8 Dinner Traditions You Should Start With Your Family This Year
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Unless you're a top chef with a stocked, high-grade kitchen and all the time in the world, carving out time to make delicious meals for your family that won't take forever to cook (just to be denied by your picky eaters) can be tough. Whether you're a working mom, a stay-at-home mom, a mom of "carbs only" kids, or just a mom who needs some great ideas for quick weeknight dinners, we've got you covered.
Rather than hit you with a number of specific recipes that we both know will be filed in your brain under "I'll make that when I have time," we've come up with eight dinner traditions that your family needs to start in 2018 (enough for every night of the week!). Not only are these simple enough to replicate in a meal-planning pinch, but if you actually consider them traditions, they'll also be ones your kids will get excited about week after week and want to keep around forever.
Sheet-Pan Nachos
Grab your trusty sheet pan, spread out a bag of tortilla chips, and have the kids top them with cheese, salsa, guacamole, beans, chicken, steak, tomatoes, chives, and whatever else you can think of!
Tacos
Tuesday or not, this one's a fan favorite. Set everyone's plate up with a few soft or hard taco shells, and pass bowls of sour cream, cheese, seasoned meat, beans, lettuce, avocado slices, tomatoes, and your other favorite toppings around the table.
Personal Pizzas
Give each kiddo a premade pizza crust (we love the ready-made ones from Trader Joe's, as well as its frozen cauliflower crusts) and let them top them with sauce, cheese, and the toppings of their choice before popping them into the oven. (Bonus: while the pizzas cook, have your kids help you clean up the toppings bar.)
Baked-Potato Bar
Whether you bake your potatoes in the oven or microwave, cooking up a whole batch is easy as pie. Slice them open while they're hot, and load them up with a variety of toppings, from sour cream and shredded cheese to broccoli, chives, and bacon bits.
Mini Quesadillas
Heat up mini soft tortillas on the stove and let your kids go to town with the shredded cheese and any other toppings they'd like (think: seasoned chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, shrimp, etc.).
Burgers
Even if it isn't grilling season, burger night can be a staple in your house. Whether your clan prefers beef, turkey, chicken, or veggie burgers, whip up a batch, slap 'em on toasted buns, and present toppings: different types of cheeses, bacon, tomato slices, lettuce, onions, pickles, fried eggs, condiments — the options are endless.
Grilled Cheeses
Nothing says "yum" quite like a warm, cheesy grilled cheese with a crispy golden crust. Stray away from the typical and give your weekly grilled cheese night a little bit of flair with topping options ranging from tomato slices to crispy pieces of bacon. (For a heartier meal, serve up bowls of tomato soup on the side for dipping and slurping purposes.)
Breakfast For Dinner: Omelet Bar
Omelets may very well be the easiest thing on the planet to make. Create your own omelet bar at home by presenting your kids with bowls of their favorite ingredients — things like diced tomatoes, spinach, cheeses, mushrooms, peppers, and onions. Then, let them "build their own" omelets by having them compile the toppings they want into one bowl and handing it over to the chef to add to the scrambled eggs — just like at a breakfast buffet!