Turn an ordinary dinner into
an extrordinary evening with the family!
Designate one night a week or
a month as 'Dinner Palooza'
Here are a few ideas (make them as healthy or
unhealthy as you'd like)
1. Let your Asian flare
shine!- Keep it simple with with stir fry for
dinner. Sit around the coffee table on pillows OR stay at the table and eat
straight out of chinese food boxes. You can pick up chop stix and fortune
cookies at Panda for little or nothing. You can even make your own fortune
cookies and stuff them with special notes to your kids.
2. Have a Picnic!- Forget
about the traditional dinner at the table. Set out a blanket in the backyard.
Make some sandwiches, juice boxes, fresh fruit, and chips. Don't forget to keep
it simple with brownies or cookies for desert. Play
a game of frisbee and call it an evening!
3. Lose the Structure!- Have
a backwards dinner night. Start with dessert and work your way backwards. Make
sure you separate your dinner into courses to get the full effect. Start with
dessert, then have your main dish, move onto a salad, and then finish up with a
yummy appetizer. Keep all of your portions small so everyone is still hungry by
the end.
4. Hodge Podge-
In the morning have all the kids write down one thing on paper that they want
for dinner. Make sure they keep their item a secret. Have a hodge podge dinner
of all the things written down. You might have licorice, corn dogs, and
brownies, but hey they were fed weren't they!
5. Is it night time?- Forget
about rules and have breakfast for dinner. There's nothing like some home made
waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for dinner! Make sure you get into
your jammies before dinner to create the perfect mood.
6. Finger Lickin' Good!- Have
a finger feast. No utensils involved. You can start out with a relish tray
(carrots, celery, ranch dip, pickles, etc. ) and move on to have hot dogs
rolled up with crescent rolls, hot wings, breadsticks, etc. Don't forget to
pick up some cream puffs for dessert!
7. Everything's better on a
stick!- Forget plates. Turn a paper cup upside down
and present your dinner on sticks sticking out of the cup. Have corndogs, shish
kabobs, fruit kabobs, etc. Everything is better on a stick. For dessert serve
popsicles or caramel apples. Don't forget to finish your night up with a game
of 'stick pull' or 'stick ball' (baseball).
8. Go Back in Time!- Remember
the days of TV dinners? Turn on your favorite re-runs
of 'I Love Lucy', 'Leave it to Beaver', or 'The Andy Griffith Show'. Eat dinner
around the TV and reminisce with your kids about your favorite old shows (You
know when they were clean!). You can get little trays at Walmart for next to
nothing. Only pull them out on this special night. This wouldn't be complete
without eating fried chicken and mashed potatoes. Don't forget a little apple
pie for dessesrt.
9. Who wants a vacation? Put
on your hula skirt and pretend you're in Hawaii! Hawaiian haystacks are yummy
and a must for this night. Fresh pineapple and a tropical smoothie is the only
way to finish off the meal. Make sure you eat outside and play some soothing
ocean sounds in the background. If you have a pool complete your night with a
swim or else have a little limbo contest. All you need is a broom for this one!
Making the Most of a Family Menu
The concept of
planning and preparing 3 meals a day, 21 meals a week, or 1,092 meals a year is
pretty mind boggling when you stop to think about it. Doing it all while trying
to maintain your day-to-day duties can be very challenging. This is where
the art of menu planning comes into the picture. Did you know that by
taking the time to plan before hand can save us up to 30% of our weekly grocery
bills as well as 2-4 hours of our time every week? Try these simple steps and
you WILL see results!!!
1) Pick a day that you would like to do your
grocery shopping. Most working ladies enjoy shopping on Saturday mornings,
where others may enjoy shopping during the week. If that is your preference,
most grocery stores get their new produce on Tuesday and/or Wednesday mornings,
which will allow for the freshest fruits and vegetables.
2) Pick some of your favorite recipes!
Choose your favorite breakfast and lunches, and maybe 7 of your favorite dinner
recipes (or less if you know you will have left overs).
3) Organize them by coordinating the meals
with the days you want to eat them. Keep in mind if a family member always has
a specific activity on, let’s say, Wednesday nights, keep that day open for a
left over night, or a quick and easy meal.
4) Create a shopping list. This
is a good time to go through the fridge and pantry to see what you already have
and what items you will need to purchase. Most recipes have some type of
“staple” that you will most likely have, so make sure you have enough and add
the rest to your list!
5) Double check to make sure you didn’t miss
any ingredients.
6) Add any additional items to your shopping
list that you know you need (snacks for school, toilet paper, etc.)
**The important money saving tip here is that you buy ONLY what is on
your shopping list! Those random impulse items and trips for one or two items
are what cost us that 30%! So make it simple and easy to follow! **
Once you have your shopping list you are ready to go!! Post
your menu somewhere where you and your family will see it so everyone knows
what is planned for dinner.
Although this will take more time initially, you will be
shocked at how smooth your meals will go, and how much additional time you will
have to spend with your family!
Always check out
current grocery store sales at: http://www.sistersavings.net
Easy Peasy Meals
Elma WA Stake
May 17, 2014
These are
some websites I enjoyed looking at.
Of course
there are many out there.
·
The organized dinner uses The
Food Nanny(BYUTV.ORG)’s template and ideas to create her menu’s and she shares
them, along with recipes.
·
Moms
Who Think has some good easy recipes and menu plans.
·
Remember
that having a plan makes making dinner easy peasy.
Food Sample:
Sweet and Sour Chicken
6-8 pieces of
chicken(breasts or thighs, with or without skin)
2 cans Contadina Sweet and Sour Sauce.
Season Chicken with Season Salt (I use Johnny’s)
Bake chicken @350 until almost done. Drain off about ½ to 2/3 of juices.
Pour sauce over chicken.
Finish cooking until chicken is done and sauce is bubbly.
Serve with rice and steamed vegi’s.
Split Pea Sausage Soup
1 lb dried
split peas 1 onion
chopped 1 cup chopped celery
10 cups
water 2 potatoes,
peeled and chopped
1 lb smoked
sausage 1 1/2cup chopped
carrot
5 cubes
chicken bouillon 1 tsp garlic
powder 1 tsp dried oregano 2 bay leaves
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