Tips to Help Manage Family Meals

5 years ago I hit the pause button on my career and, to be honest many of my interests to focus on our family.  It's been an incredible journey being mom to two joyful, energetic kids, but I'm now at another new stage - finding me again, finding a new balance.  Sound familiar?  Prior to having children we loved to cook but I was told that having children would push me to premade meals and all the conveniences available to us at grocery stores and on line meal delivery companies.  It didn't happen.  I found a way to make it work. I recently re-entered the workforce and thought perhaps this would be the turning point, I would finally give in to the convenience of ordering my box of food on line, delivered to my door.  I'm grateful that once again I've found a way to avoid hitting the send button.  We never truly know what we're capable of until we are faced with a challenge, in all aspects of life.  And somehow, someway, we always find a path worth travelling.

Working full time, running a household, kids schedules, family time and meal preparation … life is busy, but it's manageable, it just takes a little planning. I've definitely become more organized and efficient. How effective are you on those days you've not planned your work day?  I'm pretty confident you'd agree that those days with a plan in hand are far more productive than those with no direction or focus.

Here are some tips to help you balance mealtime allowing you to enjoy a homecooked family meal:

1. Prepare a meal plan for the week and purchase everything required. We find meal planning keeps us on track during the week. Its doesn't have to be detailed, you just need to have a general idea of what you're going to prepare and have the ingredients on hand.  Stick to what works for your family - use a whiteboard, notebook, chalkboard and involve the kids in the process.  We try to rotate between meat/poultry, vegetarian and fish. 

2. Plan easier meals for Monday to Friday or those days that you know will be long or challenging. Pan fried cod, steamed rice and French green bean salad is our go to easy meal that the entire family loves.  In 20-30 mins, dinner is on the table. It's delicious, healthy and I love the fact that we have a local source of fish here.  A shout out to our fish supplier, Barry.  I'm so grateful we found you! And more often than not, the first thing to disappear off the kids plates....the green beans!  Don't be fooled, kids love veggies, they just need to be prepared properly.

3. Prepare food in large batches - veggies, mashed potatoes, risotto, pasta - items that can be used in multiple meals throughout the week. Our kids really enjoy mixed vegetables of carrots, rutabaga and peas so when I prepare it, I make sure I have enough for at least one other meal.  Potatoes are high on the glycemic index, but it you boil potatoes and let them cool for 24 hours, they actually drop to medium on the glycemic index so there's an added benefit to making one batch of mashed potato for the week. Extra mashed potato can be used for topping to Sheppard's pie, fish cakes, veggie hash, potato cakes, and the list goes on.

4. Take advantage of rainy/stormy weekends or Sundays to prepare casseroles, stews, soups, roast meats or poultry. Pasta casseroles with sausage, vegetables and a cheese sauce are a hit among our kids as are soups and stews. And with soups and stews they always taste better reheated.  We also find it helpful to make a roast chicken, pork or beef and have a plan for a leftover meal.  Chicken, ham, fish, turkey and left over veggies all work well in an egg custard.

5. Find leftover recipes that work for your family and become familiar with them. We find eggs to be a fantastic companion to leftovers. Omelets, frittatas, timballs are a few options for us with a side salad and bread makes for an easy and satisfying meal. 

Important to remember to store leftovers properly and eat within 3 - 4 days.

Make mealtime a family affair; enjoy the company, the conversation and the food!