A huge thanks to our friends at Cost Plus World Market for sponsoring this post on dining tips!
Hello, friends!
I just wanted to pop in really quickly to let you know that the boys and I are hanging out over on the Cost Plus World Market Blog today! As you may know, dining with little ones at home can be a bit challenging. We’re sharing some of our favorite tips to make dining as a family at home as stress-free as possible, and I promise you’ll leave the post feeling inspired just in time for dinner tonight!
We’re sharing ideas for conversation, encouraging cleaning-up, and even throwing in a few great (and non-breakable) product recommendations. I absolutely love Cost Plus World Market and cannot wait for you to check out the post!
What is YOUR favorite tip from the blog post?
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My biggest tips for making dinner easier with little kids is to hide the good stuff in just a little bad stuff. I used to put veggies into mac and cheese. My kids found this to be an acceptable compromise.
I am with Paula, I do the same too with my kids . In fact I put a lot of veggies in them and they don’t care, they love it that way.
My tip is to puree beans and put them into the meat. I used to sneak more bean in my kids meals than they would ever have suspected. Funny they never said Gross or anything.
I grate veggies and mix them with sauce. Zucchini and carrot work best in pasta dishes. My kids can see in the dark because of this tactic ๐
I love World Market. We just bought our granddaughter some Poky Little Puppy cups and plates from there and they are adorable.
We always have family dinners. My kids get very disappointed if we don’t all eat together. They like to discuss their day.
we eat dinner each night as a family-been doing it since they were all in high chairs-so they just got used to it. No tv or cell phones (unless I’m on call) and we go around the table to talk about our day–making it a habit-makes it easier as well.
I used to purรฉe squash and add it to meatloaf which our daughter loves. Applesauce was always a favorite so that was easy.
We always eat dinner together. It’s our favorite time to catch up on the day’s happenings.
We always eat together but sometimes, I admit I’m so tired I just want dinner to be over and done with so I can usher the kids to bed! Thanks for the great tips to manage it all better.
I’ve been pretty lucky. My kids are good eaters and pretty much eat everything that I cook. These are great tips for moms to know about.
Dinner time is a great way to sit and get caught up on daily events as well as reminders of what has to happen. Sport, band, etc. As far as trying to compromise, if they decide not to eat what was made, that’s their choice.
Dinner as a family is so important!!! I love these tips, it does get easier as the kids get older though.
These are some awesome tips! My daughter goes through phases where she just sucks at eating! Then other times she will eat anything and everything in site
I love that you encourage your babies to get artsy before dinner. Smart! Family dinnertime is so important, I love when the kids get chatting about their days with us. ๐
XO
Feed the healthiest stuff first so it’s easiest to eat haha It’s easier to shove veggies down them when they’re super hungry.
This is some great information! It will be very helpful when I have my kids.
Being consistent at meal time is the most important for getting the little ones to cooperate. Sometimes kids can get antsy during long meals so letting them draw/color is a great way to keep them entertained and present.
Tips for getting kids to clean up? I’m in! That is currently their least favorite of meal time which leads to that dreaded whining no mom wants to here in the evening. Haha!
I need to make my weeknights easier. We are always so busy after school. These are some great tips!
Brilliant tips! I’m thankful that I found this, this would be great for my son to encourage.
I’m fortunate that my kids have always been decent diners. They don’t always eat as healthy asI would like but they do ok.
Grating veggies is always an easy way to sneak in some good veggies into the mix of the food! Its subtle but adds in enough vitamins to make a difference!
Thankfully, my daughter is older and I don’t have to motivate her to help but when she was little, I enforced and encouraged her to help and it’s something that’s been ingrained in her since she was little.
I think dining with kids can be great or can go bad quick. My girls usually have something to color or draw while we’re dining out. This keeps them very busy while waiting for food.
This is awesome. Dining with kids can be a little bit stressful especially if you’re dealing with picky eaters. It would be nice to make things fun for them so that they’ll be interested in eating more.
first let me say, I love World Market! now for dinners… we always eat together at the table as a family. No electronics, we talk about everyones days, hot topics going on in the world, old stories (the kids love hearing old stories of their folks : ) we eat and enjoy our time together (not rushing) and then we each put our plates away (kids bring their dirty dishes and put them on the counter) it works out well!
This is great! I love dining together with our kids, it can just get so stressful. If I can get them to help clean up, I’m in!
These are great tips! I know that we try to keep the dinner time the same every single night but sometimes that can be tough.
Dinner time is one of my favorite times of the day. It’s the time I get to sit and catch up with my kids and hubby ๐
I try to get dinner ready for the family but I have to admit, it’s been hard the last couple days! These are some great ideas that I’m definitely going to try!
My favorite tip is definitely making clean up easy! Great ideas to encourage togetherness during dinner time!
My kids are grown and married themselves now. I used to work in veggies in dishes they didn’t even know had veggies in them. We always had fun at the table, we left our devices off during meal time.
I never had trouble with son eating veggies. He has always prefered them to junk. even now as a teen he doesn’t do soda or candy anymore.