Healthy Eating | Health Articles | The Family Dinner: Fast and Simple

Home made foods are healthier than processed, prepared, or restaurant meals. Take-out foods and prepared foods are generally much higher in fat, salt and calories than home cooked foods. We would encourage you or your spouse to make home-cooked dinners at least three times per week.

If just the thought of making dinner exhausts you, here are few tips to ease the burden of getting dinner on the table during your busy week:

- Set aside time on the weekends to make foods in advance and freeze them. Connect with a friend, double the recipes and split up the meals for both families.

- Don't schedule your kid's day out so heavily that it intrudes on time to prepare dinner. Instead invite the kids into the kitchen and teach them a few things about cooking — it's life skill that they will certainly thank you for some day!

- Invest in a slow cooker. This is fabulous machine for busy families. You can prepare your main dish in the morning and come home to a delicious ready-to- eat meal.

- Buy pre-washed veggies in the produce section of stores. The clean and prep is often the most time consuming part of cooking.

- Buy "no cook" items like apples, pears, avocadoes, tomatoes. A fruit plate or veggie salad makes a terrific side dish.

- Keep it simple. There is no need to strive for gourmet everyday. It is often the simpler dishes that have the best flavors too.

- Share the burden. Team up with a friend and have a family dinner at their house one night and switch to your house on another. For a different twist on the same concept, divide up the menu between families and share the work.

- Plan your menus and make a grocery list. These two steps require finding spare time, but they will save it in the long run.

- Buy a few cookbooks with titles like 30 minute meals, slow cooker recipes or 5 ingredients or less. These types of books are geared toward getting meals on the table quickly and easily. Look for books that offer shortcuts, pre-written shipping lists and menu ideas.

- Make extra for leftovers. It goes without saying; leftovers make great lunches and snacks. If you're making a family favorite, double the recipe and freeze a portion for next week.

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