What’s for dinner? We all have a handful of recipes that we go to when making that decision. Great recipes, but with this New Year let’s broaden our recipe collection and even more importantly REMEMBER and REUSE the those healthier ones the kids seem to like!
Here a solution to the resolution to help you keep the dinner planning less stressful and healthier this year:
Create a What’s for Dinner? board. This board displays the dinner menu for the week. It is placed in an obvious place in your kitchen area where everyone, especially you, sees it. The menu board holds an array of menu items, tucked into a pocket. These menu items are the tried and true meals that you know your kids will eat. It also has blank ones for new menu items to be added when you successfully get them to try something new!
Each Sunday, together with the family (or secretly on your own if you wish 
you look at the meals options and decide what will be eaten when. You could start by sharing what proteins you have available or will be on sale. Even consider what’s going on with the schedules, such as practices, games and other activities. Try make a rule that a new meal must enjoyed on Wednesdays and its Daddy’s Choice on Saturday. Whatever you do, try your best to make it a family decision.
I made the board using basic materials, nearly all purchased at Target.
I used:
The concept is to organize your week by making the decision of what’s for dinner before the week starts. You don’t want to deal with the aggravations throughout the week as you’re fiddling through your fridge trying to see what you can throw together.
Beyond the organization, this chart is useful in reminding kids and adults recipes that are tried and true. We tend to go to same 3 or 4 recipes with kids. If we want their appetites to extend beyond hotdogs, pasta and pizza we need to regularly incorporate new dishes and use them again.
Make it or something like it!
Inspired by Pinterest, detailed by me!
Caroline is a 30-something Hispanic mom based in South Florida. She dedicates her day to her beautiful little girls and her wonderful husband Tom (@SmartyPantsDada) and her extra time to her Smarty Pants Mama network.
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