Eating at home comes with its advantages. For starters you can save a lot of money this way, as you can make various recipes out of basic food ingredients without straining your finances. But it also helps you to consume healthier meals that are great for your skin and body. Home cooked meals also help you avoid high amounts of sodium and unhealthy fats found in most takeout meals. The American Psychological Association also revealed that trying new things like cooking together can keep couples more engaged in their relationships. Despite these benefits, stats reveal that eating in restaurants or ordering takeouts have become increasingly popular as many find it much more convenient than cooking. So how can you make family meals more enjoyable? Here are some handy tips I use personally that will help.
Create themed dinners
An effective way to build excitement about family mealtimes is to create theme-styled meals for dinner. Not only does it allow you to explore new meals, but you can also lower the pressure of thinking about dinner ideas every night. Moreover, your family can be involved in the decision process, further heightening their anticipation. Fortunately, there are several meal themes you can choose from, so you can be sure that you wouldn’t run out of ideas.
For instance, you can opt for a Meat free Monday if you enjoy vegetarian meals or a Taco Tuesday to incorporate some Mexican food into your weekly routine. It’s best to plan for the week by picking 7 themes to get the most out of your themed dinners. If you’re concerned that it may get boring to repeat the same themes weekly, feel free to spice it up by mixing them up or having a two week schedule that is rotated. Also, the internet is loaded with different and exciting themes, so feel free to utilize this useful tool.
Schedule your mealtimes
Are you looking to build consistency regarding mealtimes? If yes, creating a schedule is the way to go. Indeed, your busy schedules may tempt you to skip mealtimes for takeouts or restaurant meals. However, a meal schedule can help you stick to your resolve to eat at home. Moreover, this makes everyone aware of what to expect and cancel other plans if necessary. As a tip, factor in your regular activities to determine what time you can cook without interruption. For instance, if you can’t cook meals on Tuesday nights, you can batch cook meals before hand and freeze them or prepare food which will last over two days rather than one so there is left overs. Likewise, prepping your ingredients in advance can also ensure that you can cook easily at the scheduled times, so keep this in mind.
Try new recipes
Sticking to the same food plan helps you maintain healthy eating habits while maintaining your calorie intake. Moreover, you avoid dinner panics and the trap of ordering takeouts to make up for not planning dinner. However, preparing the same meals repeatedly can become bring over time, defeating the purpose of making mealtime more exciting. What’s more, you may be missing out on nutritional content found in various meals you don’t consume. Research also indicates that lower good bacteria diversity was linked to abdominal fat and obesity, and eating diverse meals can increase this diversity. Therefore, you want to include new recipes in your meal plan if you haven’t already.
For instance, a simple potato leak soup recipe is a cost-effective yet satisfying meal to spice up your dining table. You can also source recipes from different cultures that you haven’t tried before, like Mediterranean-style and oriental dishes. As a tip, include one or two new foods weekly for the best results. However, ensure that your family actually enjoys it before adding it to your routine, this will avoid waste and an unpleasant dining experience.
Keep your meals simple
5. Get the Kids involved
