I partnered with Jewel-Osco to share my secret for getting picky kids to eat even when we’re in a rush.
It’s Monday at 4pm.
Ugh. I hate Monday afternoons. I know most people hate Mondays, but for us, they’re extra awful.
After I pick up all three kids and get them home, I have exactly one hour to do homework with two kids, change one kid into her ballet tutu, do her hair in the cutest pigtails you’ve ever seen, and then serve them all a meal that they can eat in the car as we rush to ballet class.
There’s no time for a leisurely meal or a sweet little family dinner around our table talking about our day.
And with picky eaters in my home and a rushed evening schedule, it makes it that much harder to get food in their bellies without the complaints that they don’t like what I made them. I just can’t accommodate the “but I don’t want to eat this” whine when I’m out the door with seconds to spare.
So that’s why I’m partnering with Jewel-Osco to share my one simple tip for busy moms of picky eaters.
So I need easy and quick meals they’ll all eat on hand and ready to serve.
With my family’s crazy schedule, I need simple. I need fast. I need easy. And it all has to accommodate my picky eaters.
There’s a trick to actually getting my picky eater to eat dinner when we’re crazy busy and on the go.
In our family, we have a list of “do again” meals. They’re favorites, no complaining about, go to meals that we make sure to do again and again because they make my life easier and help our kids enjoy mealtimes.
I love knowing that when I put food on the table, or hand them food over my shoulder in the car, they’re going to eat it. Extra points awarded if they eat it without complaining.
And to avoid the frustration of not knowing what to make for dinner, we schedule these favorite do again dinners like mac and cheese, pizza, garbanzo bean tacos, and spaghetti into a meal plan and rotate them in frequently.
Having ingredients on hand that I can pull from when things get crazy or when my picky eater’s favorite meal isn’t his favorite meal tonight, makes serving dinner for five so much smoother.
Stock Up and Save Time
If I know what meals I’m making for the whole week, I know I need to stock up on my family’s favorites when they go on sale.
One easy way to do that is by teaming up with Jewel-Osco to shop during their Stock Up Sale. I can get all my family’s favorite do-again meal ingredients from General Mills, Coca-Cola, Kraft and Nabisco at a discount. And if I’m buying the food anyways, I love to save money on it at the same time.
We love to stock up on things like Annie’s™ Natural Mac & Cheese, Old El Paso™ Shells, Betty Crocker™ Hamburger Helpers, Totino’s™ Pizza Rolls and Classico Tomato Basil pasta sauce for quick and easy meals the kids will eat without complaint.
And I use Jewel-Osco’s free app to coupon clip without clipping anything! I scroll through their list of sale items and pick what I have on my shopping list. So simple and no scissors or extreme couponing involved. When I type in my phone number at the checkout register, the coupons automatically pop into their system. It’s even more savings on food that I always buy for my family with no extra work for me.
If you’re anything like me and really want to save money on groceries, you can enter Jewel-Osco’s sweepstakes to get free groceries for a year! One lucky winner will be eating a full year’s worth of meals for free!
Between 10/4 and 10/9, show how you stock up your pantry with your family’s do again meal ingredients and share the photo with #StockUpSale2017 and #Sweepstakes. To enter, take a photo featuring two or more of the Stock Up Sale items from below. Then share it on Twitter, Instagram, or here by 10/19. Use #StockUpSale2017 and complete the entry form.
For official rules and details visit Jewel-Osco’s website.
Participating products include:
o Honey Nut Cheerios™
o Cheerios™ 8.90oz.
o Cinnamon Toast Crunch™ 12.20oz.
o Progresso™ Traditional, Rich & Hearty, Reduced Sodium, Light Soup, Vegetable Classic, selected varieties 18-19oz
o Nature Valley™ Granola Bars 7.44oz-8.44oz
o Yoplait® Traditional Yogurt, 4-6oz, selected varieties
o Oui™ by Yoplait® Strawberry French Style Yogurt 5oz.
o Annie’s™ Natural Mac & Cheese 6oz; selected varieties
o Old El Paso™ Shells
o Totino’s™ Pizza Rolls 15ct, Totino Party Pizza 9.8-10.4oz, selected varieties
o Betty Crocker™ Hamburger Helpers, 4.7-8.7oz, selected varieties
o Betty Crocker™ Fruit Snacks, 4.5-8oz, selected varieties
o Chex Mix™ 8-8.75oz, selected varieties
o Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ Cake Mix, 15.25 – 16.25oz., select varieties
o Betty Crocker™ Whipped Frosting, Milk Chocolate 12oz.
o Betty Crocker™ Brownie Mix, Chocolate 18.40oz.
o Pillsbury™ Apple Toaster Strudel™, 6ct., 11.70oz.
o Coca-Cola MiniCans
o Dasani Sparkling Black Cherry
o Classico Tomato Basil
o Heinz Ketchup
o OREO 14.3 oz
o Ritz 13.7 oz
Jewel-Osco is my local store, but you can also shop the stock up sale at Albertsons, Safeway, ACME Markets, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Shaw’s, Star Market, United Express, United and Carrs/Safeway.
So my Mondays are still crazy. I still hate them. But at least I know what I’m serving my kids for dinner in the backseat of my car is something they love and something I saved money on.
Now if only I could get my little ballerina to get her tutu on quicker…
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Jewel-Osco.
