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Three years ago when our second child was 6 months old and our oldest was two and a half, I was feeling overwhelmed with working full-time and trying to fit in quality family time. One of our biggest struggles was managing weekday dinnertimes. My husband and I would arrive home at around 5:30, leaving a short window for a family dinner before the kids’ bath at 7:00 followed by their bedtime at 8:00.
I admit we were not very organized…We went to the grocery store several times a week. Sometimes we shopped after the kids were in bed – that is when we managed to plan dinner one or two days ahead. In many cases we had no plan at all. On those days we either ran to the store to get the missing ingredient(s), or worse, we resorted to the expensive and often unhealthy choice of delivery or dining out.
This whole process caused a lot of stress during an already short amount of family time during the work week. So I came up with the idea of developing a list of about 20 easy meals. Each week I would circle five meals on the list. We shopped for these meals on the weekends then posted the M-F dinner menu on the refrigerator.
This new organized approach simplified our life. We arrived home after work and had all the ingredients to start cooking. There were no last minute cell phone calls discussing “What are we having for dinner tonight?” We managed to have a healthy dinner on the table by 6:00 or 6:30 that we could enjoy as a family. We could even relax with some quiet time after the kids went to bed rather than making a run to the store.
Other families we know shared similar challenges with dinnertime, even those with a stay-at-home parent and families with older kids. This motivated us to expand my simple idea into DinnerSelect, a user-friendly dinner planning tool with an extensive list of easy, diverse recipes that others can enjoy.
We sincerely hope you find DinnerSelect to be a valuable resource helping you relax and enjoy delicious meals with your family during the week. Start EASY meal planning now!
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