With family confined at home during quarantine, it could only mean one thing – home-cooked meals! While it is healthy to feed your family home-cooked meals, it can also be challenging to prepare these meals while juggling work and other household chores. Don’t forget the snacks in between, too.
One thing to think about is your children’s food intake. With you being at home all the time, it might change their eating moods and patterns. There might be days they’ll be out of control and let out some tantrums. To help you control this and to let your children have fun enjoyable home-cooked meals, here are some simple tips:
1. Stick to a Schedule
To prevent the tantrums and the seemingly unending request for food, it would be best to stick to a schedule. Feeding them on regular intervals and giving them a sense of consistency and discipline making them enjoy their meals better.
2. Make Simple Foods
Being at home all the time doesn’t mean having all the time in the world to prepare those meals, so don’t feel guilty if you’re preparing uncomplicated foods. Do not feel obligated to make complex foods. You can prepare sandwiches, omelets, burritos, pasta, and even casserole – they still provide your family with the nutrition they need.
3. Connect During Mealtimes
Now that there’s no need to rush out in the morning or arrive late in the evening take this chance to connect with your family. Unplug during mealtimes. Try not to use any gadgets and focus on spending quality mealtime with your family.
This can help create a healthier and deeper bond with the family members. Spending family meals can help your children process their emotions and lower the chances of experiencing stress and anxiety. It can also help in decreasing high-risk behaviors in teens.
4. Make Your Favorite Meals More Often
Don’t be afraid to prepare your family’s favorite meal on repeat. Most of us turn to food when we feel stressed. Having these comfort foods at the dinner table can be a great stress reliever for your family.
Prepare those fried chicken or spaghetti or pizza or grilled cheese as often as you feel like there’s a need. Nothing beats good food when you’re feeling a little lonely.
5. Discover New Dishes
From time to time, you can also try out some new dishes. If it suits you well with you and your family, you can add it to the rotation. If not, then it was worth a try.
6. Do Batch Cooking
Prepare meals on batches to save time. If you have enough space to store foods in quantities, then it would be perfect.
7. Making Meals Together is F-U-N
A family that cooks together eats together! Kidding aside, it would be good also to engage your kids in meal preparations. You can ask your kids to prepare some things for you.
If you have a little kid, you can help them wash fruits and vegetables or let them do some simple mixing. If your kid is already around 8 to 10 years old, you can ask them to open cans, blend smoothies, and beat eggs. For children ages ten and up, you can ask them to help you slice the ingredients and even prepare essential recipes with your guidance. By keeping them engaged, you are also teaching them different life skills that can be useful in the future. An extra hand in the kitchen is also a welcome idea. Plus, the thought of making meals together can be something memorable to them.
In these trying times, it is essential to prepare food that will keep our family healthy. A trip to the hospital can be very stressful, given the current situation. But we can turn this challenge into something beautiful by whipping up something useful from it – more bonding moments with the family and creating great memories you will all fondly remember.