The Family Dinner Solution: How to Create a Rotation of Dinners Your Family Will Love

by Maryann Jacobsen

Despite trying recipes and meal-planning advice, do you still struggle with getting dinner on the table for your family?

Renowned family nutrition expert, Maryann Jacobsen, turns this age-old dilemma on its head. While most cookbooks take the typical recipe approach, Jacobsen focuses on the how of family cooking, so you can find solutions that work for your unique circumstances. In a step-by-step format, you will learn how to create a core rotation of dinner meals that will satisfy even your pickiest family members. The result? You'll never, ever have to worry about what to cook for dinner again!

Here are the key discoveries you will make after reading this book:

• Decision fatigue, not time, is why dinner feels so overwhelming (and how to get rid of it for good!).
• Building on meals that already work for your family is more effective than trying different recipes.
• Everyone is happy with dinner when you develop an effective "side strategy."
• Kids expand their palates when being exposed to a "good enough" variety of foods repeatedly.
• Having dinner rules and enforcing them is the key to enjoyable and complaint-free family meals.
• Rotating a set number of meals makes shopping, preparation and teaching kids to cook easier than ever!

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2015

About the author

Maryann Jacobsen is a registered dietitian, family nutrition expert and independent author. She blogs at MaryannJacobsen.com, and is author of several books including From Picky to Powerful, How to Raise a Mindful eater, and her latest, My Body's Superpower: The Girls' Guide to Growing Up Healthy. She is co-author of Fearless Feeding .

Maryann is determined to break down the health-related barriers families face, which she believes has more to do with mindset and missing information, than time and skill. Her books help fill in these missing gaps so healthy habits are enjoyable and doable for the whole family.

Reviews

[LeeAnne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could use a little more robustness to its content, but the process it outlined was exactly what I needed. I used the recommended worksheets and ended up with a binder filled with tried and true recipes that I can easily rotate and a list of the things I need to keep on hand. I totally recommend this book if you're looking to simplify family dinner meal planning!

I don't agree with the author on everything, but I do agree that repeatedly exposing kids to food broadens their palate. I am a big fan of the French method of "three bites to learn to like it" for each food type on one's plate, not a so much "come to the table even if you eat nothing" espoused in this book.

[Ola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great info to start meal planning!

I learned so much reading this e-book. How to start with our "tried-and-true " recipes, plan sides, plan to add in recipes to try and so much more. I am excited to get started.

[Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't have any information or recipes I didn't have my own version of but if you are new to cooking or managing meals for a family or group of individuals, you may find the recipes in this quick little book helpful.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some good ideas in this book. I like the idea of having a specific theme for each night of the week but not the same exact meal. e.g. Monday is Italian night. You could have ravioli or lasagna or spaghetti etc

[Jay Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good book for new cooks just starting out.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really helped me organize my family dinners and expose my son to more foods. I have been a fan of the insights Maryann Jacobsen has for fostering experimentation and variety in eating for our son. She knows the research as well as how to make things simple and easy to do.