A Dinner our Kids Love: Charcuterie Night

As a parent, I get exhausted of choosing what is for dinner every night. And for my kids, they get exhausted of being told what they need to eat that night. What started as a fun date night for my husband and I has turned into one of my families favorite meals.

Aldi is going to be your best friend for this one. You can get small portions of many different foods at a really good price. My only guideline I try to follow when I am buying foods is to only buy foods that I won’t be upset if it ends up being the only food my child eats. So if you plan to put desserts on your board (if we do desserts, we pull it out after the meal is finished), only put as many as you are okay with your kid eating. When the food is gone, it is gone. If there is something I know everyone will love and there is only a small amount of it, I will divide it out on each kid’s plate at the start of dinner so it isn’t a free for all in the middle.

Another reason I suggest Aldi for this meal is that we use this as an opportunity to try new foods that we otherwise might not try. It is good for our kids to be adventurous, and it is fun. Aldi has a fantastic return policy. If you save the receipt and the packaging, you can get a full refund in store credit. There are a couple things we have taken back, like the truffle cheese below and some shrimp bites, but for the most part, we have loved everything we have tried and have repeat bought many of the items on subsequent charcuterie nights.

We don’t always do traditional charcuterie for this either. We have done sushi, taquitos, chicken nuggets, pizza, beef sticks, pepperonis, ham and turkey, cheese, and pastas (in bowls, not on the board). I try to get a couple different proteins, a couple different carbs, a couple vegetables, and a couple fruits for each dinner. My kids eat this meal up. They love that they have the autonomy to choose what to eat and they love that there isn’t a specific amount of food on their plate. And somehow, they typically end up eating more than if I had put things on their plate.

And finally, I’ll tell you the real reason this is a family meal favorite. It is so easy. Everything can be thrown in the air fryer or dumped onto a pan for the oven or warmed up in the microwave. It is so incredibly easy and quick. And clean up usually isn’t too bad either.