Dinner - Is it always a meal??

[nutterbutter2010]

Do you always have an actual MEAL for dinner? Some nights I just have cereal, or fruit and yogert, or a breakfast bar.

What about you??

 

[mjkacmom]

Last night dd8 had a roll and a cheese stick! We're always coming and going, so a meal is once or twice a week here.

 

[C.Ann]

Absolutely not - considering I'm alone..

Some nights it's cereal - others it's a sandwich - lots of times it's a bowl of soup - and once in awhile it's just junk food and milk.. LOL.. I have to be in the "mood" for an actual meal and sometimes I'm just not..

 

[AshleyW]

My dinner is always leftovers.. DFi and I both work 2nd shift, so I usually cook a meal for lunch and then we take the leftovers to work that night. We go to his parents' house for dinner just about every Sunday night, and we usually alternate on Saturdays - one week we'll go out, one week I'll cook a nice sit-down meal.

 

[pixiewings71]

No, not at all, some nights we do sandwiches, some nights we do soup, some nights we do a full dinner (last night was rotisserie chicken, garlic bread, salad). It just depends on what's going on that night already, how late I get home, how long I work out......

 

[anniemae]

sometimes I will have cereal, or a bagel

Other times its ice cream eaten out of the carton, over the sink!

Mostly, though it is a meal.

 

[dhcoffey]

If it's just me, no. If it's my family, I cook dinner probably five nights a week and one night eat out and one night pizza. When I cook, it's always a meal. I don't even like serving hot dogs, feel like it's not a nighttime meal.

Heather

 

[NHdisneylover]

DH is out of town. The kids and I had cranberry muffins, fresh fruit and milk for dinner tonight Another favourite is popcorn with apples and peanut butter. So I guess my answer is no, dinner does not have to be a "meal"

 

[MomofKatie]

When it's all 3 of us, I ccok a full meal. When DH is out of town (Tuesday and Wednesday nights every week), DD and I do more loose dinners. Last night, we had frozen pizza at 8pm, after having Blizzards at 5:30 (bad, I know, but this was unusual- we usually try to eat healthier than that). Tonight, we are having a big salad with chicken strips, cheese, and croutons.

 

[RyeCrimsonMoon]

Depends. Since I'm still in college, I eat at the cafeteria almost every day for lunch and dinner. It's a prepaid MEAL, so good enough for me... sometimes. But on the weekend when it's not open, I just have what's ever around the apartment, which sometimes equals up to a "meal".

 

[laurie31]

It's funny this came up, as my kids were asking why we have dinner at lunchtime on Sundays, but on other days, dinner is at night. Here, "dinner" is the big meal of the day. "Sunday dinner" is a noontime meal served after church.

However, many days we don't have dinner at all, we have supper, which is what y'all are describing.

 

[omghidanielle]

My husband and I are hardly home at the same time each night, so we kind of fend for ourselves. Occasionally, I will make spaghetti or something easy when we are in the mood for it.

Last night I had nachos for dinner.

 

[DMickey28]

99% of the time DS (2.5) has a full meal. If DH is traveling I usually just pick unless I am craving something he doesn't like, like seafood or chinese food.

When DH is home we almost always have a full meal. Last night I made Chicken and Dumplings and that did not qualify as a full dinner in his mind!! Tonight I am making up for it with Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Brocolli and rolls.

 

[dizluvah]

Last night I had peanut butter toast for dinner because I didn't care for the beef enchiladas I made and tonight I plan on having toast again because my DH loved the enchiladas and asked if he could have the left overs for dinner (he also had some for lunch today) I don't have to make dinner? You betcha...

 

[Rora]

It's not always a meal here! Actually, it probably won't be a meal tonight.

 

[Plannin'Shannon]

Tonight I am making up for it with Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Brocolli and rolls.

Do you have enough for one more?

 

[MIGrandma]

If DH is not home I rarely fix dinner for myself. I'll have cereal, or a sandwich, or a can of Chef Boyardee ravioli, maybe just a plate of cheese and crackers, or sometimes it's breakfast food for dinner.

Tonight DH is home, but harvesting corn on our farm, so for me "dinner" is a can of Campbell's Select Chicken Rice soup.

 

[quasar4legs]

Always a meal at our place for dinner.
I love to cook and usually spend a couple of hours every day in the kitchen.
My son is home several days a week and he gets a cooked breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

[ReneeA]

It makes me feel great to read all of these reponses!! I normally cook a meal for dinner, but there is the occasional night that we have "fend for yourself" which consists of cold cereal and toast for me and the kids and whatever DH wants to scrounge up for himself. My mother was shocked and appalled when I told her about it.

 

[LuvOrlando]

We always have a full meal for dinner here and I usually make enough to send next door to my in-laws. When we first got married my DH made it a point to have a full dinner every night so I think it just became a habit. Back then we were both working so we took turns with dinners that were mostly simple but always had an entree and at least one veggie. Since I've been home as a SAHM I have learned to be more creative and will often couple an interesting home-made soup like Cauliflower or Creamy Tomato with quicker entrees like a turkey burger on nights I am not making something more substantial. I like that I am home to fuss over my family like this but recognize that they would be just fine if they grew up on PB&J, plain unseasoned chicken and pasta with a side of plain canned green beans like I did.

BTW, when we do have a fend for yourself night I usually end up feeling very ill. I tend to think it's because diabetes runs in my family and my body just can't do carbs without a substantial serving of protein. So my behavior probably has a whole lot more to do with immediate consequences than the idea that I LOVE to labor over dinner every night.