Reasons To Gather Around the Family Dinner Table
July 15, 2009
24 Reasons to Gather Around the Dinner Table
How often does your family have dinner together? If you’re like most families nowadays, the answer is probably, “Not very often.”
It’s understandable. Modern families are busy. Both parents work and sometimes get home at different times. Children have activities to go to, and Mom’s got to drive them all over the place. Really, who’s got the time and energy to even cook dinner every single night?
You, that’s who! Eating together is good for you and your family. So you better make time and find the energy to make home-cooked meals and sit down and eat together more often.
Researchers have found many benefits to home-cooked meals. Watch this video to learn about some of them. In my own experience, though, there are many more. Here are 24 reasons I have found to share family meals more often:
1. Families who eat together eat healthier, because home-cooked food is healthier than fast food.
2. Family meals allow busy families to catch up with each other.
3. Young children learn a lot of verbal skills just by eating with their family members.
4. It gives everyone a chance to unwind after a busy day.
5. Having family meals more often forces you to end your working day and other obligations in time for dinner.
6. Home cooked meals are not only healthier, they’re also cheaper than takeout food or eating out.
7. Eating together forces everybody to tell stories.
8. Cooking at home motivates you to be creative with your meal planning and cooking.
9. Children can get involved in cooking meals.
10. Cooking and eating together creates happy childhood memories.
11. Eating together is an opportunity to explore different cuisines.
12. Eating with your family is more fun than eating in front of the television (or the computer).
13. Eating together gives parents a chance to talk about current events from their point of view, injecting their personal values without giving a lecture.
14. Eating together helps family members bond and get to know each other better.
15. You’ll be surprised what your kids reveal when you’re in a relaxed environment, such as a family meal.
16. Kids are less likely to roll their eyes when you reminisce and tell stories from your childhood while eating a meal together.
17. Family meals can be good teaching moments, even for small children. My toddler learned how to count by counting after-meal treats on his high chair.
18. Eating together is a good opportunity to teach and model good manners.
19. Family meals give a good transition from work or school to home life.
20. Family meals are also good times to share music together.
21. Family meals teach everyone valuable life skills, such as sharing and taking turns.
22. Stopping and sitting down to a meal gives everyone a chance to quiet down and regroup.
23. Family meals provide an additional occasion for family members to pray together.
24. Eating home is more eco-friendly than eating out or ordering food – less waste!
If you think having family meals is too much work, don’t despair. You can get help for everything from meal planning to putting your weekly grocery shopping list together. Check out Dine Without Whine for kid-tested, quick recipes that will help you put together family meals with less effort. Dine Without Whine’s weekly shopping lists will also help you get food shopping done much faster, and even save money on groceries.
As you can see from the list above, the extra time and effort you spend to have family meals more often are worthwhile.
Onions
July 9, 2009
Onions
They can make you cry if you let them, but they really are not bad. In some settings they can be stinky beyond belief, but are a fine complement to steaks. Onions come in many varieties, some sweet, some tangy, but all are good for the body and good as an ingredient in main dishes.
Just where did onions come from? It is believed to have originated somewhere in the Middle East. Onions come in three colors: white, yellow, and red. Each onion has a papery outer skin that protects the inner softer layers. An onion has several layers that get smaller as you get closer to the middle. It is a veggie that reminds me of a flower. The narcissus is a relative of the onion.
Bulb onions (most varieties) are okay eaten raw. They are thick sliced to be put on burgers and other sandwiches. Onions are also found on tops of salads. Green onions are an ingredient in vegetable dips and on salads. White onions are common in Mexican cuisine. Onions are chopped up for Pico de Gallo and salsa.
Onions can be purchased at all times of the year. If you can’t find them at your local farmer’s market, they can be found in grocery stores who buy onions from other countries. The most useful onion is the red onion. It can be diced up for use in salads like macaroni or pasta salad. This onion can also be grilled and friend.
Onions are cut into chunks and skewered for shish kebabs. They are sautéed with steaks and used in sauces. Yellow onions are caramelized to be used in French onion soup. Some people even dare to eat onions raw like an apple. Sweet Vidalia onions are supposed to be just that good that they can do that.
Onions can be flowered and deep fried to produce the blooming onion so popular in restaurants today. Before the blooming variety became so popular, people ate tons of onion rings.
Besides the tangy taste that onions add to all the dishes they flavor, they are quite good for a person’s health. They are fat and cholesterol free and contain lots of other nutrients that protect against various forms of cancer, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, and heart disease.
For extra onions you have on hand, store them before they become soft and mushy. Cut them up and blanch them. The onion chunks are frozen on a flat cookie sheet and then placed in a freezer bag or container.
- cheesy carrot onion casserole
- caramelized onion smothered steak
- slow cooker onion soup with mozzarella french bread
Lettuce
July 9, 2009
Lettuce: A Versatile Vegetable
It is the basis of all salads. People have turned to it to replace bread on their sandwiches. It comes in several varieties, some of which are sweet or bitter. Yes, we are talking about that versatile vegetable, the lettuce.
Each lettuce is referred to as a head. Most round varieties look like small heads. I’m sure there’s a story there and I just hope it’s not gross. Lettuce is grown in different areas of the country year round. I have yet to see a grocery store that didn’t have at least one type of lettuce available every time I go in.
The most commonly used form of lettuce is iceberg lettuce. It is light green to white in color. The basis of the salad is iceberg lettuce. Restaurants use it as a garnish for salads. Iceberg lettuce heads are tightly compacted. Romaine is tall almost like a stalk of celery. It is used in Caesar salads and has medium green leaves.
Bibb and loose leaf lettuce are not so tightly packed as iceberg lettuce. They resemble flowers just opening up. Bibb lettuce is sweet and used in mixed green salads. Loose green, mesclun, and frisee have a taste that is more on the bitter side. All can be used in salads.
Always wash lettuce several times before using. The leaves are closer at the base and can hide dirt, bugs, and bacteria. No one wants to get sick from their vegetables. Lettuce can be shredded into strips for pita sandwiches, tacos, and burritos. For those who want to cut carbs, large leaves of lettuce wrap sandwich meat and other meats instead of bread.
Lettuce stays fresh in a crisper compartment of the freezer. To keep the leaves from withering and turning color, sprinkle with water like they do in the store. Lettuce was once thought of as a weed and first seen in this country when Christopher Columbus landed in the New World in 1492.
Lettuce that is starting to wilt can be fed to animals like rabbits, Iguanas, and turtles. Certain soups call for lettuce as an ingredient. The soup can be frozen and eaten later. Lettuce doesn’t have a strong taste which is why it complements many foods.
Most do not save lettuce. They either eat it or throw it away. If you can find some helpful uses for lettuce in your recipes, consider freezing a portion of it for later.
