Over the course of the past couple weeks, things have been a little "off" in our house. Last week, I had to stay late for conferences 2 nights, my husband had many early or late meetings and there were events for my daughter's school. I have also continued to (barely) balance work and home with my graduate classes and we have been trying to prepare for the new baby by converting our guest room into a nursey. Then, this week I became quite sick and we had to put everything else on hold. Needless to say, cooking and family meals have not been the top priority. Luckily, I am feeling better and am looking forward to having Spring Break this coming week. One of my main goals is to get back in the routine of cooking and having dinner together as a family.
To make this a little more exciting, I have decided to call next week my "Family Dinner Challenge." I am not usually a competitive person, but there is something about a "challenge" that makes me a little more motivated to stick with it. My challenge has two parts. First, I am challenging myself to plan and cook 5 dinners at home next week. The second part of the challenge for myself and husband is to not give into our daughter when she asks for something else to eat, but to maintain the expectation that she will at least try a bite of whatever I make before she can have something else. I anticipate that the second part of my challenge will be the most difficult, but I am determined to stick with that!
As I prepare for my challenge next week, I encourage each of you to have your own "Family Dinner Challenge." As always, make it work for you. If you don't regularly eat dinner together, challenge your family to eat together 2 nights or 3 nights. If you find yourself having take-out every night, challenge yourself to cook a meal or two at home. Challenge your family try a new food, challenge yourself to test out a new recipe. Make it your own and have fun!
Throughout next week, I will give you daily updates on how my personal challenge is going and I would love to hear about yours. If you like, please post comments so everyone can hear how you are challenging your family to eat and spend more time together. And, when you have completed your challenge, let us know how it went.
So, what is your challenge going to be?
Friday, March 30, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
What's for dinner?
Tonight was a good dinner night. Although I'm still tired from losing an hour of sleep a few nights ago, the sunshine gave me extra energy to be creative. It was pretty simple, actually. I cut up a couple chicken breasts, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic and sauteed them in some olive oil on the stove. I then added some onion, a jar of sundried tomatoes and drizzled it all with balsamic vinegar. I stirred in cooked pasta and then tossed in some spinach and mixed it until it wilted. It was pretty good for a Tuesday, if I may say so myself...
You may be asking yourself, "so, what did the 2 year old eat?" And, that would be a great question. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a super mom. Mariana does not enjoy balsamic glazed chicken with wilted spinach over pasta. In fact, if I can get her to eat Mac & Cheese (which is what she ate tonight) I'm doing pretty good.
For the past couple months now, Rene and I have been struggling with what is probably a common conflict for parents. Do we force our daughter to try new things and eat what we prepare and risk nightly dinner distress? Or, do we continue to offer healthy choices and let her make her own decisions on what she is going to eat? As I have been reading up on this subject, I have learned that, like with most things, there are many strong opinions on this topic. Most family dinner advocates think that part of eating dinner together is everyone eating the same thing. Most seem to agree that forcing a child to eat everything on his or her plate is no longer a good strategy. However, these folks do believe that children should be taught to at least try everything put in front of them, out of respect for the cook and that this should be started at a very early age. The other school of thought is to offer healthy choices, including what is cooked for dinner, but to let the child choose. According to Shandley McMurray in her article Pleasing Your Picky Eater, the best way to get kids to try new foods are to not force them and to keep offering the same healthy the choices. Shandley says that it can take up to 15 times of a food being offered before a child will accept it and try it!
As for what to do with Mariana, I'm still not sure. For now, offering choices is working for us. We have tried demanding that she try at least one bite of what we make before letting her choose something else, but that usually ends with her screaming, eating nothing and Rene and I being frustrated and upset. When I just put things on the table, such as a plate of raw carrots and peppers, bread with dipping oil or pasta, she usually ends up nibbling on something, even if she is eating her Macaroni and Cheese at the same time. Every family needs to make their own decision on how to handle this with their children. But for us, right now, being together at the table is more important than everyone eating the same thing.
Here is the link for the article I referenced above:
http://recipes.kaboose.com/pickyeaters.html
You may be asking yourself, "so, what did the 2 year old eat?" And, that would be a great question. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a super mom. Mariana does not enjoy balsamic glazed chicken with wilted spinach over pasta. In fact, if I can get her to eat Mac & Cheese (which is what she ate tonight) I'm doing pretty good.
For the past couple months now, Rene and I have been struggling with what is probably a common conflict for parents. Do we force our daughter to try new things and eat what we prepare and risk nightly dinner distress? Or, do we continue to offer healthy choices and let her make her own decisions on what she is going to eat? As I have been reading up on this subject, I have learned that, like with most things, there are many strong opinions on this topic. Most family dinner advocates think that part of eating dinner together is everyone eating the same thing. Most seem to agree that forcing a child to eat everything on his or her plate is no longer a good strategy. However, these folks do believe that children should be taught to at least try everything put in front of them, out of respect for the cook and that this should be started at a very early age. The other school of thought is to offer healthy choices, including what is cooked for dinner, but to let the child choose. According to Shandley McMurray in her article Pleasing Your Picky Eater, the best way to get kids to try new foods are to not force them and to keep offering the same healthy the choices. Shandley says that it can take up to 15 times of a food being offered before a child will accept it and try it!
As for what to do with Mariana, I'm still not sure. For now, offering choices is working for us. We have tried demanding that she try at least one bite of what we make before letting her choose something else, but that usually ends with her screaming, eating nothing and Rene and I being frustrated and upset. When I just put things on the table, such as a plate of raw carrots and peppers, bread with dipping oil or pasta, she usually ends up nibbling on something, even if she is eating her Macaroni and Cheese at the same time. Every family needs to make their own decision on how to handle this with their children. But for us, right now, being together at the table is more important than everyone eating the same thing.
Here is the link for the article I referenced above:
http://recipes.kaboose.com/pickyeaters.html
Sunday, March 4, 2012
When I was in high school, one night I spent the night at my best friend's house. It happened to be what her family referred to as "take out night." Her dad asked me what I wanted for dinner and I asked "Well, where are you going?" I was confused when his response was, "Any where you want." My friend explained that on "take out night" everyone picked what they wanted, even if it was from seperate resetarurants, and then her dad would go pick up everything. So, it didn't matter if one person wanted pizza and someone else wanted Chinese and another wanted Mexican. On that one night, every month or so, everyone got exactly what they wanted, and then they all ate their selections together. This never would have flown at my house. It didn't matter if McDonald's and Burger Kind were right next to each other, we all had to agree on one restaraunt when eating out or getting take out. But, my friend's family found their own tradition that shook-up the routine and helped create great memories.
I have been enjoying all of the comments that all of you have made on Facebook about your thoughts on the importance of family meals and the many different ways your families make meal times work for you. Some families eat at the same time every night, no questions asked. Some have more flexible meal times, depending on schedules. Some families have one night a week when, for a special treat, they take their dinners into the family room to watch a favorite show.
With all of the reading I have been doing on this topic, I have realized that many people have very strong opinions on what Family Meal Times should look like. Some authors have written lists of "rules" for family meal times that they believe everyone should follow. Of course, if everyone in your family is sitting at the table texting, watching You Tube and talking on the phone, that defeats the purpose of eating together. However, like with everything, you need to find what works best for your family. The important thing, in my opinion, is that your family is sitting down together, sharing a meal, and having some quality time together. Outside of that, the sky is the limit. So, find what works for you. And, every once in a while, switch it up. Be creative. Have fun. After all, it's your table!
I have been enjoying all of the comments that all of you have made on Facebook about your thoughts on the importance of family meals and the many different ways your families make meal times work for you. Some families eat at the same time every night, no questions asked. Some have more flexible meal times, depending on schedules. Some families have one night a week when, for a special treat, they take their dinners into the family room to watch a favorite show.
With all of the reading I have been doing on this topic, I have realized that many people have very strong opinions on what Family Meal Times should look like. Some authors have written lists of "rules" for family meal times that they believe everyone should follow. Of course, if everyone in your family is sitting at the table texting, watching You Tube and talking on the phone, that defeats the purpose of eating together. However, like with everything, you need to find what works best for your family. The important thing, in my opinion, is that your family is sitting down together, sharing a meal, and having some quality time together. Outside of that, the sky is the limit. So, find what works for you. And, every once in a while, switch it up. Be creative. Have fun. After all, it's your table!
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