From One Mom, to Another: Tips for Dealing with Weeknight Dinner Struggles

Crowdsourced advice from moms who've been there.

One of the common threads in my mom’s text is about dinner time. What to cook? Favorite recipes? How to deal with picky eaters? How to get dinner on the table fast between work and activities? It seems like someone is constantly dealing with dinnertime struggles when there are little ones at home.

One of my favorite times as a family is actually dinner time. I love to cook, it helps me decompress from the day, and I’ve found that spending time in the kitchen together has become a great way to connect. I’m not an expert, but here is what has worked for us:

• Sheet pans are your best friend. Throw a protein and veggie on a sheet pan and roast it for a full meal with minimal cleanup.

• Let the kids help. I’ve found that when I let my kids help in the kitchen, they’re more likely to try new foods.

• Don’t cook separate meals for the kids and for the adults. It’ll leave you burn out. Instead, just deconstruct what you’ve cooked to make it kid friendly.

We love to sit around the kitchen island to eat as a family.

Below are some tips and tricks from other Substack parents. There are some great ones, including some recipes. Enjoy!

Tips From Other Substack Parents

Tip: Set It and Forget It

My biggest hack is doing things that I can set and forget about. Think slow cooker, a sheet pan in the oven, or the instant pot. The key is that everything for the meal needs to be in that one thing so you can set it and then go do something else. Our favorite recipe that we might every single week is Pinch of Yum’s Instant Pot Spaghetti. It’s the only meal that my husband, the four year old and the baby all love.

Recipe: Instant Pot Spaghetti

- Kathryn Beard @ The Moms Know Best

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Tip: Make One Meal and Deconstruct It

Our kids 2.5 & 4 have always eaten what we eat (sometimes just deconstructed). we also eat meals at the table together, so overtime, they expect this. we usually do simple combos like sweet potatoes, meatballs, veggies. or pasta with sausage and veggies. i always have things like beef, potatoes, rice, frozen veggies on hand to whip up quickly! keeping things simple is what works for us, it doesn’t need to be complicated to be healthy. you can elevate further with seasonings/ dressings. for example: they love steamed carrots with a little cinnamon! sometimes they eat it all, sometimes they don’t, and that’s okay.

- Jenni @ The Living Space

Photo by Jenni

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Tip: Something Easy That Everyone Can customize

One of my go-tos is sheet pan quesadillas; I got the idea from ChatGPT. The original suggestion was for pizzas, but after some discussion, ChatGPT told me I could use the same guidance for quesadillas.

Recipe: Tortilla Pizzas

Prep earlier: Shred cheese, chop toppings. Meal time: Spread tomato sauce on tortillas, let kids add their own toppings (ham, mushrooms, olives, etc.), bake at 200°C for ~8 minutes. One tray = all done.

Depending on the day of the week, I might use bacon if we have leftover from Sunday breakfast. Sometimes I’ll slice leftover meatballs and add those (that’s a new one and was a hit with my son). Less often (because it’s an additional step) I’ve sautéed mushrooms (because my 11 year old loves those) and will include them.

- Susan Robbins @ Grounded & Growing

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Tip: Fill Hungry Bellies With Veggies & Fruit

When they’re hungry and I’m still cooking I put out a plat of apples, carrots, oranges, peppers, whatever crunchy fruit and veg is around. They snack and then when they inevitably reject my dinner, I feel slightly better that they’ve already had some vitamins. We also allow a bedtime snack if they’re complaining they’re hungry, but has to be protein - like a string cheese. My six year old likes to come downstairs for a hard boiled egg at 8:30PM 😮‍💨

Also, My #1 suggestion is the only way my kids will eat broccoli - they call it Broccoli Penne. It’s so quick and easy.

Recipe: Easiest Pasta and Broccoli Recipe

- Rebecca Spitzer @ What's Working Right Now

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Tip: Serve Family Style Meals

In a bid to improve my kids (4 and 6) diet, I’ve found two really good weekday dinners served family style that suit the whole family!

Meatball Monday: Trader Joe’s meatballs (in sauce for the adults, no sauce for the kids) served with spaghetti, chopped peppers and cheese.

Fajita Friday: Everyone can help themselves to their choice of fajitas, chicken, avocado, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, sour cream, lettuce, salsa, cheese.

I find the kids experiment more if it is in front of them to sample. At the very least they try avocado, chicken, cheese and fajita...which is a balanced meal to me

- Aisling Marron @ Notes from New York

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Tip: Add Bone Broth To Meals

For the weeknight meal. Hamburger Buddy is a favorite in our family of 9 home!

Recipe: Hamburger Buddy

• 3 minced garlic cloves

• 2 medium carrots finely chopped

• 1 chopped medium onion

• 2 pound of ground beef of choice

• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• 3 ¾ cups bone broth (I make my own in the instant pot!)

• 8 oz of small pasta (elbows, shells are my personal favorite!)

• 2 tablespoons of Worchester Sauce

• 2 tablespoons flour

• ½ cup sour cream

• Parsley or chives for garnish

Directions: In pot, begin sautéing the beef in a couple tablespoons of butter or oil. Meanwhile, begin chopping the garlic, carrots and onion. Food processor definitely helps this step! When beef is done, add the veggies with the thyme and salt. Cook on low until they are soft. Add the tomato paste and stir. Add 3 ½ cups of the broth. Then add Worchester sauce and pasta. Cover and cook for about 8 minutes or until pasta is soft. Meanwhile, mix the ¼ of beef broth with 2 tablespoons of flour to make a slurry. Once pasta is done add with the ½ cup sour cream. Garnish with parsley and enjoy!

Notes: For our family of 9, I usually do 2 pounds of beef with 2 pounds of pasta. I quadruple the other ingredients.

- Jessica Fickel @ Gratefully Wild Home

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Tip: They’ll Eat When They’re Hungry

Don’t force them to eat anything they don’t want. If they eat the whole plate, great! If they barely touch it, no big deal. My wife and I don’t make separate meals for our daughter though. So if she’s hungry after dinner we just redirect her to the plate of dinner we keep on the bench.

- Sam Rahder @ uncommon dad thoughts

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Tip: Outsource the Planning and Shopping

My game changer was e-meals. It plans your meals and grocery shops for you! You can put in your dietary plan (keto, kid friendly, slow cooker, under 30 minutes, etc.) it will then come up with a list of dinners for the week, it generates a shopping list of ingredients, you cross off what you already have in your pantry, it sends the list to the Walmart app and grocery shops for you, then you can have your groceries delivered to your house!

- Beka Hicks @ Redeemed & Relentless

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What other tips or tricks would you add to this list? Leave a comment below!

We’ll be back next week with another edition of “From One Mom, to Another.” Let us know what topic you’d like to read about.

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