Before kids I took for granted how easy it was to cook dinner and how peaceful it was without a little one tugging on my feet and crying for my attention. Unlike before, making dinner with kids now requires tricks, speed, conniving, and planning to get dinner on the table while staying sane myself. For a while I wasn’t doing it very well but now I have a little system:
Making Dinner When you Have Little Ones:
1. Keep dinners simple. The faster you can make it the better. I’ve said good-bye to gourmet dinners at home, I can save those for date nights out with hubby. A few of our favorite easy meals are:
- Anything breakfast! Eggs, waffles, french toast, oatmeal casserole, etc.
- Delicious slower cooker chicken. {It goes great with a side of oven potatoes.}
- Use the extra shredded chicken to make chicken quesadillas or use the chicken on top of a salad and with some 5 min. homemade ranch for the kids {and you}.
- Spaghetti is always easy to make and you can easily hide extra veggies in the sauce.
2. Prep things out ahead of time on a day that hubby is home and can watch the kids for a minute. I usually chop a bunch of extra veggies and fill a huge tupperware full, make a pot of boiled eggs {the link will take you to a recipe that makes the shells SO EASY to peel}, and finish off with a batch of cookies as a thanks to hubby for watching the kids!
3. Always make extra! And either freeze or re-created into another meal the following day or 2. I’ll make spaggheti one night, and spaghetti casserole with melted cheese 2 days later. If I make the oven potatoes above I make extra to use in breakfast burritos. When I brown meet I brown an extra pound or 2 and freeze it so it’s ready to go next time.
4. Make peace with the fact that dinner might not be served at the exact same time each night because life happens sometimes, even to the best of us.
5. Make sure kids are safe while you cook. This is the perfect time for independent play, so they can learn to use their imagination and gain confidence in themselves.
For toddlers/preschoolers you can set them up with little activities like this Quiet Book that has activities inside, these DIY paint sample puzzles, or a fun fine motor activity with pipe cleaners.
I love my Stella video monitor {made by Levana, our sponsor} to make sure my girl is safe while she plays on her own. I love the video aspect because then I can watch her as I cook and no longer have to worry. Having eyes on her is always FUN! She is growing so fast I never want to miss a moment, so any extra extra smile I can catch makes the monitor even more worth it. My favorite features of the monitor:
- Multi-camera! Flip between cameras and watch kids that are in different rooms playing. {We have left an extra camera at grandma’s house already set up in the extra bedroom, that way all I have to bring is the viewer in the diaper bag and I already have everything set up and ready when I lay baby down to nap over there!}
- Night vision! Girly Q is still co-sleeping with us but this will be such a nice feature when, in the future, we go to transition her into her own room. Peace of mind for mommy is always needed. I even took a picture testing it out:
- Private and Secure Signal! Before receiving my monitor I was concerned about hackers on a video feed so I double checked this with them and here was there reply: “Our baby monitors are designed with “Unbreakable ClearVu® Digital Signal“. ClearVu® technology provides you the outstanding precision and clarity of a digital signal. Unlike some monitors that operate on analog frequency signals, Levana has a private, secure and interference-free digital signal that no one but you can access.” Not only was I impressed with their service replying back so quickly I’m also obviously delighted in the safety featured they have worked on building in!
Levana is hosting a giveaway of a Stella Video Monitor (2 Camera Set) during the month of October. To enter, post pictures of your children in their costumes on the Levana Facebook Timeline, your Twitter or Instagram accounts and use #Levanaween. One randomly selected winner will receive a Stella 2 Cam Video Monitor!
Leave us your tips for getting dinner ready stress free with a baby or busy toddler.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Levana. The opinions and text are all mine.
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