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Tell Dolmio what a regular family dinner is like in your home: £200 Amazon prize up for grabs!

DanielleMFMDanielleMFM admin
edited Aug 18, 2020 10:54AM in Sponsored discussions

Hello.

Dolmio have teamed up with food bank charity, the Trussell Trust, to a stand against hunger across the UK. 

Dolmio says “14 million people in the UK are living in poverty, and we know that some families can’t afford to put dinner on the table. This is why we have partnered with the Trussell Trust, and donated £100k to support the provision of 2 million meals in emergency food parcels, to people in crisis. We believe that no one should go hungry and that everyone should be able to enjoy dinnertime, be it in front of the TV, on the sofa, or around a table, because dinnertime matters. It’s a time for bonding as a family, spending valuable time together, looking after our mental health and wellbeing, and appreciating how fortunate we are, to be able to enjoy it”.

To be in with a chance of winning, please post on this thread (by scrolling to the text box at the bottom of this page), and tell Dolmio what a regular family dinner is like in your home. You could win a £200 Amazon voucher for sharing! And, if you wanted to post a picture of your dinnertime too, Dolmio and the Trussell Trust would love that. Everyone who posts (and answers the question fully) will be entered into a prize draw to win the £200 Amazon voucher.

We'll keep this thread open until 15/09/20, and we'll announce the winner's name a few days later.

This discussion is sponsored by Mars Food UK Limited, makers of Dolmio. The promoter is Immediate Media. Please note that comments and pictures you post here may be used in future advertising and marketing material for Dolmio products, subject to your consent. Open to UK residents aged 18 or over. See full Ts & Cs here.

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Replies

  • We eat meals together around the kitchen table, the children love to help cook too. I find if they help cook they try new things. It gives us time to talk about our day and how we are feeling. Last year on thanks giving we talked about what we are thankful for (my parents live in florida) my youngest daughter loves to go round the table and ask everyone what we are thankful for and we now do this most days!
  • We are a multicultural family of 4. Mummy is of Indian decent and Daddy is Australian. Mummy has been raised as a vegetarian and we currently do not eat any meat in the house. Because of this we read the labels on all food products we by and are very aware of what we consume as a family. Kaiden is 2 and a half and a very fussy eater. He loves food but doesn’t enjoy sitting down to eat. Amelia is 16 months old and eats everything very independently. We all eat as many meals as possible together and usually have the same food. Kaiden and Amelia like to do everything together and have matching booster seats so they can sit side by side at the table. They like that they can eat at the table with us and feel grown up. Mummy is quite clumsy and Daddy, Kaiden and Amelia are very messy when they eat so there is always lots of cleaning up to do after a family meal. Our family loves pasta so we have it around 3 times a week in different forms. I’ve even created a curry including macaroni. We usually vary our meals through the week but they’re almost always freshly made, including an authentic Indian, Mexican and stir fry dishes. Our meals always end with a selection of fruit for dessert. All of us LOVE fruit! 
    Dolmio products can always be found in our cupboard. They’re great for when we’ve had a busy day with very little time for mummy in the kitchen. The smooth tomato sauce has a lovely flavour which tastes great with pasta and vegetables. We use it on pizza; with an actual base or bread or pitta or pastry too. 
    Dinner time is about lots of things to us including learning to be aware of what we are eating, maintaining a balanced diet and currently increasing our independence but for us the most important is spending time together. Our days are always so busy and time just flies by, we always feel like we’re missing something when our time is shared between two little ones but being together to share our stories and what we have learnt is very special and important to us. 
  • We try and have at least one meal a day around the dinner table all together. We are a family of 4, mum dad, 6 year old and 20 month old boys. I do a lot of cooking from scratch, be it a curry, pasta or grilled meats. We always have salads and veg as sides as well. having a fsmily meal together gives us all a chance to bond and talk about each others day.
  • We are a family of 5 who love pasta!! My two eldest kids love plan pasta  with vegetables and grated cheese. My youngest and myself love pasta with vegetables and pesto sauce.  My husband loves pasta with salmon.  We go through so much pesto that we make our own and freeze about once a month. Its a rule in our house whoever prepares and cooks the dinner does not clear up therefore everyone has a role to play in either the preparation,  cooking or tidying up.
  • My 18 year old daughter cooks for us most evenings. She loves following a recipe and creating amazing meals for all the family. Family meal time is very important in our house as it's a time to talk and share stories from our day. 
  • As a busy mum to an 8 month old baby boy a regular family dinner can be very hectic at times but also very fun! My baby is currently deciding what foods he likes and dislikes and watching his facial reactions makes dinner time hilarious! 

    When growing up myself, sitting around the dinner table with my siblings, chatting away was so much fun so that's an experience that I've tried to replicate in my household! As I'm all about convenience and often super busy I'm all about using products made for mums such as Dolmio sauces, that are simple and easy to use, yet tasty and go a long way.  These sauces will often be mixed with yellow label vegetable/meat items from the supermarket that have been reduced as they are soon expiring to make a hearty tasty meal for less!

     I  really hate waste so if I have made a meal inspired by a website such as love food hate waste I try to allocate portions appropriate to my little ones appetite and any leftovers and then I try to re-use the next day or freeze! 

    Some dinner times we will treat ourselves to a takeaway - there is a great app called the Too Good to Go App which shares food that is about to go off that very day - so I'll order that online and know its gone to a good home! Also, I love to take advantage of half price deals at sustainable eateries such as Itsu, Pod and starbucks ( which reduce food in the evenings ) and so if I'm in the city and passing by I'll pick up a treat - making dinner times a great surprise for my partner and baby! 


  • With 2 children on the spectrum dinner time is my least favourite time of the day! Slightly easier now one is verbal and she can make suggestions what I make but other than my mac n cheese they prefer finger food out the oven. I used to try and force them to sit at a table but it was a battle I was losing so now I just make it available to them and they can sit where they want as long as I can see. Me and my husband have started eating earlier during lockdown since there's no commute and the kids are becoming a bit more adventurous when they think they're stealing off my plate. I wasted too much time stressing about what they'll eat. There's always fruit out and we have visuals for weetabix if they r still hungry come bed time and can't tell me 
  • Dinner time is great in our house, we all eat the same thing, if it’s anything spicy I will take the kids portions out before i add anything that’s too spicy for them, my eldest doesn’t like meat so we’ve been making majority of our meals meat free for her to enjoy. Our favourites are chilli, spag Bol, spaghetti carbonara & sausage mash & means 
  • We meet (my ageing parents, my two kids and two sisters) at the dinner table around 6:30. We all help getting dinner ready and sit down together. For at least half an hour we discuss how our day has gone, talk about matters which concern us, laugh a lot and make future family plans. After a busy day our evening meal is a chance to gather ourselves around the table and reconnect with each other. 
  • With being busy with work during the week, we only get the chance to sit down together for a family meal a couple of times a week so it is really important to us when we do. We always make the effort to cook a meal and sit together at the table as the rest of the week it can just be the case of eating something quick on the sofa. My little boy Theo is almost 18 months old now so loves his food. His favourite at the minute is spaghetti bolognese or ‘cheesy peasy’ omelettes as we call them. He loves eating what his dad and I eat so I make things we can eat together. We also tend to have a big family meal at either our home or another family member’s home every couple of weeks. It’s a great opportunity to spend time with each other and Theo absolutely loves it! 
  • We are a family of 7 so meal times involves cooking in large quantities. The kids can be fussy when it comes to vegetables so I tend to mix them into their food or use sauces with vegetables hidden in them. The kids love to be involved with the cooking too and are much more likely to try something new if they’ve helped to make it! We all eat together and everyone has the same meal. We eat a lot of pasta dishes, lasagne and spaghetti and meatballs are favourites. We also love pasta bakes and pizza, but try to vary what we eat.
  • Our favourite dishes are rice based. Paella, risotto and jambalaya. Keep the spicing low for little tummy’s but nice and warming. Perfect for easy meals outside on a hot day or cosy when winter comes in. 
  • We are a family of four; mum, dad, and two boys (6yo & 1yo). Dinner is a cooked meal in our house, when the whole family sits down together. That is the time when we can discuss what happened during the day and plan the day ahead.

    Recently the boys became very picky and only eat a very limited selection of cooked food. Despite of this, I try to offer a range of cooked meals ensuring that they always have something on their plates that they like.

    We meal plan and try to batch cook, so that we have some days when we do not have to cook from scratch after a long days work. 
  • A regular dinner time in our house (Mummy, Daddy and 2 year old Fern) is spent all together at the dining table! We all share the same food (although naturally Fern is more picky!) We like to mix up our dinners as much as possible but our favourites are definitely sausage pasta, fajitas & chicken with veg! 
  • My family consists of me, my wife Davina, and our 2 year old little girl Fern!

    I do most of the cooking in our house, but working odd retail hours means sometimes we need something quick, or my wife steps up and cooks us something!

    We try to vary our meals as much as possible, but have certain family favourites, such as fritattas, fajitas, sausagey pasta with home made sauce and slow cooker pulled pork with beans and jacket potatoes. We also love a good roast!


  • I love cooking from scratch and have tried all the lush Dolmio sauces.  We enjoy spaghetti Bolognese with the garlic and herb sauce.  We love to mop up the sauce with garlic bread.  Dolmio are the best for authentic flavours!!
  • Chaotic and full of chatter till the dinner is served then all goes quiet while they tuck in and we have all types of food from roast chicken to curries and lasagne and it all goes down a treat
  • We love eating as a family around the table. We eat lots of different things from roast dinners, pasta dishes, curries, risottos, noodles. Some days in the summer holidays we have upside down days and have a hot meal at lunch time and take out a picnic tea. Everyone has their favourite food, Ben loves curry and likes adding pepper to it, Belle loves rice, Sam loves pasta especially with extra cheese! Toby is only six months old so he’s just starting to wean but he enjoys watching us at the moment! 
  • arianah2014arianah2014 Regular
    edited Aug 25, 2020 10:19AM
    We are are a family of 7,Cooking Meals from Scratch a Daily Routine 🤦‍♀️🙆‍♀️even harder since March with the lockdown,Kids@Home,Cooking 3 Meals aDay,Curries,rice,casseroles,pasta Bakes,Dolmio Sauces are a lifesaver Use it for pasta,Noodles,Tortillas,Wraps,use it as a pizza sauce on home made pizza dough.(3 ingredient pizza Dough 1 Cup of Self Raising Flour/1 Cup Of plain Greek Yoghurt/1 teaspoon of a Salt) amazing Pizza 🍕  Dough
  • Family meal Times Are a bonding Time For my family sitting Together,Chatting about our day,having a 😆 Laugh,asking them what they want for the menu for the next day,getting them involved with the Preparation/cooking a life skill for the future
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