It’s still possible to have pleasant family mealtimes even after school has begun. Check out these back-to-school dinner tips for busy Moms:

1. Have a meal plan.

The most important key to having relaxed family dinners even on school nights is having a meal plan. This will simplify both food shopping and meal preparation, and help you save money to boot.

If you need help, check out Dine Without Whine’s meal and grocery planning service.

2. Try freezer meals.

Cut down on cooking time by cooking large batches and then freezing them for future use. There are many books about freezer cooking from which to choose.

3. Simplify your schedule.

With school comes extracurricular activities that could have you running – or driving around – like a headless chicken. Keep things to a minimum. Overloading children with too many after-school activities is not good for them. They need downtime too.

4. Get the kids involved in cooking.

Get some help by mobilizing your own troops – your husband and children – as your kitchen helpers. Cooking is an important life skill and now it’s bonding time as well.

5. Have an emergency plan.

No matter how well you plan in advance, something always comes up. Plan for that as well. Always have emergency supplies in the pantry so you can throw together a home-cooked meal at a moment’s notice.

It could be a frozen dinner you prepared during the weekend. Mine is pasta, a can of tomato sauce and whatever vegetables are in the refrigerator.

6. Post your family schedule.

Keep a large calendar on the wall where you can see every family member’s schedule at a glance. It will also help you plan activities around your family dinner times.

7. Set a routine.

Decide on an earlier dinner time, bedtime and wake up time and start following them a few days before school officially begins. This way, everybody’s adjusted when the real thing comes.

8. Stay flexible.

Sometimes you just can’t afford disruptions to your meal times. An occasional missed family dinner is no big deal – when you know you’ll have more throughout the week.

9. Consider school schedules.

Take note of school events and other activities in your family calendar – so you can plan your family dinners with them in mind.

10. Cook once, eat twice.

Every so often, cook a double batch of meals that can easily be transformed into another entree or side dish. For example, roast 2 chickens. Have one for tonight’s dinner. Chop up the other for chicken salad for later in the week.

11. Organize your kitchen.

If you haven’t done so yet, now’s the time to take stock of your kitchen. Make sure the items you use most often are accessible from your food prep area. Replace the tools that are broken, and get those gadgets that will help you get dinner ready faster.

12. Have a special meal.

Make Friday night Teen’s night – which means they plan and prepare the meal. That is, if you have teens or any child old enough to prepare meals. They’ll learn how to cook, you get the night off (from cooking), and everybody has fun. The only condition is: everybody has to eat what’s prepared.

13. Make it educational.

This idea is for preschool-age kids. Make or buy a special placemat with letter or numbers. Laminate it with Con-Tact paper so it becomes a wipe-off board. Use it only for dinnertimes.

14. More mealtime learning opportunities.

Plan some meals to coincide with specific topics your child is studying in school. For example, on the night after a field trip to a pioneer town, have a pioneer-style meal.

15. Celebrate school successes at dinner.

Celebrate school successes with a special family meal. Prepare the child’s favorite meal and prepare a nice dessert. It’s more important to have a meal that’s relaxed and delicious, than one that tool hours to prepare.

16. Nurture school relationships.

Get to know your children’s closest school friends by inviting them to dinner once in a while.

Follow these tips to make family mealtimes simpler, easier and more fun. For meal planning and grocery shopping help, go to Dine Without Whine.

Your monthly subscription includes a weekly meal plan with recipes for main dishes, side dishes, 2 desserts and 2 brunches.

You’ll also get a weekly grocery shopping list of everything you need to create the recipes. The list is categorized according to grocery sections, so your shopping will be easier and faster.

. For a limited time, you can try Dine Without Whine for a penny. Click here to find out how.

Originally posted 2009-08-18 19:40:00. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Eat Healthier

Planning your family meals will cut down on your trips to your favorite fast food restaurant and the amount of pizza you have delivered to your door. Food you prepare at home tends to be much healthier than hamburgers with fries, fried chicken or pizza. When you plan your meals include some lean protein like chicken breast, as well as some salads and vegetables. Your entire family will benefit from the healthier meals.

Save Time

How much time are you spending now running to the grocery store a few times a week. I used to run to the store at least 3 times a week to buy something to fix for dinner. Planning your meals out for a week at a time and then putting together a grocery list with everything you need to cook those meals will cut your trips to the store down to one a week. This alone will save you a few hours each week. Plus you won’t be standing in front of your fridge and pantry every night trying to come up with something you can fix with what you have at hand.

Save Money

All that eating out and having food delivered can quickly add up. By preparing more meals at home you will save quite a few dollars each week. In addition, you will save on your monthly grocery bill, since you will be making a list of everything you need for the week and won’t end up buying extras that just go to waste. I used to throw out food almost every week before I started meal planning.

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Less Stress

You know the routine. It’s 6 pm, everyone in the family is starving and you have no idea what’s for dinner. Trying to come up with something to cook from what you have in the kitchen while your kids are tired, hungry and screaming isn’t one of the most fun family activities. You will be much more relaxed about dinner, when you know exactly what you are going to cook ahead of time and known you have everything you need in the house.

Quality Time Together

Meal Planning also encourages everyone to gather around the dinner table each day. Who could resist the delicious smells coming out of the kitchen? Dinnertime has always been a great time for families to gather and share news and experiences of the day. Parents and children can pay each other undivided attention. Cook some dinner, set the table and don’t forget to turn off the TV. Make dinner a daily family tradition again.

I encourage you to give family meal planning a try. I am sure you and your family will see the benefits within less than a week.

Christine Steendahl Is The Founder Of Dine Without Whine – A Family Friendly Weekly Menu Planner.  Eliminate Your Dinner Hour Stress And Re-Discover The Pleasure Of The Dinner Hour!

CLICK HERE For Half Off Through February 2nd, 2011!

Originally posted 2011-01-27 22:37:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

If you’ve been in an office supply store lately, you’ve seen the latest gadgets and gizmos to help you stay on top of your business whether in an office or at home. Keeping ahead of the rush doesn’t have to involve spending lot of money for electronic gadgets that will only confuse you more until you get used to how to use them. Sometimes, the tried and true methods still work the best.

As a work-at-home mom (WAHM), you are saving money on childcare but also building a business that you can be proud of. To that end, you need certain equipment to make it happen. For the sake of scheduling, a PDA or Smartphone are great technologies, but there are still many folks who could not function without their paper calendar/planner. These families are visual and still need to see the week or month spread out in front of them instead of looking on a small hand-held phone screen. That’s fine and there are still many functional calendars/planners from which to choose.

Have you seen the new calendars for 2011? They aren’t just the pocket variety your mom carries around or the one that comes in the mail from the insurance company (not that there’s anything wrong with those). Calendars for busy families have taken on a functionality that is quite exciting.

Speaking of calendars, two that I’ve found that work great for busy families are BusyBodyBook and Mom’s Family Calendar by Sandra Boynton. These calendars are fun to look at and come with stickers and pens to record everyone’s schedule. The BusyBodyBook provides a space to write in every family member’s name and their activities each month. You can also use this grid-style calendar for meal planning.

Family calendars help you mesh family life and business commitments. Since the kitchen is the central meeting place for a family, the calendar can hang there for everyone to record what they are doing. Or, they can give all their information to you and you can do it. Mom, you can even list your work hours each day on the family calendar so your beloved husband and kids know when you are not to be disturbed.

Now, let’s talk about planners. A planner works best when used in conjunction with a desk calendar. In your planner, each day is broken down by hours. The time slots that you listed on the family calendar can be broken down into specific project commitments in your planner. A planner can go everywhere with you so you are never without your schedule.

Choose a planner carefully. There are many on the market and some have features you don’t need. Franklin Covey offers a line of planners for all sorts of needs. Look for:

• Removable pages
• Section for notes or notepad
• Address book
• Place for business cards
• Tabs for easy look-up
• Vinyl pouch for bills, messages, etc.

Keeping your business schedule straight is not an easy task, but that doesn’t mean it has to be an expensive one. You can still stay on top of your daily work with the ever handy, even if they are considered “old fashioned” by your kids, calendars and planners made for the job.

A word of warning from a Professional Organizer … learn to use your calendar/planner religiously! Never be tempted to jot something down on a piece of paper or sticky note. Train yourself to grab your planner/calendar no matter what, even if it is in another part of the house – stop for a moment, go get your planner and record the event. You will save yourself so much headache later on when that slip of paper gets  misplaced before getting recorded in your calendar. Trust me … I see it happen every day with my clients.

Learn more about the organizational tools and planners we carry at The Simplified Home.

Originally posted 2010-08-02 15:42:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

1. Send gift certificates and gift cards for presents. Phone in the order – no shopping, no wrapping, no exchanges. This options also helps reduce clutter because the gift recipient is able to purchase exactly what they want, rather than receiving a gift that is never used, but lingers out of obligation to the gift giver.

2. Buy bagged salad greens and rotisserie chickens, two cornerstones of quick, healthy dinners. Add shredded chicken to casseroles, salads, soups, and pastas. At my local grocery, fresh, hot rotisserie chickens are available twice a day.

3. Ask for the earliest appointment. The later in the day you book a doctor’s visit, a haircut, or a meeting, the greater the chance it will be delayed.

4. Keep a stash of all-purpose birthday cards on hand, at home and in the office. If you have kids you’ve likely received a birthday invitation on Friday for a party on Saturday, so keep a stash of girl and boy birthday gifts for those last minute birthday party invitations. This strategy saved us loads of time when my kids were younger.

5. Put a list of movies you want to rent and books you want to read in your wallet or Smart Phone. Better yet, purchase an e-reader like Kindle Wireless e-Reader by Amazon, where you can preview, download and read books totally in electronic format. For movies, grocery stores and McDonald’s in most large cities now have Red Box kiosks where you can get a one night rental for $1.

6. Make kits containing supplies that you use all the time (scissors, tape, reading glasses, cleaning supplies) and place in strategic areas of the house (i.e., by a phone, or in a desk or night stand). At least, place a kit on every floor of your home. This will prevent extra trips up and down the stairs for minor projects.

7. Apply for your car license tags online and if you live close to toll roads, apply for an electronic tag to quickly go through toll booths.

8. Invest in a wireless handheld e-mail device (such as a BlackBerry). Keep in touch with friends during unexpected downtime.

9. Sign up for automatic bill paying at your bank’s website and purchase postage stamps online. This one is a huge time and money saver! I haven’t purchased postage stamps, checks or envelopes for years!

10. Buy a case of your favorite olive oil, wine, or cute notepads so you don’t have to make last-minute trips for hostess or birthday gifts.

11. Buy movie tickets in advance at AAA or by using Moviefone or Fandango to avoid wasting time on lines.

12. Whenever possible, double a recipe. Eat half right away, and freeze the rest for a future meal.

I’d love to hear your time-saving tips! Please add your comments below.

Source for some of these ideas: Real Simple

PS – coming soon … Time Management for Busy Moms e-book

Originally posted 2010-04-17 09:02:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter