How do you do dinner?

Hollylb3

To have a random Hav-like thread, how do you serve dinner? Does everyone (who is old enough and able) get food directly from the pot / pan, etc., or do you place everything on the table? Do you put it in serving dishes? I'm talking about every day dinner, not when you have company.

Chapter79

I leave everything in the kitchen and we all prepare our own plates from the dish/pan I made it in.  (I help DD).   Like.. if we have soup the pan stays on the stove and we scoop out.  If we have stir fry- we grab rice from pan, stir fry from other pan, etc.  Make up plates and bring to table. 

If we have company, I put food in serving plates/dishes and bring it all to table.

I'm not classy when it comes to the 3 of us.

nonoemily

I make everyone's plate. DH says I'm really good at distributing things evenly. DS almost never touches his dinner, so it's like a tiny serving of each thing.
However, meals around here involve a lot of add-ones and condiments (sunflower seeds, hot sauce, brewers yeast, etc) so people still have a lot of work to do once I bring them their plate.

We eat at the dining table at every meal.

Hollylb3

mamaalysson said:

I prepare plates in the kitchen, and then put them on the table.  My mom always served things out of serving dishes, and I would love to do that, but all I can think about are the extra dishes you then have to wash.  For now, food stays in the kitchen.  It also keeps me from picking at the extras and eating too much.

This is why I ask. I love the idea of putting everything in serving dishes, but I end up doing them 75% of the time while DH runs back to work to finish something up, and I don't want the extra work.

raraavis28

Depends....more often than not we just dish up from the pots and pans on the stove b/c our kitchen table is really small and doesn't accommodate a lot of extra serving dishes. I always start by dishing up a plate for the babies first so I can cut up their food and it can cool a bit before I give it to them.

Bensmom13

Always put into serving bowls, plates.
Except for ds's because he's only 13 months and I have to cut it all up.

That's how we did it growing up so that's how I do it too!

penguingrrl

I transfer everything to serving dishes/bowls and put it on the table. Except my own because I measure/weigh to watch portions, so I make my own plate then put the rest out.

MomIn2013

I make up everyone's plates right from the pots/pans, unless it's homemade pizza or something make your own like tacos. Growing up we always had things in serving bowls on the table - maybe I'll switch to that once DS is older and can serve himself, who knows?

Lindsay9911

I fix everyone's plates and put them on the table. I have zero desire to do any extra dishes!

bumpuser924057

I make plates in the kitchen, which is how my family always did it. DH's family is big on serving dishes - EVERYTHING that goes on the table has to go in a dish, even if its something like pickles from a jar. It makes me insane. So many unnecessary dishes to wash!

dizzycooks

I put everything out in the table, but make up dds plate myself. Typically dh will serve the food. Sometime sif it's a skillet meal we serve it from the stove, but the sides are still on the table.

jensriot

It depends on the meal and if DH is home. If he's not, I often make the plates directly from the pots. It saves me time. Soups and pastas as well. If we are doing well on time or DH is home I'll put everything on the table. The girls are just now getting to a point of helping themselves more.

kcisthebombdotcom

Lindsay9911 said:

I fix everyone's plates and put them on the table. I have zero desire to do any extra dishes!

This

Andrewsgal

It really depends on what I am serving. I do a combination of them.

hayleydeee

I make up everyone's plates from the counter/ stove, directly from the pans. Too many dishes the other way!

meglew

I usually make plates in the kitchen.  DH will get the girls settled at the table and I will bring food over.  I am also really big on hot things being super hot (for myself) and cold things being really cold.  I do usually have a serving plate of cut up fruit, extra salad, or veggies on the table if anyone wants them.

zbeesma86

I put together plates- I have to cut up everything on Z's. When DH is here I usually build his plate too while he gets Z in her chair.

Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter or birthdays-- when we have a lot of food we do buffet style- go to the stove/island and grab what you want.

notkateanymore

We serve off the stove.

LatteLady5

Hollylb3 said:

I prepare plates in the kitchen, and then put them on the table.  My mom always served things out of serving dishes, and I would love to do that, but all I can think about are the extra dishes you then have to wash.  For now, food stays in the kitchen.  It also keeps me from picking at the extras and eating too much.

This is why I ask. I love the idea of putting everything in serving dishes, but I end up doing them 75% of the time while DH runs back to work to finish something up, and I don't want the extra work.

I put everything on the table BUT I am lazy and use the dishes I save leftovers in to serve from. We have glad snapware bowls which are glass with plastic lids. I just use those without the lids to put the food in. Clean up just consists of putting the lids on and refrigerating. No extra dishes to wash.

If we have company or if it's a special meal I use serving stuff.

alli2672

Hollylb3 said:

I prepare plates in the kitchen, and then put them on the table.  My mom always served things out of serving dishes, and I would love to do that, but all I can think about are the extra dishes you then have to wash.  For now, food stays in the kitchen.  It also keeps me from picking at the extras and eating too much.

This is why I ask. I love the idea of putting everything in serving dishes, but I end up doing them 75% of the time while DH runs back to work to finish something up, and I don't want the extra work.

I just put the pots/pans directly on the table along with a gallon of milk and a pitcher of water.  No extra dishes, and no getting up from the table for seconds. 
Everyone who is old enough serves themselves. 

bumpuser794640

Either whoever cooked dishes up plates or we each dish ourselves. Same for when we have guests because our table is only big enough for our place settings.

LoriLee14

I usually make all the plates right off the stove while husband washes his and little mans hands. Then whoever gets done first also gets out the silverware and milk

SallyAnneS

We plate up everything in the kitchen. Pizza and tacos are the only things we serve from dishes on the table. We don't do seconds unless it is a holiday.

bumpuser8448316

I used to plate in the kitchen until I was reading up on kids eating habits when DS entered a major food issues phase. I read several places that kids eat better when they can choose what goes on their plate. So I started serving dinner family style. In the beginning he only took a small amount of 1 maybe 2 dishes. It only took maybe a week for him to serve himself everything on the table- and he ate it!

Spin313

For everyday dinner, I serve the kids while DH gets their drinks...then DH and I serve ourselves from the kitchen.

kristen714

I put it on each plate. If anyone wants more they can get it from the pan.

thechickencoop

I usually make plates right off of the stove while (if he's home) DH gets DS's milk and gets him settled.  Sometimes H will make his own plate if it's like tacos or burritos or something.

If we have company it's all buffet style.  We don't have a 'formal' dining room per se, just one big room that's kitchen/dining separated by an island, so food is usually on the island.  And like, 99% of my big serving dishes are dishwasher safe.  That seriously makes all of the difference especially for something like New Year's where there's a million things to eat!

lightgetsin

I usually just prepare the plates, unless we have company or it is a meal that I think my kids may want seconds of.  Usually they just eat what I put on the plate and are finished.  

sometimesalwayschaotic

I vary. I used to always make up the dishes but it leads to  lot of running with all my little ones.  Now i genrally put the pan right on the table on top of a trivet.  If its things like tacos we make in the kitchen.  I do not transfer everything to serving dishes unless I steamed veggies in a bag or something.

chardonnay24

We have a small table (seats just the three of us and one side is up against a wall). I make up the plates in the kitchen and we eat in the dining room. If anyone wants seconds, they get up from the table and help themselves to whatever is left in the kitchen.

Rink08

I put everything in dishes on the table and we serve ourselves from there. If we have dessert, it stays in the kitchen until we're done with dinner and then we bring that to the table.

mrscutforth

I make the plates and then serve the plates. 

If we are having family over/get together/holiday dinner, I place everything in a 'buffet' type line and tell people to help themselves.

rockyrollgirl

I just put it on plates.

jnksmom

I usually make the kids plates. H makes his own. I don't want the extra dishes and never really thought much about letting them serve themselves. Guess I should start letting them.

AimeeL85

Everything goes on the table.  Once in awhile we may have something that is easier served at the counter and then brought to the table on plates, but I can't think of an example at the moment. 

mandymack

I serve from the stove/oven onto the kid's plates and hand out plates of food. DH serves himself.

bhuffman

I usually make everyone's plates.

shortstuff15

alli2672 said:

Hollylb3 said:

I prepare plates in the kitchen, and then put them on the table.  My mom always served things out of serving dishes, and I would love to do that, but all I can think about are the extra dishes you then have to wash.  For now, food stays in the kitchen.  It also keeps me from picking at the extras and eating too much.

This is why I ask. I love the idea of putting everything in serving dishes, but I end up doing them 75% of the time while DH runs back to work to finish something up, and I don't want the extra work.

I just put the pots/pans directly on the table along with a gallon of milk and a pitcher of water.  No extra dishes, and no getting up from the table for seconds. 
Everyone who is old enough serves themselves. 

Yup.  Unless it's a meal with company, the pot that it's cooked in goes right to the table and we serve from there. 

rachie1019

Oh I always transfer our dinner from the stove to pretty serving bowls. Then we make our plates on the island and eat at the kitchen table. I also do all of the cooking dishes prior to eating. Then after dinner all I have to worry about is washing our plates. I can't cook in a messy kitchen and I can't even eat when the kitchen is messy. I am very neurotic that way. I enjoy a nice family dinner with candles lit and a clean kitchen. It doesn't always happen that way though...

notkateanymore

Am I the only dork who likes to plate the food and make it look pretty?

notkateanymore

rachie1019 said:

Oh I always transfer our dinner from the stove to pretty serving bowls. Then we make our plates on the island and eat at the kitchen table. I also do all of the cooking dishes prior to eating. Then after dinner all I have to worry about is washing our plates. I can't cook in a messy kitchen and I can't even eat when the kitchen is messy. I am very neurotic that way. I enjoy a nice family dinner with candles lit and a clean kitchen. It doesn't always happen that way though...

You know if you didn't transfer all the food to new bowls there would be less crap to wash...

Also, do you make everybody wait to eat while you clean? Do you eat cold food?