Let’s talk dinner

Eating at home around the dinner table has become a challenge for most families, between practices, school activities and all the things we have to do as parent or busy professionals, it seems like an impossible task. Not including all the work that goes into cooking dinner; meal planning, shopping, cooking and cleaning up, it can be exhausting. Studies show that 32% of families eat dinner out 2 or more times a week.

For those of you looking to take back control of dinner time here are some resources to make eating at home easier.

Simplify Grocery Shopping

We started using ClickList a few months ago. It was a game changer for us, you place your grocery order online. Here are some pros and cons to using ClickList.

Pro:

1. You get to shop at home so you don’t buy stuff you already have.

2. You don’t have to get your kids out of the car, they load the groceries for you…. nuff said.

3. You save money from not making impulse purchases.

4. It is so quick!

Cons:

1. It requires planning, the order has to be submitted the night before you pick it up.

2. They do charge a small fee to use the services.

Let someone else plan the meals

I have used 2 type of meal planning tools over the years. The first one is eMeals. I have been using it for 5 years. I have tried other options over the years but always go back to it. The other I have used is Once a Month Meals. Once a Month Meals gives you everything you need to shop, prep and cook a bulk of your monthly meals in just one day — and freeze those meals for when you want to eat them. Below I have listed the Pros & Cons for each in my opinion.

Pros:

1. They have 15 different meal options that fit your families needs

2. It uses seasonal ingredients at the store you shop, helping make groceries more affordable.

3. They have a great app for your shopping list and menus.

4. Most of the meals take 30-45 minutes to make.

Cons

1. It cost $60 a year for access to the meal plans.

2. Still requires some planning wether it is laying meat out of the freezer or marinating.

Pros

1. You spend one day cooking all your dinners for the month

2. Your spouse, kids or sitter could cook the dinner because you just place it in the oven each night.

3. Very little clean up each night.

4. Great for active families.

Cons

1. I missed cooking some nights, for me cooking is a stress reliever.

2. You have most of the meals twice, so if you didn’t like it the first time you still have to eat it again.

3. I felt like I was missing out on fresh veggies like a salad, simce everything was reheated.

Do great things today!

I am not affiliated with any of these company nor being paid based on my reviews.