Now, more than ever, it’s time for us to Reclaim the Kitchen.
When I was a kid, eating out was a special and very rare affair. We ate together as a family most nights, created the meal together and cleaned up after dinner together. My siblings and I were involved in sports and other activities, but family mealtime – at home – was always a priority for my parents. We adjusted our schedules to make sure that eating out rarely happened and that we were all together as a family each night for dinner.
Did you know in 1900, as a society, we ate 98% of our meals in our homes? Today, it’s less than 50%. Times have certainly changed! This is why we believe it’s time to reclaim the kitchen. I’ve partnered with Wolf to help families put down the remote, avoid the drive-thru, and get back into their kitchens to cook and enjoy meals together. Watch this short video to learn what reclaiming the kitchen is all about.
Family mealtime has always been a passion of mine… I think it is so important to connect with your family over dinner each day, but even I’m guilty (as someone who loves to cook) of hitting the drive through when our schedules get over packed. I’m committed to reclaiming my kitchen, and family meal time, and plan on doing a few simple things to get our family back in the groove. Wolf has created a great collection of resources to help us do just that.
First off…
Plan, plan, plan
The reason I share my weekly menu plans on Dine & Dish is because without a plan, I am lost. Without knowing how to answer the “what’s for dinner?” question, 5:00 rolls around and my first thought is to go grab whatever is easiest to slap on the table, quick.
Instead, because I have a plan, have gone grocery shopping, and know in advance what’s for dinner that night, we eat in, together, as a family. Planning is a beautiful thing, and for any busy family like ours, is key to family meal time success.
Family Mealtime Simplified
As a food blogger and recipe developer, remembering that a good meal does not have to be complicated is one of the most difficult stumbling blocks I face. I often forget how simple it is to roast some fresh vegetables, sauté some chicken and toss a salad. Friends, contrary to all the fancy recipes we’re inundated with every day, cooking a fresh and delicious meal for your family to enjoy doesn’t have to be complicated! To reclaim your kitchen, remember that simplicity is your best friend.
Involve Everyone
When the entire family is involved in family mealtime, it takes the burden off of just one person and turns creating and enjoying the meal prep into a family affair. Have your kids menu plan for you, choosing recipes that they will enjoy eating as well as cooking. Find jobs each of your family members can do…peeling vegetables, stirring items on the stovetop, setting the table, etc. Our best conversations as a family tend to happen when we are all in the kitchen and working together. Also, getting your kids involved in planning and prepping your meals teaches them such valuable life skills they will hold onto, along with the memories, forever.
So, what do you think? Are you ready to change the current statistics and reclaim your kitchen? I believe it’s a really important thing for all of us to do. Let’s get back into our kitchens, return to cooking with fresh and simple ingredients and bring our families back together at the same time.
It’s time to Reclaim the Kitchen… for more practical tips on how to do just that visit Wolf’s Reclaim the Kitchen website.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation on behalf of Wolf. All opinions are my own.
Disclosure: This blog post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
I just LOVE all your tips and sweet quotes that you shared! Great reminders 😀
Your post couldn’t be better timed. I meal planned this week and I was literally just thinking how great it’s been having delicious and healthy meals ready to go and planned out ready. I don’t always take the time to meal plan but every time I do we eat better and save so much money.
Love this! I love encouraging people to cook at home. You can make some fun memories!
my mother taught me to meal plan eons ago – always read grocery ads and plan meals around what is on sale and in the freezer and pantry. right now I’m trying to do mostly freezer and pantry so that I can clear them out before we go on vacation in April. Keep lists of what is in the freezer and pantry. That helps me in planning and also on what I need to shop for. Dining out is a occasional treat for us; that way it is special.
Thank you for sharing this great video and sentiments Kristin! Sharing family meals has always been so important in my family, it’s really sad that it’s more of a special occasion for so many families these days. I’m a terrible planner, but I find that keeping enough standbys in the freezer and pantry (frozen shrimp, chicken, steaks in the freezer, pasta, and canned tuna and tomatoes in the pantry) means I can always whip a meal. We’ve been so spoiled by our own cooking in our family that we rarely go out!
We are just the opposite – we eat 90% of our meals at home – some weeks it’s even higher than that. One of the advantages of living out in the middle of nowhere – even if we flirt with the idea of going out, it’s more trouble that it’s worth, most of the time. But, I’m also not a planner – I get out some sort of protein in the morning, but most of the time I have no idea what I’m cooking until at least 5. Fly by the seat of my pants type of girl, I am 😉
I feel so much better about myself when I meal plan. And my family seems less stressed.
These are great tips, and they can really make a difference in the family.
Kristen, I love this! All through my childhood, and even when I was an adult and still living at home, my family ate dinner together every single night. It became an important ritual for us, and helping my Mum and Dad (he’s an ex-Navy cook) in the kitchen certainly started my own love of cooking and creating memories through food.
Now that I live out of home with my boyfriend we still eat dinner together every night. We don’t currently have a dining room so we usually eat in bed, but when we move into our new house I cannot wait to have a big dining room table that we can gather at every night.
Your tips are wonderful There’s nothing better than cooking together, and planning makes everything so much easier! Let’s reclaim the kitchen!
I love this post and the food quotes! I’m still SO excited my husband and I have a new house with a beautiful kitchen and we love cooking together in it (OK, me a little more than him, but still!).
Kristen this is a great reminder. Tonight I WILL not get the kids something quick to go after our long day. We have stuff to make at home right!?!
Boy, I’d love to claim a Wolf stove! LOL
We do eat at home every night of the week except for date night.
Since it’s just two of us I freeze leftovers for super easy meals on late nights. It works well for us.