How to Get Weeknight Dinners on the Table Fast
Do weeknight dinner time feel like it is going to turn you into a crazy person? I’ve partnered with Idahoan on this sponsored post to bring you some great dinnertime tips.
I often find myself lately wondering how we managed to become so busy. It seems like every night we have multiple activities going on and we spend most of the after school hours driving from one place to another.
Somewhere in between all of that, we have to find a way to cook and eat dinner. It feels a bit impossible.
Fortunately, there are some great solutions to help you get dinner on the table and get back to enjoying the craziness.
Keep things simple.
No one said dinner had to be fancy. Some of my favorite dinners are super easy and my family loves them. Keep things simple with a rotisserie chicken, grilling up pre-made hamburger patties, making grilled cheese sandwiches with canned soup, or making breakfast for dinner.
Everyone gets fed and there’s no stress and minimal cleanup. That’s a win in my book!
Cook Once, Eat Twice.
Leftovers are my favorite, especially when you repurpose them into something new. I’ll often cook a huge pork roast in the slow cooker and do a roast and potatoes one day and pork burritos the next. We change it up enough that no one gets sick of eating it and I have something super quick to throw together the next day.
As the weather cools down, I love making a huge pot of chili or soup and eating it for several days. Heating up the pot of soup makes dinner so simple and saves me a lot of extra stress on those busy nights.
Add quick and easy side dishes.
Side dishes can take as much time as your main course sometimes. When we are short on time (and energy) I just can’t manage to pull that off, but the meal never seems complete without a couple of great side dishes.
My current favorite are the new New Idahaoan Russets mashed potatoes. My family loves mashed potatoes but they take so long to cook, an honestly, my scratch mashed potatoes always come out a bit bland.
Idahaoan Russets mashed potatoes can be made in  only five minutes using milk and butter…or just water.
They taste so good you’d never guess they weren’t made from scratch. More than six pounds of premium Idahoan russet potatoes go into every 16 oz. pouch so it’s a great way to serve your favorite side dish without all the peeling, chopping, and waiting for the potatoes to cook.
Idahoan Signature Russets Mashed Potatoes are available at outlets nationwide (including Walmart and Kroger) starting  September 19, 2016.
Some of our other favorite quick side dishes include frozen veggies (we always keep a huge assortment of them in the freezer), simple bean salads, bread and butter, and fresh fruit mixed with yogurt for a quick fruit salad.
Plan ahead.
Just having a menu planned out makes it so much easier to get dinner on the table. Check out our printable menu planner to get you started. When you know what you are going to be having for dinner, you can plan some prep-work in ahead of time too. If you find any extra time at the beginning of the week, you can chop veggies you’ll need for meals, pre-cook meat, and pre-measure seasonings. Anything you can do ahead of time helps you get dinner on the table faster.
Do you have any tricks that help you get weeknight dinners on the table?
Pin it for Later
