Dinner for Busy Moms (Giveaway)
**CLOSED: Winners are Sarah comment #20 and Rebecca comment #28!
**Disclosure: I willingly contributed the book. I received a copy to review and two copies to distribute to readers. The opinions below are my own.
You know what’s better than finding a book to help you save time at dinner? Being quoted and have a recipe in said book! Yep, that’s right, I’m in this fantastic book! Well, I don’t really have a huge roll, but it is definitely fun to see your name in print.
Almost a year ago I responded to a HARO (if you don’t know what that is, you are missing out. Be sure to check out the link. And you DO NOT have to be a blogger to participate as a source.). Jeanne Muchnick was looking for some additional resources to include in a book that she was working on, Dinner for Busy Moms. I responded with my Chicken Macaroni Bake and a few pointers on freezing meals.
The book was released recently and I was so excited to get my hands on it! I am quoted on page 71 and the Chicken Macaroni Bake is featured in the recipes on page 189.
You shouldn’t just be interested in the book because yours truly has some brief appearances though. It is a fantastic book for helping moms to organize their dinner hour and get the family to sit around the table for a meal together. From how to stock your pantry to tips for making the dinner hour less hectic to recipes that make life easy. This book has so much and is a quick and easy read. (Doesn’t it have to be if it is geared towards moms?)
ALSO this week TheMotherhood.com is hosting a Talk with Jeanne on Wednesday, May 19th from 12-2 pm Eastern Standard Time. You can join (and should) join in the conversation! I will be there too. So put the kids down for a nap and join us to talk more on strategies for getting your family around the dinner table (without pulling out your hair)!
**Added 5/18 – Sprout Baby food is sponsoring the Talk and will be giving away a MONTH’S SUPPLY of baby food to a participant. {Insert whiny voice} I want to to win! {Whiny voice stops}
AND I’m also giving away two copies of the book!
Here is how you can enter to win:
1. Leave a Comment on your greatest challenge to getting your family around the dinner table.
Additional ways to enter:
2. Tweet or Facebook this contest – use @onceamonthmom & @dinner4moms and a link to this post. And don’t forget to leave a comment below stating you have done so.
3. Subscribe to Jeanne Muchnick’s blog. Let me know that you have done so.
4. 2 ENTRY POINTS! – Participate in the Dinner for Busy Moms talk on themotherhood.com on Wednesday, May 19th from 12-2pm. Make sure to drop a comment in the circle during that time so I know that you are present.
This giveaway ends Friday, May 21st at midnight (EST). Winner will be chosen by random using random.org.
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Having the protein thawed and ready to cook. If I just remembered to put the hamburger, chicken, or sausage in the fridge from the freezer.
My kiddos are still little so getting them to the table is pretty easy. My husband is getting an MBA though so he’s rarely home for dinner, and when he is able to come, dinner has to be like 1.5 hours later than when I typically do it. Those are my challenges.
One of the hardest things about getting us all around the table is coking something that everyone will eat. My step-kids are uber picky so it’s hard sometimes but we still encourage them to try new things and sometimes we succeed.
I subscribed to Jeanne’s blog.
Having the meat thawed – if I don’t do that ahead of time, we’re always in trouble!
Dealing with everyone being hungry at different times. And having no desire to cook right now.
Getting everyone home at a decent hour and not rushing to get the nightly routine down. i.e: bath, homework etc.
My challenges are the fact that my girls (ages 5, 3, 3, and 3) are very picky and most week nights my husband is not home for dinner. I HATE making a meal that the girls are just going to whine their way through and I’ll be the only one eating… further equating to too many leftovers for me to tackle later on.
My greatest challenge is being able to actually sit down and eat – I have to have all the little ones’ food cut up and everything on the table ready to go so that I’m not running around the kitchen for the entire meal!
One pot meals are my dream come true
My husbands’ class schedule is our biggest challenge.
Having teenagers and a husband who all eat lunch away from home, I struggle with finding enticing, new recipes that make them want to sit down together as a family.
Lately the biggest challenge has been *ME* trying to be organized enough to get things ready on time. My kids are ready to eat about an hour before my husband gets home, and it’s hard to cook and deal w/ cranky kiddos at the same time!
Hardest part is getting the table cleared off from the mail, schoolwork and things my family likes to collect. After that it’s trying to think of something to make–if I don’t have a plan ahead of time I’m likely to serve whatever I can open, which is good for the cookie industry but not for my kids.
Oh, we pile it on the kitchen table too. I am as guilty as the rest but it drives me crazy!
Our schedules sometimes we are eating dinner at 9:00p.m. just so we can eat together.
We do our best to eat together but isn’t always do-able with work schedules, etc. However, since soccer season is about over, should become easier for a bit (at least until our teenagers summer jobs start!). I do whatever I can so we can eat together most nights of the week.
Getting the meat/fish out of the freezer to thaw in time to make something.
My biggest challenge is to remember to thaw something in time to cook it. I love OAMC meals that can me thawed or reheated in the microwave for just this reason.
Have you tried the Glad Ovenware for your frozen entrees? It is a LIFESAVER for this very reason.
My challenge is knowing what hubby’s schedule is every day and actually making dinner with a cranky toddler pulling at my legs!
I subscribed to Jeanne’s blog in my Google Reader.
Being prepared ahead of time is my problem!
When my husband isn’t home. Without adult help, recognition, etc., what is the point?
Since I have a 3 1/2yo, a 2 year old and a newborn just getting everyone AT the table is an accomplishment!
My biggest challenge is that I work full time as well as my husband and just the timing of getting dinner to the table at the same time for all of us can be difficult. Especially with a two year old who’s taste buds change on a daily basis.
Deciding what to cook!
The hardest part is me and my husband working 72 hours a week a piece. The sitter, however, makes sure she and the kids sit down every night to a healthy meal. Gotta love her!
I find it difficult to serve our meal so that all 5 of us start and finish at the same time. I find I am still getting everyone situated and haven’t begun to think about eating yet myself. By the time I sit down, everyone is half finished and because I feel rushed I think it contributes to my 5 year old being antsy and not staying in her seat. We tend to serve from the pans I cook in, rather than putting everything on the table and am wondering if we need to serve more family style, with all of the food on the table.
my hardest problem is just keeping the kids entertained while I cook dinner. I get home with the kids (4, 1.5 and 1.5) at 5:15 and my husband gets home normally around 5:45. By 5:30, the kids are starving and I am still trying to cook something.
Getting to the table is easy- but getting a 3 year old to stay seated is our issue.
Now following JM’s blog- thanks for the great review.
My greatest challenge is getting dinner started and n the table in time.
The hardest thing is that we don’t have a dinner table!!! My husband thought it was a better idea to not have a dinner table and use the dining room for hanging out with his friends. Ha ha.
My greatest challenge is schedules conflicting with dinner time. My husband gets home late–after 6pm 2-3 nights a week and my daughter is too little to wait that long for dinner.
Having everything defrosted and ready to cook with minimal prep time is the biggest challenge. When I get home from work, it is difficult to have time to play with my 2-year-old, nurse my 7-month-old, and get dinner on the table by 5:30, at which point my 2-year-old starts to melt down if food isn’t in the very near future. While it sounds chaotic seeing it in writing, that time with my family is the best part of my day!
The Littles need to eat before the husband can get home from his long commute. We rarely eat together on weeknights.
[...] of the chat (I know you have to get the kiddos lunch and down for naps). Participating gets you 2 entries into the Dinner for Busy Moms Giveaway and a chance to win a month’s worth of baby food from Sprout Baby Food, the sponsor of [...]
The hardest part is committing to menu plan each week- Coordinating meals with kids’ concerts, sports, music lessons and hubby and my work schedule – it’s all about getting my game plan together!
My hardest challenge? Find one dinner that pleases 2 toddlers AND 2 teens then trying to find the time to make it with all the busy schedules (meetings, sports, etc).
[...] forget to enter to win the Dinner for Busy Moms Giveaway as well! (Ends 5/21/10 [...]
My greatest challenge with just the 3 of us is making sure my 17-month old is hungry at the same time as us (the nap has to be on time!). Consistency is hard, and even worse when my son is getting in to EVERYTHING!!!
Right now, we’re in Softball season. I have 2 players – on 2 different teams in 2 different divisions. That is making it hard. The rest of the year, well hubs has a very unpredictable work schedule. Some days I don’t know he won’t be home until 10 minutes before dinner.
The biggest challenge is work! Hubby and I are opposite shifts so its a quick high 5 at dinner and the other is out the door!
When we have our days off we try…. but are usually out and about!
Everyone has busy schedules, so it is hard to get everyone eating at the same time. We still try for at least 2 meals a week together!
My biggest issue is really the creativity to come up with different meals that my family will eat, won’t take a genius to make, and is budget friendly!
I loathe cooking more than anything else, so just being able to get get nutritious, healthy foods that my toddler will eat and not hate cooking more than I do is challenging enough.