5 Mom Hacks for Dinner

I'm excited to share some tips/tricks/hacks that I use that make dinner prep easier for me every night.  They are all things that make my life easier as a mom of 3, but I'm convinced they could help anyone make meal time a little easier.  I cook dinner at home 5-6 nights a week and all these little things add up to making my life easier when dinner time rolls around.

 

1 // Prep Whenever You Can

There is no rule that says you have to do all the cooking and prepping at dinner time.  My kids are always the neediest from 3-5pm so it's not a good time for me to be chopping and cooking a ton.  If your little ones nap, prep at nap time so that you can just toss everything together at dinner time.  I like to chop veggies and thaw things ahead of time so that dinner comes together quickly.  If you work outside of the home, prep things for dinner before you leave for work or the night before.  You'll be glad you did when dinner time rolls around.

Example:

I put Pepperoni Pinwheels on the menu last night.  It's a pretty quick recipe, but I knew that I could make it even quicker if I chopped things at nap time.  I chopped my pepperoni, green onions and salad for dinner all around 1:30pm.  Future Whitney was super thankful when 5:00pm rolled around and all I had to do was quickly put the recipe together.

2 // Grocery Pick Up

Figure out how to use a grocery pick up service for your favorite grocery store.  It will be a life changing service once you get it all figured out for your family.  You just shop whenever it's convenient for you and then schedule a pick up whenever it's convenient.  I like to schedule my grocery pick ups at the 8am time slot.  I drop the big kids off at school, swing by to get my groceries and then head home to put them away.  It saves me HOURS shopping in the store with a toddler in tow.  I shop from the convenience of my home usually late at night and then it takes 5-10 minutes for me to pull up and get them.  This is a great service for moms, wives or anyone who does the grocery shopping!  It's so nice to save the time and have someone else shop for you each week.  

 

3 // Match Your Meals to Your Calendar

If you have a busy night, pick a quick dinner option.  If you're home all evening then pick a meal that you have more time to prep and clean up from.  We had a school event the other night.  I prepped an entire charcuterie board and crusty bread around 3:00pm.  I popped everything in the fridge so that when we returned home from the event, dinner was done.  There was no cooking when everyone was cranky and hungry.  This type of night is also great for crock pot meals. You can just show up and your soup or meal is warm and ready to eat.

 

Another bonus of a charcuterie board dinner... the leftovers make lunch packing really easy!

4 // Add Premade/Convenience Items to Your Menu

I picked up some convenience meat options for dinners this week.  Italian Style Mild Meatballs from Aldi and Pork Carnitas from Aldi.  They were $5-6 a package.  They're a little pricier than making things homemade, BUT I've been bored in the meat department and these two items got me excited about cooking dinner.  That's a great mom hack in my book.  It's also MUCH MUCH cheaper to grab these kind of items at the store instead of going out to eat.  That gets expensive fast.  We try to do a mix of homemade & convenience items like frozen pizza, frozen veggie lo mein, Taquitos, Rotisserie chicken, meat kits from Aldi, etc.  I really enjoy cooking and these items make my life easier and bring lots of JOY to my cooking routine.

5 // Ask Your Family to Help

We have a good system going - because I specifically asked my family for help.  

I used to just grumble and be grumpy about all the dinner duties until I realized that I needed to ask for help.  Now my husband gets all the drinks, sets the table and gathers the kids to wash their hands.  I plate the food.  Then after dinner everyone carries in their plates and Kevin plays with the kids while I clean up.  He often starts baths while I'm cleaning up from dinner and packing lunches for the next day.

I also try to ask my family for their input on dinner for the week.  What things are they craving for dinner?  My husband offered to grill burgers one night.  Charcuterie another night.  And Keilbasa sausages another night.  That way everyone has things to be excited about on the menu.

What are you doing to make dinners a little easier at your house?