Those of you who are regular readers will realize that it has been over a week since I have posted a new blog.  Life – on both the work and personal front – has just gotten in the way.  I’ve been writing comments to the Dietary Guidelines committee, to the Food and Drug Administration, planning my mothers’ 85^th birthday party.  The list goes on and on.

I imagine that this is reality for many of you, and definitely relates to our topic of the day.  The hecticness (spell check says it’s not a word, but I’m going with it anyway) of life makes it hard for many of us to get dinner on the table.  It just does.  For me, it’s the constantness of it.  Dinner.  Every day.  Something kids will eat.  Fairly healthy.  Something that will warm up okay as my husband sometimes eats later due to an extended work day. 

And as we make our way through the day of meals, it fits in well with what was said at the Seizing the Mealtime Moment presentation I recently attended:

At dinner, it has to TASTE GOOD, be EASY TO PREPARE, and have EVERYONE LIKE IT. Even more interesting about dinner is that the number one reason we don’t                fix dinner at home is because we’re too tired (I can totally relate!).

The best lessons I have learned about getting dinner on the table come from my former co-worker, Amy, who trained me in back in the day at Pillsbury, and my neighbor Laurie, whom I walk with a couple of days a week.  Both are “cooks” in the traditional sense, and hopefully what I’ve learned from them will help you to be more successful at getting dinner on the table and meet the requirements listed above.  What I’ve learned from them:

• Cook a big main meal on the weekends, and plan for leftovers throughout the week.  You can always add a side or a fresh vegetable quickly and easily if you have a main dish ready to go that is reheatable.
• Plan menus and write grocery lists.  When Laurie and her family go on vacation, I feed her cats.  The first time I did it, I noticed her week of menus posted on her fridge.  I know it sounds like drudgery, but if you have a sense of what you’re making for meals each day, you’re move likely to execute against it.
• Teach your husband/partner/teenager how to help with grocery shopping.  This can lessen the burden on you, while at the same time ensure you have food in the house for dinner.
• Offer a variety of fruits and vegetables, served different ways, again and again and again.  Both Amy and Laurie are brilliant at this.  The end result?  They both have kids who get their fruits and veggies in. 
• It’s okay to have frequent, repeat performances in the meals you serve.  Identify the favorites that meet all your criteria – quick to prepare, the kids will eat them, healthy – and rotate them every two weeks.  It’s still dinner on the table.
• If you’re in a pinch and order out, think about what you can add to the main item to round out the nutrition.  For example, if you order pizza to go, quickly cut up some fruits and veggies and pour tall glasses of frosty, cold, skim milk.

Visit www.nuval.com to trade up ingredients in your family’s favorite dinners.