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No Spend January - Family Happy Hour


This post is part of our No Spend January challenge.

Trying to make family time special and mixing it up can be a challenge. Our family prides itself on eating together ALMOST every night.  (sometimes dad works late)  Years ago I started Friday Night Family Happy Hour.  Partly because it was fun and relaxed time to wind down from a long week and partly because I get to use up leftovers!



I used to put a "theme" to each family happy hour, but alas, the children don't seem to be impressed by that anymore (this mama is partied and themed out), so we just put out the fun finger foods and graze.





We used to do this ONLY on Friday nights, however, we started doing family happy hour on Sunday's also due to our church service time change. We don't get home from church until 1 pm and it's well into lunch time by then.  I decided to do a happy hour at 1 and then we eat a family Sunday dinner between 6-7 on Sundays.

Sometimes we have a "mocktail"...shakes...fun desserts. Sometimes I have a few baked goods in the freezer...mostly it's little leftovers that I "remake" into fun finger foods. 




Here are some examples of food offerings I might put out:

  • Leftover meatballs - meatball sliders with leftover buns from the week
  • Leftover chicken - Buffalo chicken dip
  • Salsa and chips
  • Cheese and crackers
  • Leftover lunch meat rolled up and cut small
  • nuts, chocolate covered nuts
  • Usually always a hot dish - pizza, wings, little picky foods
  • Veggies with dip or salad dressing





There are three results from doing this Family Happy Hour

1.  I use up leftovers and make room for more food in our refrigerator. 
2.  We don't waste.
3.  Casual family time.

DO you do anything to ensure more family time? 

Until next time - be blessed and spend less!

Linking to: Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers






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Comments

Jolanthe Erb said…
I LOVE the idea of happy hour. :) We typically make pizza or pizza balls on Friday nights, but making it a "theme night" will likely result in more food eaten. HA!
Kim said…
This is a very good idea! One I will certainly have to try. :)
mrsthurin said…
What a great idea! I love that.
NOVA Frugal Family said…
Love this idea. We do leftover night where I remake the food into a new meal but normally I feel a little more like a short order cook but I really feel like a new name like family happy hour might change it around!!! Great ideas!!

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