Dinner with Mummy Zen

I've really been enjoying the 'Dinner with....' series on the Babyccino Kids blog, where various mums share their typical dinnertime routine. Here's the most recent one as an example, Dinner with Jordan from O Happy Day. For whatever reason I find it really interesting to read how other mums manage dinnertimes, who does the cooking in the family, whether they are organised with lots of dinner prep at weekends for the week ahead and what are favourite meals in their household.

As Babyccino Kids are unlikely to ask me to contribute, I thought I would write my version on my own blog and hope some of you will share your dinnertime stories in the comments too.....

I am lucky to be a stay-at-home mum and I also love to cook so mealtimes are all me. My husband (probably as a result of being American) makes a great breakfast and often is in charge of weekend breakfasts for the family, serving the likes of breakfast tacos, American pancakes, French toast...

Anyway, back to dinnertime! I'm a vegetarian (my husband is not) and I always cook vegetarian food at home. We get an organic vegetable box delivered every week and so I cook seasonally too. My children are aged 3 years and 6 months. Dinnertime for my son is 6pm.

It is getting easier but the early evening is still a bit of a challenge with my 6-month old as hunger and tiredness culminate so elaborate meals are not usually an option. She sometimes has a quick nap around 4.30pm so I use that time to start throwing a meal together. Usually it will be a meal for all of us but I will wait to eat later with my husband, around 8pm. I don't generally do any meal prep earlier in the day unless we're eating something like lasagne or veggie chilli which take some time to cook. Just like my own mother, I often don't decide what we're going to eat until the moment I need to start cooking it!

Pre-dinner time is often quite chaotic and stressful but the moment we sit at the table, everything is calm again. Even though I don't eat with my son, I always sit with him, often feeding my daughter and will sometimes have a little snack to hold me over til my later dinnertime. We don't play at the table but we chat about the day and it's a nice sociable time together.

My son is a pretty good eater on the whole. He's not wild about his green vegetables but persistence pays off as he now likes broccoli, which he previously refused. Even if it is something he turns his nose up at, I insist he tries one bite before making his decision and happily, more often than not he tells me how nice it is! Both my husband and I like to try new foods and he seems to have adopted that same trait from us.

Favourite meals include most pasta dishes, veggie chilli, bean burgers, quinoa salads (this one is a favourite).... Dessert, or pudding as we call it, is often just some fruit or sometimes yoghurt.

On a Friday or Saturday night of undefeatable fatigue, I will whip out a Little Dish meal from the freezer for my son and my husband and I will later order a take away (pizza, Indian or Thai).

You can have a read through all the 'Dinner with....' posts on Babyccino Kids here. Do let me know about your dinner times in the comments!
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