This Adaptable, No-Fuss Dinner Is My Greatest Parenting Triumph

I don’t remember exactly when it dawned on me. Perhaps it was a particularly stressful night. Or maybe it was sometime when I couldn’t handle another day of being badgered by my kids about what’s for dinner, because what even is adulthood besides deciding what’s for dinner, day after day? All I know is, one day I told my kids we were having a “snack board” for dinner and a miracle was born. Yes, I actually mean a miracle, because what is more miraculous than a dinner that is healthy, prepared (and served) from one surface, takes less than ten minutes, and is met with literal applause?

What’s a snack board?

A snack board is essentially a charcuterie tray but is perhaps more aligned with a younger palate (and is certainly easier for a kid to say). My kids don’t eat meat, so making sure their diet isn’t exclusively carbs and cheese is a constant uphill battle. With a snack board, they happily gobble up heaps of fruits and vegetables, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, and other things that if I offered it up any other way would likely be scorned.

Related: These 3-Ingredient Brownies Are The Ultimate Kid-Friendly Recipe

How to build one

I’ve experimented over the years with different versions, but here are some ideas that never fail to work:

What’s great about this is, whatever your family likes to eat and has on hand is all you need to put dinner on the table. In fact, it’s an excellent way to clean out the fridge or repurpose leftovers in a way that feels more fun. There’s something festive about having it prepared and presented nicely that whets the appetite of both child and adult alike.

Why it’s a holiday hit

It’s now a tradition in my home to make a snack board for dinner on Halloween, which started because I knew between parties at school and trick-or-treating goodies, there would be an abundance of sugar and only enough nutrition to see under a microscope. It also was one more way to squeeze a little more fun into the day. If you, like me, tend to be a bit “extra” when it comes to holiday magic, the possibilities are endless: all green snack boards for St, Patrick’s Day, carrots and hard-boiled eggs for Easter, or a flag made of summer’s sundries for Independence Day.

Another thing I love about making these is that, depending on what you serve, you can leave out whatever was unfinished for them to come back to later, eliminating one of my biggest parenting pet peeves: the dreaded, “I’m hungry” complaint coming mere minutes after dinner’s been put away. If you have a family that leans toward being grazers, this one’s for you.

Related: 5 Easy Meals Your Kids Will Actually Eat

I once had my kids watch What About Bob? partly so they could see the scene where Bob can’t stop praising the corn on the cob he’s eating. I told them, half-jokingly, “See, this is how I’d like you to respond when I make dinner.” With snack boards, I sometimes count how many times my kids tell me, “Thank you for making this!” and it’s usually upwards of 10. Polite, happy, healthy kids. What more could I ask from dinner?