How One Simple Idea Brought Joy Back to the Dinner Table
Every great idea starts with a real-life problem, and for us, it was that same question that shows up in every home sooner or later: “What’s for dinner?”
Every Friday night before my Saturday grocery run, I’d ask everyone for dinner ideas for the week. The answers were always the same:
“I don’t know.” “I don’t care.” “You pick.” “You decide.”
Sound familiar?
So I’d end up at the store with no plan, tossing random things into the cart, hoping it would all make sense later. Half the time it didn’t, and food went to waste. One Saturday, I came home from shopping and Mike looked at me and said,
“You can stop asking me what I want for dinner. I made these for you.”
He handed me a little handmade deck of cards. Each card had a dinner idea written on it. Some were our regular meals, others were new or different. It was simple, thoughtful, and it worked. That little deck turned into our first Starter Deck, and eventually into Dealing Dinners.
A Family Business with Heart
Dealing Dinners is a small family business made up of three people: me (Colleen), my husband Mike, and my sister Margaret. We come from two very different households. Mike and I don’t have kids, while Margaret and her husband have two teenagers. But that’s what makes it great — it fits both of our worlds.
Margaret even uses Dealing Dinners as a way to teach her girls how to cook. Each week, they pick a card, shop for the ingredients, and make dinner together. It turns dinner into a moment to connect and learn, not a chore to avoid.
Why We Chose Cards
When we thought about how to share our idea, a deck of cards just made sense. Everyone knows what it’s like to “pick a card, any card.” There’s a little excitement before you flip it over. We wanted dinner to feel like that again — something fun and light instead of stressful.
Each deck has 52 cards, which gives you plenty of variety. You can shuffle through them, clip them to one of our menu boards, or write them out on our acrylic ones. It’s something you can hold in your hands, use again and again, and actually look forward to.
That’s where our motto came from:
Shuffle. Deal. Eat. Repeat.
From Family Favorites to Global Inspiration
Our first deck was built from what we already loved. Dinners like pizza, steaks, and burgers mixed with things like lasagna, chef salad, and beef stroganoff. As we grew, we started adding meals from our travels and research.
The “50 States Deck” includes a favorite dish from every state. The “Around the World Deck” features meals that anyone can make with ingredients from a regular grocery store. Over time, our list of favorites just kept growing, and it still does.
Learning as We Go
In the beginning, we had more meal ideas than we could fit in one deck. Deciding what to keep wasn’t easy, but once we shared the idea with friends and family, we knew we were on to something. Everyone loved it and wanted their own set.
Then came the question of how to display the weekly cards, which led to our first menu boards. They started with clips for the cards, but people wanted versions they could write on, so we made those too. Every suggestion helped us make Dealing Dinners better.
Looking Ahead
The past few years have been full of learning, patience, and plenty of late nights. Starting a small business takes time, but we believe in what we’re building. Dealing Dinners has helped people simplify their evenings, save money, and bring a little joy back into something we all have to do every day.
We like to think that if the Snuggie could take over the world, maybe we can be the Snuggie of the kitchen — something simple, clever, and made with love.
Every deck is proudly Made in the USA, and what started as a handmade gift between a husband and wife has grown into something that helps families eat better, stress less, and enjoy dinner again.
Shuffle. Deal. Eat. Repeat.
That’s the Dealing Dinners way.