Fantastic Sunday Dinner Ideas
If you are a baby boomer, you typically grew up with dinner being the biggest meal of the day and Sunday dinner being the biggest meal of the week. As your children grew up, some of you kept with this dinnertime tradition while others cast it aside. Instead, opting for this day to be Mom's day off and the family wound up snacking in front of the TV. Now, with your children and grandchildren, one has to wonder where the dinner tradition went; much less any Sunday dinner ideas with all the fixing's!
This tradition could have been cast aside because of the vast difference in parenting methods today. Generally, both parents work now and share parenting responsibilities in everything, including housework and cooking. The baby boomer, however, would have been shocked to see a father in the kitchen stuffing the turkey, washing the dishes, or even throwing a load of clothes in the washer. Those chores were considered a mother's job! Generally, most mothers took their responsibilities very seriously too, and none more so than cooking. It was the father's job to bring home the bread (metaphorically.) So, in a sense, this event culminated into an ending of the week with the whole family saying, job well done this week; now, on to the next.
With two parents working and a multitude of planned activities for the children, most families do not take the time to work a home-cooked meal into their respective schedules. However, with a little planning and organizing this could be remedied by the modern mother/father who would like to insert some old-time tradition back into their family lifestyle.
This meal can be large mini-holiday style affairs with everything cooked from scratch, or they can be scaled down to the bare necessities, using ready-made frozen dishes that are still nutritious and appetizing.
If you opt for a cook-from-scratch affair, some easy dinners (not to holiday scale) might be:
1. Oven-fried chicken; mashed garlic skin-on potatoes; corn-on-the-cob; tossed salad with homemade vinaigrette dressing; freshly baked dinner rolls and strawberry shortcake.
2. Beef pot roast with skin-on potatoes, carrots, celery, onions and peas; leaf lettuce salad with bleu cheese dressing; cornbread muffins and chocolate cake.
3. Roast loin of pork served with applesauce; homemade apple/sage dressing; oven-fried potatoes; braised carrots and celery; cucumber and tomato salad; fresh loaf of French bread and lemon-meringue pie
If you are the type of cook that takes it from the freezer and pops it into the oven or microwave, you can still serve a delicious meal and get all of the credit. Some options for you might be:
1. Lasagna; green beans; Italian salad with black olives, pepperoni and mozzarella cheese; oven garlic bread and ice cream
2. Beef Stew; Spring green pre-mixed salad with a variety of dressings; fresh Italian bread and pumpkin pie.
3. Roasted chicken (purchased at the local deli); baked potatoes; broccoli in cheese sauce; sliced tomatoes in oil and vinegar and ready-made apple pie.
The modern mother needs to keep one thing in mind when planning her Sunday dinner ideas. It is not the menu that matters as much as the quality of the family togetherness that this time-honored tradition represents. This togetherness is also the fundamental element of the tradition that is lost forever, if she does not take the time to try.