How Does Your Family Handle Dinners And Active Kids In The Evenings?

The Alpharetta Moms Council receives email each week with questions that readers would like discussed here on Patch. We would love to hear your opinion on the topic as well. Simply add it to the comments section at the end of the article. 

This week, we received this email:

Our family is constantly on the go. I would love to know how other moms handle dinner. Do you eat out a lot or do you cook? How do you find the time to rush multiple kids everywhere they need to go but still make sure they eat proper meals? It seems like so many families I know eat out at fast food places 3 or 4 nights a week. Not only can we not afford this, but this is really unhealthy. What do you all do about dinners during the week with active kids?

So, here is the question of the week.

Q: How Does Your Family Handle Dinners And Active Kids In The Evenings?

A: I was primarily a stay-at-home Mom until recently.  I always felt it was my responsibility to provide healthy meals for my family.  I wasn't working, so that WAS a big part of my job.  I have to admit, I am shocked at the number of stay-at-home or p/t working Moms who don't even know how to cook.  So many great websites for cooking ideas.  There is A LOT of Moms in the same boat, all sharing ideas out there!!  My neighbor and I used to do a dinner exchange.  On Tuesdays she'd deliver dinner to me, and on Thursdays I'd deliver it to her.  We'd just make twice as much, and enjoy a day off.  That was a lot of fun for both families.

I will say that now that I've gone back to work, I'm employing my husband and kids more.  We still have wrinkles to iron out, but we have a full size freezer we rely on to store vegetables, meats, bread, etc. that can be pulled out the day before, the morning of, or even at dinner time.  So we have learned the art of "throwing it together" pretty well.  There is nothing that my seasonings or sauces won't make palatable!

We do have to grab dinner on the fly sometimes, but usually there is always food at home and its waiting if they didn't get to eat at dinner time.  I'm a fan of grabbing something healthy to-go to tie them over until we get home again.  We're not perfect though, and days go by when I don't feel "balanced," so I find myself pulling it together and making more thought-out meals a priority again.

The crock pot is God's gift to busy families....-Audrey Greenwood, mom of 3

A: Dinners seem to have become a stressful decision in our household lately. My daughters keep me on the run 5 days a week, and working with my husband during the day leaves little to no time to cook it seems! On Sunday mornings I get my recipes out and plan our entire menu for the week and write my grocery list for it. Knowing what I am going to make and actually having the ingredients on hand has alleviated us from the expense of dining out on a regular basis. I also cook with my crockpot frequently. I stumbled upon a website that has healthy and delicious recipes to use in your crockpot. Throw it together and get on with my day. -Lori Salata, mom of 2

A:  I do not usually plan too far ahead when it comes to dinner. I do it more in the winter than I do in the summer, I guess because we are home more. With 3 kids, we are often out and about after school. But, I usually do try to be home in time for dinner so we minimize fast food eating. We eat at restaurants a lot on the weekends but try not to do it too much during the week. I schedule our activities early as possible on purpose, although sometimes it is unavoidable. When we cant, we usually eat at the same restaurant each time because it is fast but still a restaurant with fresh food and they have a variety that the whole family can agree on. 

As far as what I serve, I go for the quick and easy recipes. I love the Cooking Light recipes that are 5 ingredients or less as well crock pot recipes and I hate to admit it, but frozen lasagna is a favorite. With 3 picky kids and a husband who travels a lot, I do not spend as much time in the kitchen cooking as I would like to do. -Tammy Bester, mom of 3