Updated post.
This post was written prior to me becoming vegan.
…….
Dinner time can be stressful in this house as it’s often a battle to get my boys to get to the dinner table and eating. They are either playing outside, or are so engrossed with the TV or their tablets that it can take 10 minutes of pleading aka shouting for them to come and eat!
We’re pretty strict in this house when it comes to eating together and it’s a family ritual come weekday or weekends that we enjoy dinner together, offering us a precious time to catch up, bond and chill out over food with one another.
Peter, my husband, and I, don’t allow tech on the table either (for the kids, nor for ourselves) but the boys still try their hardest to postpone eating so they can play for as long as possible.
It can take a big dose of tough love and even bribery in some cases (e.g. your toy will end up in the bin if you don’t sit down right now) before they eventually listen to us, making some nights feel like hard work. Bizarrely, other evenings are the total opposite but a little bit of research has helped me discover the nights go easier if they’re super hungry (so physical exercise pre-dinner is always good) and of course, cooking meals they love means winning at dinner time!
Dolmio’s Bolognese sauce makes for one of their much-loved dishes and the fail-safe option of spag bol with Dolmio’s convenient Bolognese sauce always takes the drama out of dinner time, enabling me to cook, and feed, the kids quickly (because they go from ‘NOT HUNGRY’ to ‘STARVING’ in seconds), and our evenings are more relaxed because of it!
We love Dolmio’s new ‘No drama’ TV ad which stars Dominic West, a tongue-in -cheek commercial which underpins exactly how stressful dinner time can be.
Despite 88% of British parents agreeing that dinner time is the perfect opportunity for quality time like I feel, new research by Dolmio reveals that dramas are taking over domestic life AND the dinner table.
Help is at hand with Dolmio’s sauces and psychologist and family expert Corinne Sweet, offers some tips stating that whilst it’s tempting to appease children with a dessert or television, when they play up, the focus should be on creating a fun, family atmosphere that everyone can get involved with.
Corinne says, ‘Try involving children in meal planning, deciding together what you will eat as a family and then getting involved with the preparation and a bit of cooking. Not only will this encourage healthy eating habits for the future, but when children feel involved in decision making they are less likely to throw a tantrum or waste food. Fun dinner time games can be a good way to start the meal off on a positive note, for instance: ‘High, low, and haha’ – where everyone shares the peak, the low and the funniest moment of their day’.
We always try to keep family dinner time fun and lively, with varied, seasonal food and long-time favourites on the table. We love to play board games after dinner or charades and by promising some kind of after-dinner activity, the kids know that they have something to look forward to after ‘tea’ before bedtime routine, as those two never seem to want to sleep!
Our evenings go something like this:
- Homework
- TV time.
- Delicious dinner.
- Card games/stroll to the park if it’s not too late.
- Bath and bedtime.
Sometimes it can be hard to feel inspired for midweek meals but we opt for tasty, quick and easy meals so we can manage some fun along with bedtime routine.
Dolmio’s Bolognese makes for an easy, delicious and filling dinner (my kids love it with beef or even turkey mince, carrots, onions and garlic) and corn on the cobs on the side, and what’s more, a 125g portion even includes one of your 5 a day.
This always gets them onto the dinner table…
There are now, also two new Dolmio product lines to add to your faves too with chicken tray bakes and no added sugar pasta sauces and here on the blog, I’m giving away a Dolmio hamper and £100 John Lewis gift card.
UK only.
No cash alternative.
Ends 26th September 2017.
For more information visit: http://www.dolmio.co.uk/ Or visit the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dolmio/.
Good luck guys and as Mary J Blige once sang, here’s to no more drama (and lots more tasty dishes at dinner)!
This is a sponsored campaign but as always, all words and opinions are honest.
Promoted on Prize finder, BritMums, umeandthekids.com, Loquax, Super Lucky and Competition Database.
Pin it!
Buy my bestselling book in paperback or audio
Mumboss: The Honest Mum's Guide to Surviving and Thriving at Work and at Home
Available on Amazon or Audible
We all love pasta and it is normally on the menu at least once a week. We always sit down for dinner to chat about how our day has gone good or bad! Fantastic prize, the vouchers would come in really handy as we all have birthdays in October!
I’d love to try those tray bakes, they look super tasty 😀
Really love our Dolmio nights! followed by board games.
Very nice thanks
Hi,
we have Dolmio at least once a week, I work fulltime and care for children, needs something easy to make when im shattered
My kids love pasta it one meal I know all 3 boys will eat, this prize would be great, dolmio is fab for a quick and easy meal after a long day at work!
I love reading your blogs, real people, real lives, it’s bright, informative and it just connects x
Thank you Mary, what a lovely comment! x
We’re all fans of Dolmio so this would be a real treat
I would love to win because I’ve always absolutely loved dolmio and pasta! And so does my family.
I would love to win so I could create some quick delicious recipes for my family and I would use the John Lewis card to put towards my daughters birthday coming up!!
My kids would love it!
lovely little prize, I am very partial to a hamper 😉
I’d live to win as we absolutely love pasta and spaghetti bolognaise is our favourite, also the vouchers would be a real treat for us . Thank you ?
Would love to try these, they sound delish and the £100 john lewis voucher would come in handy for Christmas
always looking for new ideas to get my little ones to eat and I would love to try the chicken tray bake
I’d love to win, I love pasta and Dolmio together, the whole family loves!
Vouchers would be so helful for Christmas shopping. Fingers crossed.
id love to win because we reallt struggle to find meals that suits all of us. The chicken tray bakes sound really good and they would be something even the fussy eaters of the family would at least try!
love to try them
I would like to win so that I can create some wonderful family meals!
We are on a healthy eating plan at the moment and this would enable to us try something new
We have just moved and need to fill the kitchen cupboard with delivious quick meals
I’d love to try them!
Love pasta but never have time to really make my own sauces so this would be cool.
this is a great giveaway – could do a lot of good with the hamper