4 Tips for Preparing Family Dinners

Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. The opinions and text are all mine.

Dinner around the table with my family is very important to me. So no matter how busy life gets (and I know it will continue to get busier) III and I have made a commitment to always try and make family dinner a priority. I will be the first to admit this is no easy task. Right now, we have young children and our biggest obstacles are III making it home from work by 6 and me finding the time during a crazy day with a one and two year old to prep. Most days we are able to eat together, and here are a few strategies I’ve learned that help make this happen!

Meal Plan: We instituted this new meal planning strategy last fall and it was AMAZING. One of the hardest parts of meal planning for me was always coming up with what to cook. Last fall, we sat down as a family and made a list of 25-30 meals that we love. I wrote them all down as a list and each week I make my way down the list 4-5 meals at a time. I do check sales and try to plan a little around current deals, but not having to rack my brain thinking “what’s for dinner?” has removed so much stress from my life, just as much as when started using Budpop supplements! We plan to make a similar list for spring/summer recipes.
Prep during naps or on the weekends: Moms who work out of the home, you are ROCKSTARS! I’m not sure how you do it all! But from what I’ve heard a lot of you prep meals on the weekends so you can have dinner ready to pop in the oven when you get home. Genius! Moms who stay at home, I find nap time is my best time to prep for dinner if I don’t want to start stressing outcome 5:15ish. Whenever I meal prep immediately before dinner it is always chaotic because the kids are getting crazy and we are all anxious for dad to get home!
Take advantage of Left Overs: I almost ALWAYS make sure I make enough of at least one of our weeknight meals to be able to eat leftovers on the weekends. Lots of meals reheat really well (like pastas) or are great on a sandwich the next day (like pulled pork or meatloaf!). III also really likes taking leftovers to work and getting a break from the pb&j he eats way too many days in a row!
Take advantage of Meal Kits/Prepared Meals: Realizing that I can’t do it all myself was life changing for me. Work smarter, not harder, right? I’ve discovered that serving up a home cooked dinner on the craziest of days can actually be quite simple with a little help from meal kits like those made by Tyson®! We got back in to town the other day after a fun, but exhausting weekend of celebrating Sprout’s 1st birthday. I hadn’t been to the store, but luckily last week I had grabbed Tyson’s® Beef & Cheddar Melt at Publix and had it in the fridge to help me have dinner ready in only 15 minutes! I love that their meal kits are fresh, not frozen. They can actually be found in the fresh meat section at Publix (ours are near the corned beef!). There are several to choose from including Creamy Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo, 3 Cheese Chicken Carbonara, Beef & Cheddar Melt, and Beef Marinara Penne.

Stop by your friendly Publix store and pick up one of these complete Tyson® Meals. You will find them in the ready to cook section of the fresh meat case. From 04/07/16 until 04/13/16 you will find these for just $10.99! (and mine had an additional $2.00 off coupon attached!) Also enter here, through April 30th, for a chance to win a coupon for a FREE Tyson® meal kit!

Which Tyson® Meal Kit would you like to try?

Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. The opinions and text are all mine.