Cooking Adventures With Your Family

Dinner time should be the highlight of the day when families can sit down together, share their day's activities and have a nice home cooked meal. Sound like something from the 70's? With a little planning and cooperation from your family, you can prepare delicious, nutritious meals almost every night of the week.

Cooking dinner for your family every night does seem nearly impossible. Planning your meals ahead of time can save you some time. There are several different ways to plan your menus. There are several web sites on once a month cooking where you plan out your meals, prep, cook and freeze your meals all in one day. Recruiting the whole family in this process will help get things done faster as well as having more "family time". Sit down with your family and come up with several menus that you want to use, do your shopping and take set aside one day a month to do the cooking, baking and freezing.

Another great idea to get the whole family involved is to have each family member plan, cook and clean up for one dinner a week. Younger children, of course will need help but older ones will probably love to have the responsibility of handling the whole preparation. Your children will not realize that they are using their math, science and reading skills in this process. Children also love challenges, so you could have a monthly "bake off" contest or "best dish of the month" contest to keep everyone's interest. Putting entrees, sides and dessert names on paper in a hat and having each family member "draw" out their food choices can also be a fun way to not have to "delegate" who gets to do what.

Getting your family involved with menu planning and cooking meals will help the whole family to grow closer, save money by eating at home and communicating with each other on a new and exciting level.

I am just a southern girl who loves to write. It is my dream and I am trying to turn it into a reality, especially as I have the time now. I am experiencing a b00001A3Eit of "empty nest syndrome" and this has given me a new perspective on what I want to bring to my "golden years".

boil Cooking
Cooking pasta