For those nights when you’re eating in shifts

You know the nights. The ones when everyone is on a different schedule and you find yourself eating in shifts. It’s so easy to grab dinner on-the-go, but you still feel guilty for the expense, nutritional value and the general chaotic feeling of it all.

Fortunately, that’s another chapter in my new cookbook Eat at Home Tonight. And it’s also the topic I covered on Facebook live this morning.

Here are a few of my favorite tips and a sneak peek at some of the recipes included in the eating in shifts chapter.

Tips for Eating in Shifts

One: No complicated Sides.

Keep it simple. You don’t want to plan for a nourishing and doable dinner just to find yourself busy prepping and cooking aside. Keep it simple, because done is always better than unrealistic when it comes to a hungry family.

Two: Things that work well

Pick recipes that will do well if serving them happens over the course of several hours. Think sandwiches, taco fillings, slow cooker or instant pot recipes, microwaveable foods.

These can be prepped ahead to be stored in the fridge or set up in a slow cooker or instant pot. Set them to be ready when the first shift is ready to eat & reheat as needed when others arrive home.

Some ideas here include meat fillings for tacos, baked potatoes, naan pizzas. Sandwiches are also great for these nights.

And the best part is that all of these items freeze well. You may choose to freeze them either in big batches or individual servings. The individual servings were a life-saver for me when our boys were in their hungry teen years in between mealtimes too.

Three: Customizable dishes

Dishes that are easy to customize for each person’s palate. Tacos, sandwiches, pizzas, potato bars, soups with toppings and crusty bread. There are so many possibilities here!

Eat at Home Challenge

And a few details that I shared about the Eat at Home Challenge too

You’ll want to go ahead and sign up for the Challenge and our Eat at Home Challenge Facebook group. We already have quite a few members and it’s going to be lots of fun taking this challenge together.

You can find all the details about it on our Eat at Home Challenge page. And by the way, it’s completely free and a fun way to connect with others who are trying to eat more meals gathered around their kitchen tables.