Stress-Free Dinners

Does doing the dinner dance night after night leave you with sore feet? To prep, make, and execute a delicious dinner at the exact moment you get your whole family to the table can be exhausting. And that doesn't even include clean up! Dinner can be a messy, tiresome affair.... but it doesn't have to be.

As with anything, planning ahead can lead to greater success. And practice can perfect your "dinner dance" skills.

Use these simple suggestions to help organize your dinner. You will surprise yourself with how quickly you can get dinner on (and off) the table. You will also find that you are better able to maintain a clean and organized kitchen.

1. Commit to the process. Like death, taxes and laundry, it's a certainty that your family will want to eat dinner every night. Just put it on your daily to-do list and by committing to it you are already one step closer to success.

2. Plan ahead. Any amount of planning will help the dinner process, whether it's following a full-blown meal plan, or simply taking some meat out of the freezer the day before.

3. Organize your kitchen. Just because you have always kept certain things in a certain place, doesn't mean you should. Our lifestyles change, kids get older and things we used to use all the time are now a thing of our kitchen's past. Give your kitchen a good reassessment. Box or give away utensils or appliances you no longer use, and better organize the things you do. i.e. if the items that most often go in the dishwasher aren't in the cabinets closest to it - move things around.

4. Keep a plastic grocery bag on the counter where you cook. All the garbage will end up in there without a second thought. Then make one trip to the garbage can when you're done.

5. Put ingredients away after you use them. The kitchen can look like a war zone after a busily-cooked meal. Take some time to clean up while you cook, and you will be surprised at the manageable state of your kitchen when you're done.

6. Buy in bulk. Keep dry goods on hand that you know you will use frequently to avoid last minute grocery store trips.

7. Always keep ingredients on hand for one or two of your good-old standby recipes. When dinner plans get cancelled or you are missing an ingredient for what you hoped to make, being able to whip up one of your favorites can bring needed relief.

8. Clean a dish here or there. Sure there will be dishes to clean after the meal is done, but if you can clean some of the prep dishes while you're simmering or in between stirs, there will be less.

9. Set the table early. If this task is out of the way it won't compete for your attention at mealtime.

10. Delegate. Make sure your family members know beforehand that what is expected of them is clearing their plates, doing the dishes etc. Clean up will be much more efficient if it's part of the everyday process.

We hope these suggestions leave you tapping your toes at the ease of tonight's dinner dance. If not, remember, a hungry family has to eat and there's always tomorrow.

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