Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner!

Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner…Discover Opportunities to Make Ordinary Rituals Extraordinary

Are you looking for ways to be healthier and happier? Do you want to provide nutritious and delicious meals for your family? Do you want to enjoy your family time more? Then maybe you’ll be interested in my “do more with dinner” idea.
First of all, I have to emphasize: This is NOT about “doing” more – that’s the last thing anyone wants to hear! It’s about getting more, having more, enjoying more.
I decided that I wanted to “do more with dinner” for a variety of reasons. I wanted to explore opportunities to take this ordinary daily ritual and make it extraordinary.

I decided to focus on DINNER because that is where I felt that my family was getting the short end of the stick. The past few years have been busier than ever – with me launching my own biz, my husband going back to school and starting a new job, my daughter starting high school and my son starting grade school.
I went from feeling a great deal of pressure (mostly from myself) about putting a good meal on the table every night to feeling so overwhelmed and needing to lighten up and just keep it simple. As long as my family was getting fed and most of the time they were getting the right food groups, I didn’t stress as much about variety, recipes and lots of fanfare. But as I looked into the new year and thought about what I wanted for myself, my business, my family, I realized that I had an opportunity to make more out of our dinnertime together.

So I started thinking of ways I could “do more with dinner” and I started getting excited about all the ways we could reap the benefits of focusing more on how we spend this time together every day.

I believe this will resonate with others who are struggling to be healthier and happier, to connect with loved ones, to be present, and to get more (or make more) out of each day. Note: I’m focusing on “family” time but this could apply to any relationship –i.e. a couple without kids who dine out often can still use the MORE idea to be healthier and happier.

So I’ll be sharing ideas and inspiration on my blog, podcast and social media (#domorewithdinner). I’ll be tapping into experts like dietitians and psychologists to explore a variety of opportunities to help us all make more of this daily ritual.

I sat down with my daughter, Sarah, the other day to talk about how we’ve been doing more with dinner the past few months and some of the ways we will do more in the coming year. Listen to our podcast episode here.

View all Do M.O.R.E. with Dinner posts!

You may also listen on iTunes, or Stitcher.

Sarah and me

our weekly meal planner

Here’s the Harry Potter TV segment! (This link takes you to my Media page – scroll down to the last video)

Here’s the Huffington Post article I mentioned: What Nutritionists Eat for Dinner When They Don’t Feel Like Cooking

Stay tuned! I have some great experts lined up for interviews on these topics and more!

1. Cooking – try a new recipe, plan for leftovers
2. Kids in the kitchen – experiment, teach, have fun
3.  Making memories and connecting with your loved ones – the rose/thorns/bud sharing activity my daughter taught us: each person shares their rose (best thing that happened that day) their thorn (worst thing that day) and their bud (what they are looking forward to)
4. Healthier choices – at home or at restaurants, sneak in more veggies, makeover a family favorite, share a meal and/or take half home, healthy grocery shopping on a budget

There are so many ways we can do more with dinner! I hope you join me on this journey and share your insights and experiences with me so I can share them on my blog, podcast and social media channels!