I don’t know about you, but dinner time is the worst time in our house! The kids will literally be fine until the clock strikes 5:00pm, and then all heck breaks loose for apparently no reason. Kids are bothering each other and kids are under my feet and crying when I’m trying to move around the kitchen and cook. It’s the definition of chaos! In this blog post I’ll let you in on my best “mom hacks” for getting dinner on the table each night without the chaos (#3 is the best one!).

Don’t have time to read it right now? Pin it for later!

Can I admit something to you, friend? It’s really hard for me to get dinner cooked and on the table during the later part of the day. In the past, my husband and I have just decided to eat eggs or oatmeal at 8:00pm instead of even attempting to cook dinner. That is, until I figured out my own little “mom hacks” for getting dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. Now my husband and I actually get to eat a good, healthy dinner before 9:00pm. I’m excited to share these “mom hacks” with you to help you get a better hold on dinner if that is a weak point in the day for you, too!

Mom Hack #1: Meal Plan

I’ve found that it’s a true art form to throw something together for dinner on the fly when you have no plan. I have to admit, it’s something that I’ve become skilled at as I’ve been “momming” for 7 + years. However, I also found that when I would put a meal together “on the fly” it’s almost always unbalanced and not entirely healthy. A few meals like this is OK once in a while, but the best way to make sure we are nourishing our bodies with healthy foods is to make a plan. 

When my first son became a toddler dinner times started to get a little hectic. I learned how to meal plan ahead of time. I use Sundays to sit down and write out a meal plan for the week. We take Sundays as our “sabbath” rest day in our house, and the practice of sitting quietly and going through my recipes for the week fits into our weekly routine. However, you can pick any day of the week that works for you! I just encourage you to pick a day and stick with it so that you can easily fit it into your weekly home routine.

Mom Hack #2: Make Meals Easy

One of my better “mom hacks” to getting dinner on the table without chaos, is that I don’t make elaborate meals. I do actually enjoy cooking! I find it relaxing to put on some music and cook. However, in this season of life we have three little kids and time is of the essence. So, I plan meals that use one pot or one pan and that don’t have a large number of ingredients. 

Remember, nourishing meals don’t have to be complicated! You don’t have to use a lot of hard-to-find ingredients to create a healthy meal. I make a lot of meals using the Trim Healthy Mama cookbooks, and many of the recipes in those cookbooks don’t require any special ingredients. In fact, some of the most nourishing ingredients are also the most simple and easy to find! Some nights all we have is chicken, rice and a bag of steam fresh vegetables. It’s such a simple meal, but hits all of the major food groups. 

Mom Hack #3- Make Dinner at Lunch Time

This one is by far my most favorite of my “mom hacks”! Once I figured this out, it changed all of our dinner times for the better. In our house right now, dinner time is also fussy time for the kids. It’s really hard for me to keep everyone together while also cooking a meal. So I avoid that scenario altogether and I cook dinner at lunch time.

This works well for two reasons:

1. I can actually enjoy cooking. I relax, put on music, and I get to cooking while the kids are at school, or are still in a good mood. 

2. It allows me to get dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. Otherwise, my husband and I don’t get to eat our own dinner until after the bedtime routine!

I make the dinner at lunch time, and then when dinner time comes around I just reheat the food. I know a lot of people like freshly cooked food and don’t like to reheat. My preference is also to have freshly cooked food. However, in this season of life I have to balance being able to eat at a reasonable time, while also getting the kids through their bedtime routine. Taking the stress off of having to cook dinner at “dinner time” has saved me, my husband and my kids from lots of chaos and yelling that comes when everyone is tired at the end of the day.

If you find that your house is too chaotic at dinner time and you aren’t able to even get a healthy dinner on the table, then try these simple “mom hacks” for getting a healthy dinner on the table at a reasonable hour! 

What’s your best “mom hack” for dinner time?

Meal planning and cooking go hand-in-hand! Read my blog post about 5 tips to meal plan a week of dinners in 20 minutes- Read it here

This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a comission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Affiliate I earn comission from qualifying purchases. I only recommend products that I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own.