A Nice Dinner & Trying to Press the Easy Button More Often

Our library recently ran a reading program for kids sponsored by In-N-Out. We live three blocks from the library, so we are all over it whenever they have an event or program (or, you know, a new coloring sheet, riddle, or puzzle). After completing the program, my daughter got gift cards to In-N-Out.

The other night we were hanging out at the park about to go home and cook dinner, when A asked, “Can we go to In-n-Out for dinner?” My instinct was to say no because I already had something planned for dinner, but then I realized that there was no good reason we couldn’t go. Plus, not cooking or cleaning sounded great. Thirty minutes later, we all loaded into the car and enjoyed some burgers and fries. M is 2.5 and at a tough age for eating in restaurants, but it was so fast that she was in a great mood the whole time and stayed seated and absorbed by the coloring sheets and the novelty of getting lemonade. A kind teenager gave A a bracelet made with her favorite colors after she had asked her what she was making, and M was enchanted by a soccer team dining next to us and kept waving at them.

This was such a nice treat, and I’m not saying we should eat fast food all the time, but it made me think about how I can press the easy button more with dinner. Lately, it’s felt like a bit of a force. One child recently got pickier, and the other takes dinner as an opportunity to experiment with gravity. After many meals picked at and several broken dishes, I’m thinking about how I can make dinner feel more relaxing and easy, aside from ordering stainless steel dishes, which I am definitely also doing.

I’m going to try and pay attention to what easy dinners work well for everyone and don’t take too long to make. Some winners in our house lately are: pasta, quesadillas, lentil soup, chicken tray bakes, chicken tikka masala, and a charcuterie board w/ focaccia and dips. I’d love some help brainstorming easy-ish meals. What do you and your family like to make for an easy dinner?

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