5 Dinner Tips To Make Life Easier

What’s for dinner? 

A simple question and one that has caused me a significant amount of stress!  With the way our family schedule works I take the lead in the evenings while my husband takes the lead in the mornings.  

This means dinner is my gig. 

I think I have the harder gig.  

With breakfast the dandelion crew are creatures of habit.   We tend to eat the same three or four things for breakfast. Eggs, cereal, waffles, yogurt, or chicken nuggets.  Yes, you read that correctly. You thought chicken nuggets were more of a lunch or dinner food. Not in this household! 

Anyway, the dandelion crew expects more variety when it comes to the dinner menu.   

This caused a certain amount of stress for me.  We’re a busy family. I don’t want to feed my family junk or eat out all the time. And for us, it’s important that we sit down and eat dinner together.

Finally, after yet another night of me frantically rifling through our pantry and freezer trying to come up with a dinner that’s relatively healthy and easy to whip up before soccer practice, I said enough is enough.  I came up with a plan to make dinner easier and I’m sharing!

Here are five tips to help you get a decent meal on the table for your family.

Dinner Tip #1 To Make Life Easier For Mom: Dinner Themes

One of the hardest parts for me has been figuring out WHAT I am going to make for dinner.  There are so many possibilities and when I have too many options I get decision paralysis.  Sound familiar?  

To help limit options I came up with dinner themes for the days of the week.  I sat down and thought about what the dandelion crew like to eat, what I like to cook, and then decided on themes to help me plan the dinner menu every week.  This is currently our dinner theme menu…

Monday - Meat and veggie. 

Mondays remind me of the dinners my Gramma Smith would cook growing up. I grew up on a dairy farm and Gramma Smith was a fabulous cook.

She wasn’t fancy but her meals were good! Typically she would make some type of meat, some type of vegetable, and then some type of starch. Chicken, green beans, and mashed potatoes were a staple dinner! Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and carrots also showed up regularly! Often dinner would be followed by pie for dessert.

Mondays are my homage to Gramma Smith but I tend to make two things rather than three and rarely do I have time to make a pie! Examples would be lemon garlic chicken with sauteed green beans or roast beef with carrots and potatoes. 

Tuesday - Mexican.

Hubby loves Taco Tuesday!  Examples for dinners on Tuesdays are  hardshell meat tacos, chicken fajitas, and taco salad.

Wednesday - Pasta.

Who doesn’t love carbs? My crew certainly do! Examples of dinners on Wednesdays are spaghetti, lasagna, tortellini mixed with broccoli, ravioli, and goulash.

Thursday - Soup, salad, and bread sticks.

I’m going to be honest, I usually don’t do all three.  It’s usually soup OR salad with some form of bread. Examples for dinner are a garden salad with garlic bread sticks or chicken noodle soup with homemade white bread.  And yes, sometimes in a pinch I simply open up a can of soup and heat it up. 

Totally acceptable. 

Friday - Chicken tenders and french fries.

Whew!  We made it to the weekend and Mama just wants to throw some frozen chicken tenders and french fries in the oven and be done with it! We rarely deviate from this unless we are going out to eat and that’s usually only for special occasions.  

On the weekends we will typically have breakfast for dinner (think homemade waffles, pancakes, omelets), homemade pizza (my husband’s pizza is THE best...seriously), or sandwiches. 

During the fall and winter I am more apt to cook a big Sunday dinner such as a Ham or Turkey with mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, and all the other fixings you can think of.  

Now, having the same themes for 365 days out of the year or more can get boring so feel free to change your themes periodically!

Dinner Theme Ideas With Dinner Suggestions

Dinner Tip #2 To Make Life Easier For Mom: Plan

Over the weekend I plan a dinner menu for the upcoming week.  I sit down, think of my dinner themes, and create a menu.  I wanted everyone in the house to be able to see the dinner menu while also keeping things stylish so I decided to upcycle an old canvas painting I picked up at the Salvation Army. I took the canvas out and painted it with chalkboard paint. Next, I sanded the frame, painted it with chalk paint and voila! It’s pretty and functional. 

The dinner menu lets everyone know what’s for dinner and if someone happens to get home early or has a spare minute they can start dinner!

We also keep a grocery list on the refrigerator.  If you just opened up the last bottle of ketchup you need to write it down.  If it’s not on the list it doesn’t get bought until the following week IF someone remembers to put it on the list. The kids know this and are really good about putting things on the list now because they don’t want to be without their favorite snacks!

We also use an app called Cozi. On cozi you have the ability to create lists. We a grocery list that everyone can add things to in addition to the paper list. When I go grocery shopping I simply whip out my phone for the grocery list and as I buy things I check them off.

And this leads nicely into the topic of grocery shopping.  

I really dislike it.  If your grocery store offers a shopping and delivery service, consider taking advantage of it!  If not or if you can’t squeeze the extra money for this service into your budget then pick a day and time when you shop once a week.  That’s right. Shopping once a week helps decrease what we spend on groceries. 

Dinner Tip #3 To Make Life Easier For Mom: Prepare

As Ben Franklin would say, “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”  Thanks for the advice Ben! 

I set aside time over the weekend to prepare for the week ahead and that includes dinner.  I plan the dinner menu for the week and as I am planning the menu I have the grocery list next to me adding things if needed. I also pull things out of the freezer to thaw, place them in marinade, or cut stuff up such as veggies.  

It makes a huge difference at 6 o’clock on a weekday!  I try to make it fun so I don’t dread doing it.  While I’m prepping I get my groove on listening to music OR improve myself and my mind by listening to podcasts. I actually find myself looking forward to it! 

Dinner Tip #4 To Make Life Easier For Mom: Have the kids help

If the kids are home and not at practice they’re helping with dinner and that certainly includes Max, our son with special needs. The kids set the table and clear the table. As they’ve become older they help more in the kitchen with food prep and the actual cooking. 

Max will often prepare lemonade for us to drink or he’ll pour water in our glasses at the table for dinner. He’s learning how to use the microwave and air fryer and how to place things safely in the oven. He follows directions really well and is highly motivated to do so when we’re creating a meal. 

Dinner Tip #5 To Make Life Easier For Mom: Make it fun

Any activity is better when you try to make it fun! I love turning on the music when we’re in the kitchen cooking a meal! When things are fun people want to join in and help. They also grouse less in the future when asked to help out. 

Ok Mama Bears!  Here is one final bonus tip for you.

Remember, the crock pot during the fall and winter and the grill during the summer are your besties! 

If you enjoyed this blog post then you should check out

5 Easy Morning Routine Ideas For The Special Needs Mom

Dandelion Tribe Takeaway: Here are five quick tips for making dinner time easier. #1 Have dinner themes for the different nights of the week. #2 Plan a dinner menu for the week and have a running grocery list everyone in the family has access to. #3 Prep on the weekends. #4 Have the kids help. #5 Make it fun.

Mama Bear Share: I want to know what tips and tricks YOU have to make getting dinner on the table easier!