With school and work, sports practices and appointments, providing delicious and healthy meals can seem out of reach for many families. But with the TexasA&M AgriLife Extension Services Dinner Tonight! program, it doesn’t have to be impossible.
The Dinner Tonight! program was created in 2009 to help busy families navigate the components of healthy eating and food safety. AgriLife Extension program specialist Elaine Montemayor-Gonzales of the agency’s Healthy South Texas initiative says the program provides recipes, cooking tips and even cooking classes across the state of Texas.
If you want to improve your own cooking skills and enhance your family mealtime, here are some tips from the Dinner Tonight! program.
TIP #1: Using healthful yet flavorful recipes can greatly improve mealtime by providing nutritional options that even the pickiest eaters will enjoy.
We all know that one person who only likes to eat chicken tenders, but with a variety of recipes that have different meats and vegetables to choose from, there are dishes even the pickiest eaters can enjoy, Elaine says.
“We have a registered dietitian who reviews the recipes to ensure we are providing delicious and healthy recipes for even the pickiest eaters,” she says. “On our website, everything is separated into categories; for example, we have a main dishes section, which is broken down into smaller subsections like beef, chicken, turkey, salads and vegetarian. We also have sections for side dishes, snacks and desserts. And we definitely have a kid-friendly recipe section.”
Now, what makes these recipes different are the health benefits each one provides, including the amount of calories and important nutritional values set forth by United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, guidelines.
"We follow the USDA guidelines for saturated fat and sodium and we make sure that everything meets the criteria before we provide it to the public,” Elaine says.
TIP #2: Practice safe food practices while preparing all meals, including handwashing, using the right cooking temperatures and proper leftover storage.
Practicing food safety is an important part of making a meal, Elaine says. Those protocols begin before the food has even gotten out of the fridge by making sure the person preparing the food is healthy and also washes their hands during the various stages of cooking, especially before meal prep and after handling raw meat.
Each meat has a different internal temperature to which it should be cooked before consuming, so it is important that the person cooking is knowledgeable about these various cooking times.
After the meal has been consumed, it is also important that any leftovers are stored correctly, so they will be safe to eat later.
TIP #3: Weekly meal planning can make a big impact on your budget.
Making the change to weekly meal planning can help not only your family’s diet, but also reduce the amount of money you are spending on the ingredients for each recipe, Elaine says. Before heading to the grocery store, it is helpful to sit down and talk through what you will be eating during the time period for which you are shopping so food cost and waste can be minimized.
“One of the main things that we really educate people about is meal planning and the importance of how you can get the best meals for your family while saving some money,” Elaine says. “Before shopping, really plan out what you're having so that you're only going grocery shopping one time and when you’re there you're only getting what you need.”
For those interested in beginning a meal planning regime but aren’t sure where to start, the Dinner Tonight! program offers a weekly meal planning notepad that not only helps you create a schedule, but also provides you with a magnetic pad to place on your refrigerator for making your grocery shopping lists.
TIP #4: Children who are involved in mealtime are often more likely to try something new.
From food preparation, such as washing and cutting vegetables or helping set up or clean up after a meal, children who actively participate in mealtime are more likely to be willing to try something new because they have a stake in it, Elaine says.
“Family mealtime is really important during summer, and that is a great time to get a little bit more interaction at mealtime,” Elaine says. “Having the entire family help with deciding on recipes and going to get ingredients really makes an impact on them learning how to eat healthier and how to be healthier. It also gives them some life skills they can use in the future for their own meal planning and grocery shopping.”
A good bit of getting your children involved in mealtime depends on their age; for younger children, it may be helping you stir or set the table, while the older children might even be responsible for preparing a meal.
TIP #5: Family mealtime provides a time for families to sit down and enjoy each other's company outside of the day-to-day busyness.
As a society, many families have begun to limit dinners together to mainly holidays or special occasions, but Elaine says it is important for both adults and children to interact more consistently.
Since it may be hard for some families to gather for dinner every night, it could be as simple as having everyone commit to at least one meal together a week to help build stronger family bonds.
A good way to ensure you can have a meal together as a family is to set a specific day of the week you can schedule around for a family dinner. But if something comes up and it doesn’t happen, don’t beat yourself up, just try again the following week.
TIP #6: Limit distractions like phones and other electronics during family mealtime.
Though it may seem unusual in today’s electronic world, Elaine says the Dinner Tonight! program encourages families to approach their mealtimes with “limited distractions, “including phones and other electronics. Now, that’s not to say you have to lock up your phone in a box during family mealtime, but realize that spending time without your phone can allow more open, uninterrupted communication between children and their parents.
Without your electronics, it’s also important not to just sit in silence, but rather really engage with one another in mealtime conversation.
“There could also be different games that you can play with the kids just to get them to interact a little bit more,” Elaine says. “Or you can simply ask them about their day or share funny stories.”
TIP #7: Take advantage of cooking classes offered across the state by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension agents.
In addition to online videos and recipes, the Dinner Tonight! program also provides a variety of healthy cooking school programs across the state put on by area AgriLife Extension specialists and guest chefs.
During these cooking schools, attendees learn about specific recipes, food groups and cooking techniques.
“Each class is different, depending on what the agent wants to educate on,” Elaine says. “Many of the events have an agent actively preparing the food in a live demonstration while also educating attendees on food safety and preparation.”
In addition to the knowledge shared during the class, participants get to will take home a booklet with more recipes related to the theme of the class so they may take what they learned home and apply it to their own dish at home.
To learn more about DinnerTonight! healthy cooking classes in your area, visit the Dinner Tonight! website at dinnertonight.tamu.edu or Facebook.
TIP #8: Check out Dinner Tonight’s weekly video demonstrations on YouTube for continuous educational opportunities.
Each week, community members can visit the Dinner Tonight! YouTube page for recipe content that is hosted by AgriLife Extension agents, Elaine says. Some of these video demonstrations walk you through entire recipes, while others may provide some healthy and fun ideas for snacks for the kiddos.
The weekly videos are dependent upon what is happening currently. So, if it’s Thanksgiving time, you can expect to see content about turkeys and cooking for a crowd and during Valentine’s Day, it might walk you through how to make a healthy sweet treat.
Dinner Tonight! is a program of AgriLife Extension providing busy families with quick, healthy and cost-effective recipes, as well as tips for a healthier and more rewarding family mealtime. For more information, visit dinnertonight.tamu.edu or check out their YouTube offerings at@txdinner.
