying whining that occurs when a child is on the verge of starvation.  You know the one…..long and drawn out.  This bin is also filled with gum and a few other treats which are often “desired” when you are at sporting events. Don’t get me wrong, it is not like we never support to Little League Snack Shack, but we do not do it every game!  It is a special treat and much easier on the budget.

· When things get back to normal

So, when things calm down again and you find time to enjoy dinner at home – maybe sometime around mid June, I want to share with you my sanity keeper! As busy moms, dinner preparation and planning is a big thorn in our side. I can totally relate and was getting rather frustrated with the whole process; picking recipes that my family liked, shopping, preparing and staying within our budget. For those who have followed me awhile, you know my secret weapon: EMealz. Since I have been using this service for menu planning my life has been changed and I am a much happier person when the dinner hour approaches! I get a menu with 7 meals and recipes on it each Wednesday – including a shopping list. I can easily get all the ingredients I need and then I am not running to the store at the last minute because I need something for a recipe. I can know each morning what is for dinner and each recipe is quick, easy and very tasty! A little bit of planning has saved my sanity, produced better meals for my family and reduced our food budget. If you haven’t check it out, please do not let another day go by, you will not be sorry!

Hopefully a few ideas were new to you on how you can plan dinner with more ease whether you are eating in or eating on the go.  I know as your children get older more things creep into the sacred family dinner hour.  It is hard to put your foot down.  More often than not, just as most moms do so well, we tweak things just a bit in order to work with what we have and make the best of things!  I would love to hear if you have additional ideas from you on this topic – please share.

Susan Heid helps moms get the BIG picture on how their home is functioning and then helps them gain relief with a personalized plan of action to give life changing results.  Susan’s training as a PCI Certified Parent Coach. a Certified Family Manager Coach and a ScreamFree Certified Leader gives her a unique combination to encourage and support busy moms in the art of Home and Family Management.  Empowering Moms and Strengthening Families is her passion.  Are you ready to make positive changes that will impact your family for generations?  You can start by visiting The Confident Mom and requesting her FREE ebook, “Getting Kids to Cooperate and Become Team Players – 10 Essential Strategies and Solutions”.

Top Eight Healthy New Year Habits for Families

As the New Year begins, many families try to begin with a clean slate and resolve to create healthier habits.  The holidays are often a time when unhealthy habits are created by indulging in sugary treats and fattening foods and drinks, which are plentiful between Thanksgiving and the New Year.  Everyone can benefit from a fresh start in the New Year whether the goal is to lose weight, improve health, or just to live a healthy lifestyle.  Here are the top eight ways to create healthier family habits in the New Year.

1. Make it a group effort: Involve everyone in the healthy New Year plan to prevent “a new sherriff in town” scenario.  Sit down as a family, decide which foods need to be banned from the house, and establish which healthy foods would be suitable alternatives.  Clean out the refrigerator and pantry together as a team effort, eliminating sugar laden and processed foods.  Go to the grocery store as a family to choose fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to restock the kitchen with the agreed upon healthy choices.
2. Create a meal plan: All successful endeavors begin with a carefully formulated plan.  Decide ahead of time what type of healthy meals will work for your family, and request meal suggestions from everyone.  Consider having a regular routine, such as Sunday leftovers on Monday, Taco Tuesdays, crock-pot Wednesdays, stir-fry Thursdays, etc.  Be sure to plan for snacks as well, such as fruit and veggies at predetermined times like after school or in the afternoons on weekends.
3. Cook more often: By making meals at home, it’s possible to choose the leanest cuts of meat and fresh vegetables.  Restaurants often use too much salt and sugar and rely on canned and processed foods, which have a negative impact on health.  Kids are more likely to eat foods that they have had an opportunity to choose and prepare, so include everyone in the meal preparation.
4. Start each day with breakfast: Eating breakfast every day is important for many health reasons.  Many studies have shown benefits to eating a morning meal, such as better mental performance, eating less over the course of the day, and improved weight control.  If time is an issue, make breakfast simple with a delicious protein shake, or a serving of fruit and a protein source such as eggs or nuts.
5. Watch portion sizes: A healthy plate should be made up primarily of salad, vegetables, fruit, and whole grains.  The smallest portion should be a lean protein choice, which should be around three ounces.  Experiment with using smaller plates and eating the healthiest foods at a meal first.
6. Eat together: Sitting down to dinner as a family is an important way to model healthy eating behaviors to children.  Family meals are an opportunity to bond and connect.
7. Include exercise: Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.  Be sure to include an exercise plan into your family health plan.  Suggestions include daily walks together, bike riding if the weather allows, or possibly doing a workout class on the television.
8. Keep everyone motivated: Rewards are a powerful source of motivation, so choose a reward that everyone will look forward to with excitement.  Choose a few small rewards that can be earned on a more frequent basis, such as a family trip to the movies, iTunes cards, or an activity such as bowling.  A more substantial reward such as a weekend trip or a family health club membership should be determined to keep everyone inspired for a six to eight week time period, which is long enough to create healthy habits.

There may be some resistance initially to revamping unhealthy habits.  By including everyone in the decision, planning, and execution of a healthier routine, it will be more likely to have cooperation from everyone.  Remember to create a plan and involve the kids in creating menus and meal plans.  Fun rewards will keep everyone motivated and inspired to have a healthy New Year.

Cheryl Heppard of www.MichiganHealthCoach.com is a board certified health counselor who assists clients who are struggling with weight loss or health issues.  Her website has free resources such as printable recipes, menus, and meal plans, as well as free monthly health tips to subscribers.

All New Dry Erase Boards, Weekly.agenda, and SchoolPriorities.pad

Get ready for the start of back to school with our new dry erase boards, the Weekly.agenda, and the SchoolPriorities.pad.

Dry erase boards are a great way to leave family messages or keep track of lists, chores, and daily routines.  Available in 5 great designs and a lot of great colors, these dry erase boards can be used in the kitchen, library, or on the backs of your kids’ bedroom doors. Read more

Mom Essentials and Mom’s Ultimate Family Organizer

All new!  The Mom’s Ultimate Family Organizer and Mom Essenstials organizer are yet another possible solution to help busy mom’s get it all done with their sanity in check.  Save 15% off these great new products and others with the coupon code earlybird. Offer expires 7/31/2009.

The latest addition to our collection of mom planners, the Mom Essentials organizer has it all.  This planner keeps track of your family schedule, do lists, important contacts, menus, grocery lists, notes, and much more all in a handy compact uncomplicated place.

The Mom’s Ultimate Family Organizer is the latest addition to our collection of family organizers.  This comprehensive one stop family organizer keeps track of your family’s schedule, household contacts and friends, menu planning, party planning, travel planning ,lists and notes, and includes many helpful tips and resources as well. This 128 page family organizer measures 11″ x 11-5/8″, comes in a sturdy 3-ring binder, with 5 tabbed pocket dividers, and 1 sheet of 4 sticky-note pads.

Laptop Lunch Boxes

Over the next few weeks we will be adding a whole new line of earth friendly products.  Our first product in the launch of our new line is the Laptop Lunch Box.  The Laptop Lunch Box is the perfect way to offer your kids nutritious fun lunch choices while greatly reducing the use of paper and plastic bags.  Available in 5 great colors, the Laptop Lunch Box is the perfect solution for busy families on the go who are looking for eco-friendly healthy meal alternatives.

Teaching Our Kids How to Choose a President

Kids ask a lot of questions.  And lately I have been getting a lot of questions from my soon to be 12 year old and 10 year old about my choice for President in November.  They have shown a keen interest in this year’s election partly because they are now old enough to understand some of it and in part because they want to understand where I stand on the candidates, issues, and my reasons why.  I love their enthusiasm and look forward to their questions every day, but I have to admit sometimes I can’t answer their questions and I come away feeling like I haven’t given them or this election 110%.  So because I believe firmly in walking the talk, I have come up with hopefully a creative fun way of discussing the candidates and their stance on the issues as a family with a Presidential Issue Board.  I am doing it in part for them and in part for me.  For them so they can learn about the issues, candidates, and our election process, and for me so that I can honestly say when I go to vote on November 4^th that I understood the issues, where the candidates stand, and that I exercised my right to vote with 110% effort. Read more

Family Meals Made Easy for November

Great Recipes, Helpful Hints, and Fun Ideas

Family Fun Idea

The next couple of months we are going to use dinner time as a way of establishing meaningful opportunities to talk with our kids. Using dinner time to engage in meaningful conversations with each other is an easy way to reconnect, share thoughts, and check the pulse of the family. This isn’t something that should be forced in the family. The ideas for conversation are just thought starters. Feel free to modify them as needed for your family’s tastes and ages. They are meant to be answered by both parents and kids.

Conversation Starter Idea

For the kids - When you become a parent, what things will you do differently and what things will you do the same? Why?

For the parents - Now that you are a parent, how is your parenting style different from your parents? What things are you doing differently and what things are you doing the same?

Why this Question is Important….

Giving kids the opportunity to talk about how they would parent, gives parents some insight into what things are important to their kids and to some possible frustrations. Likewise, by parents sharing how they are different from their parents, gives kids an opportunity to better understand their parents and to reflect on some of the choices their parents make.

Great Recipes

The original recipe for this came from a Cooking Light magazine, but I have modified it further to make it a little more lighter and to better suit my family’s tastes.

Green Beans with Balsamic Browned Butter

Ingredients

4 Cups Fresh Cut Green Beans
3 Tablespoons Light Butter
3 Teaspoons Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
11/2 Teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar

Steam the green beans in a covered pan for about 10 minutes. While the green beans are
steaming, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Cook the butter for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the butter from the heat and stir in the soy sauce and vinegar. Transfer the green beans to a serving dish and drizzle the balsamic butter over the green beans. Serve.

Helpful Hints

To cut down on the number of pots and pans you use and to make clean up easier, try steaming the green beans in a microwave steamer bag. You can find them in the plastic wrap aisle at your local grocery store. Simply place the green bags in the plastic steamer bag, zip it close and follow the directions printed on the bag.

Make family meal preparation easy and less stressful with either our monthly family meal planner or our new weekly meal planner.

Family Meals Made Easy

Family Fun Idea
The next couple of months we are going to use dinner time as a way of establishing meaningful opportunities to talk with our kids. Using dinner time to engage in meaningful conversations with each other is an easy way to reconnect, share thoughts, and check the pulse of the family. This isn’t something that should be forced in the family. The ideas for conversation are just thought starters. Feel free to modify them as needed for your family’s tastes and ages. They are meant to be answered by both parents and kids.

Conversation Starter Idea
Talk about something that was hard or difficult for you either today or sometime this week. Why do you think it was hard? How did you handle it? What can we do to make it less hard in the future? How do you need mom and dad to help you?

Why this Question is Important….

Asking each other to talk about the difficulties in their lives helps family members release any built up frustrations. With the parents also participating, it shows the kids that mom and dad also struggle with things in life and that they don’t always have all the answers. It also gives kids a chance to feel important by giving them the opportunity to help mom and dad.

Great Recipes
One of our favorite meals in the fall and winter is a simple meal of soup and bread. I love making fresh made soups and usually designate Sundays in my monthly meal planner as soup day. One of our favorites is a chicken gumbo recipe from Recipezaar.com. It isn’t necessarily a quick and easy meal to make because of the large number of ingredients, but it does make a large quantity of which I freeze any extra and pull it out the following month when it comes up in the monthly rotation.

Mean Chef Chicken, Andouille, Ham and Okra Gumbo

Ingredients
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 cups chopped green bell peppers
1 lb okra, either fresh or frozen and cut into pieces
1 1/2 lbs hot smoked sausage, such as andouille or kielbasa, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch slices
3/4 lb smoked ham, cut into small cubes or ham, nugget cut into small cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
3 bay leaves
3 quarts chicken stock or chicken broth
3 cups cooked chicken meat
1 tablespoon Pickapeppa Sauce
1 cup chopped parsley
2 bunches chopped green onions
hot sauce, to taste (optional)
4 cups cooked long-grain rice, accompaniment

Helpful Hints

To make this gumbo recipe easier to make, I usually fill my crock pot the day before we plan on eating the soup with chicken thighs, water, salt & pepper, and onion. I then use the cooked chicken (without the bone and skin) and the broth for the 3 cups of cooked chicken and the 3 quarts of chicken broth. To make it healthy, I let the chicken and broth sit over night in the refrigerator. This gives the fat in the broth a chance to settle and rise to the top and is very easy to skim off the next day.

When working with a recipe with a lot of ingredients, it is often helpful to have a quick way of checking for equivalent measures and possible substitutions. A good resource to use for this is GourmetSleuth.com’s Cooking Dictionary - Ingredients Substitutions and Equivalents

Make family meal preparation easy and less stressful with either our monthly family meal planner or our new weekly meal planner.

What’s Missing?

Start your family meal off right with the What’s Missing game. You can find this game as well as many others in the Original Family Dinner Games.

What’s Missing?

• One person closes his or her eyes

• Everyone else takes one item from the table (salt, napkin, fork) and hides it in their lap. Then the first person opens his or her eyes and tries to guess what’s missing.

• Alternative: Try having only one person take an item off the table and the others closing their eyes. The first person to guess what’s missing wins and gets to take the next item.

Angel Hair Pasta with Olive Oil and Sautéed Vegetables

Ingredients

Angel Hair Pasta

1/3 cup Olive Oil

1 Clove Garlic

1 Tsp Italian Seasonings

Salt to Taste

Vegetables of Your Choice: Chopped Tomatoes,Artichokes, Sliced Red Roasted Peppers

Cook the pasta according to the box directions. In a small saute pan, add the olive oil, garlic, salt, and Italian seasonings and sauté until the garlic is slightly browned. Add your vegetables and sauté for another minute or two until cooked. Mix with pasta and serve.

Helpful Hints and Tips

Save time by buying the pre-minced garlic in a jar rather than the whole cloves. This will save time by avoiding the peeling and chopping. You can usually find the pre-minced garlic in your vegetable aisle.

Make family meal preparation easy and less stressful with either our monthly family meal planner or our new weekly meal planner.

Weekly Meal Planner

For those of you who subscribe to our free monthly newsletter, you know what a big fan I am of our monthly meal planner. Even though it is a bit more time intensive at first, I love the feeling of contentment that comes from knowing that all of my meals are planned out in advance and that I won’t have to get creative on the quick. But we do understand that monthly meal planning isn’t for everyone and have recently added a new weekly meal planner for those families who prefer to plan their meals weekly rather than monthly.

The weekly meal planner comes with 52 weekly meal planners, tear off grocery lists, and plenty of storage for recipes and take out menus. It is a perfect option for busy families on the go who still want to serve nutritious meals without a lot of fuss.

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