When my kids were little, my dinner rotation looked like this: Pasta, Pizza, Pasta, Burgers, Pasta, Pasta. It made me crazy—not only because of the relentless repetition, but because I loved to cook and missed my old, pre-kid dinners, the ones that didn’t come with a side of ketchup. So instead of waiting out the toddler years, I decided to take control of the situation. I told my family they were embarking on an adventure: Andy and I would cook thirty new dinners over the course of a month . . . and my girls would try a bite of every single one. Was it a little nuts for two working parents to take on this challenge? Yes. But did it bust us out of our dinner rut and transform family dinner from stressful grind to happy ritual? Completely.

In Dinner: The Playbook, I tell the story of my experiment, and share everything I learned along the way. Think of it as a boot camp for kick-starting family mealtime, offering tips and strategies for shopping, organizing, and feeding picky eaters. Playbook also includes 80+ recipes for delicious (kid-vetted) crowd-pleasers like Sticky Pomegranate Chicken, Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs, and superfast Pan-Fried Whole Wheat Pizzas.

Stuck in a rut? Ready to reboot dinner? This book is your secret weapon. Get started tonight!

Dinner: The Playbook will be out in late August — just in time for back-to-school bootcamp — but is available for pre-order with all the usual suspects: AmazonBarnes & NobleIndiebooks, and Ballantine.

Jenny Rosenstrach is the creator of the blog Dinner: A Love Story and author of the book Dinner: A Love Story. She has appeared on NPR’s Weekend Edition and NBC’s Today. She and her husband, Andy Ward, write “The Providers” column for Bon Appétit. They live in Westchester County, New York, with their two young daughters.

Cover design: Kristina DiMatteo; Author photos: Johnny Miller; All food shots: Jenny Rosenstrach

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