How to Find Time for a Healthy Family Dinner
Start small., Write dinner into your calendar., Plan your meals in advance., Avoid unhealthy snacks before dinner.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Start small.
If family dinners are not already a regular practice for you, it may be easier to start with one or two dinners a week.
Once this has become an established practice, work your way up to three or four.
Soon, it will become an ingrained part of your schedule, and you can have family dinners everyday., With work, sports, homework, and other responsibilities, dinner may not be a priority.
To help make it one, set off an hour or two for dinner in your calendar.
Try not to let any other activities interfere with this time.Try to aim to have dinner at the same time every day.
You can of course adjust this schedule if something pops up, such as sports practice or a late day at work.
If you plan on cooking fresh meals every day, you may want to build in that extra cooking time into your schedule. , At the beginning of the week, decide what your family will be eating every night of the week.
Find healthy recipes online or in cookbooks.
Write out your shopping lists so that you can buy every single ingredient ahead of time, and go shopping for all of the ingredients at once.If you're struggling with ideas for meals, ask your family what they want.
This can help you focus your meal planning towards things that they enjoy, and it may also give you new ideas for meals., Once you have an idea of what time you will be eating dinner, you can eliminate snacks from the schedule.
Stop giving processed snacks like cookies, chips, or crackers about an hour or two before dinner.
If your children are hungry, give them a small healthy snack like apple slices or carrot sticks to tide them over until dinner. -
Step 2: Write dinner into your calendar.
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Step 3: Plan your meals in advance.
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Step 4: Avoid unhealthy snacks before dinner.
Detailed Guide
If family dinners are not already a regular practice for you, it may be easier to start with one or two dinners a week.
Once this has become an established practice, work your way up to three or four.
Soon, it will become an ingrained part of your schedule, and you can have family dinners everyday., With work, sports, homework, and other responsibilities, dinner may not be a priority.
To help make it one, set off an hour or two for dinner in your calendar.
Try not to let any other activities interfere with this time.Try to aim to have dinner at the same time every day.
You can of course adjust this schedule if something pops up, such as sports practice or a late day at work.
If you plan on cooking fresh meals every day, you may want to build in that extra cooking time into your schedule. , At the beginning of the week, decide what your family will be eating every night of the week.
Find healthy recipes online or in cookbooks.
Write out your shopping lists so that you can buy every single ingredient ahead of time, and go shopping for all of the ingredients at once.If you're struggling with ideas for meals, ask your family what they want.
This can help you focus your meal planning towards things that they enjoy, and it may also give you new ideas for meals., Once you have an idea of what time you will be eating dinner, you can eliminate snacks from the schedule.
Stop giving processed snacks like cookies, chips, or crackers about an hour or two before dinner.
If your children are hungry, give them a small healthy snack like apple slices or carrot sticks to tide them over until dinner.
About the Author
Barbara Wood
Professional writer focused on creating easy-to-follow hobbies tutorials.
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