“Mom, what’s for dinner?” It’s a question my kids used to ask all the time. I found myself fumbling through my thoughts on a daily basis, too, about 3 p.m. wondering what should we eat tonight? The result, not always, but sometimes, was either picking up Chinese food, throwing together a quick meal that no one (myself included) was really looking forward to eating, or getting so overwhelmed with everything else going on that we had cereal for dinner.
 
While there’s nothing wrong with the occasional foray into Raisin Bran for a meal, I was finding that dinnertime became stressful, instead of fun - and I tended to chase my kiddos out of the kitchen instead of having them help.
 
Enter the dinner board.

We have a large, door-sized board in our kitchen we used as our ongoing inspirational quote/art installation. About three months ago, I decided to put it to another use—to list out our meals for the week. Everyone in the house now knows the meal schedule—so the question isn’t “What’s for dinner?” - instead it’s “How can I help you make ___________?”

Interested in instituting a dinner board at your house? Here are a few steps to get your family started.

Pick a place. You don’t have to have a large blackboard and chalk to start your own dinner board. Use pen and paper and post it on your refrigerator. Or, purchase a small chalkboard at a craft store. The key is to keep your board up-to-date and to find a prominent spot in the kitchen to display it.

Plan out meals—together. Decide on a meal-planning day and time. For us, it’s Sunday evenings. Sometimes, we’ll look through cookbooks as a family and earmark a new dish or two to try during the week. Depending on the age of your kids, have them choose a day to cook the meal. For younger kids, they can be in charge of part of the meal like setting the table or making a side salad. Note: I usually plan out my meals in large part based on what’s on sale at my favorite grocers.

Shop once, eat for the week. Now this is one reason the dinner board saves time—with a week’s worth of meals plotted out I know what I need to pick up at the grocery store. I can usually hit the grocery store once. Even better, I feel like I’m wasting less food. If it’s not on my list I don’t get it no matter how good the deal is on sliced mushrooms.

Get your kids involved. The more kids are helping you cook the less work you’ll need to do in the end. Before long, they’ll be able to make the meals all by themselves! While not all my kids love to cook my youngest has become quite the little chef and has at least one meal she’s able to do by herself start to finish.

Schedule leftovers. For some families, it seems leftovers have become a bad word. They shouldn’t. We prefer to think of them as planned overs. I try to make extra chicken one night for a recipe the next. Or I’ll make beans for a side on Monday night and toss extras into a salad Wednesday night.

Choose favorites. Hey, it’s okay to have a dish pop up on the board week after week. For us, Saturdays have become Basil Tomato Soup day. I make grilled cheese brushed on the inside with pesto before adding the cheese—they’re perfect for dipping into the savory soup.

Start a recipe file. When you have a recipe that goes over well with your family hold onto it! You might keep track in a binder in your kitchen, in the notes section of your smartphone, or whatever method works well for you. That’s how we started having Chicken Philly Wraps regularly. I experimented making them once and my kids enjoyed them so much we’ve been having them again. And again.

Eat out. Schedule times to eat out, too. We get inspiration from restaurants for food to try at home.

Have fun. The dinner board has shaved the stress of dinnertime down considerably for us. While it’s not a perfect method, it’s helped us spend more time preparing meals together versus fretting over food. Sure, cereal still makes it on the board every now and then, but it’s on purpose - not a last-minute meal. 

Global Recipes to inspire:

Hummus

Moroccan Rice

Green Chile & Spinach Pork

Potato Taquitos

Homemade tortillas in 5 steps

Meatball margarita pizza

Calzones done right

Asian tacos

Cajun fried shrimp po’ boy sandwiches

Onion Tart – Pissaladière

Authentic Mexican Chicken Enchiladas

Guinness Stew and Irish Brown Bread

Easy Japanese Recipe: Chicken Katsu

Easy Japanese Dinner: Tsukune & the Best Salad Dressing, EVER

Greek Gyros Meatloaf

How to Make Chinese Dumplings

Rødkål (Pickled red cabbage) and Viking Fiskesuppe (Viking fish soup)

Kristen J. Gough is the Global Cuisines & Kids Editor for Wandering Educators. She shares her family's adventurous food experiences--and recipes--at MyKidsEatSquid.com.