As a New Year's resolution, I decided to make it a priority to have two sit-down-at-the-table-as-a-family meals every day. Since my kids are in school all day, three meals is not really realistic or practical. But two meals is. On the weekends we'll do three.
Why do I want to do this? Dinner is "obvious" as a family time, but I also have noticed that the "eat on the run" tendency has taken hold for breakfasts in my home. I want to instill good eating habits, and I know that if we all sit down for two meals everyday, those will be two meals that are healthy, are spent together, and are also probably, actually, seriously EATEN by my kids and me.
My husband passed away in October, and since then I have been trying very hard to focus our family into a "new normal." I know my kids are dealing with this adjustment in their own ways, and I want to provide a secure, predictable home environment for them. I just think this makes sense. I am sure there are probably academic studies done on adjustment for families after a serious loss, but I don't have time to digest the stats. Really, I just believe this will help, and I am willing to bet the studies will be in my favor.
We went to Michigan for the holidays and got back 3 days ago. Today was the first day back to school for both of the kids, so I thought it would be a good day to get it all going.
So here we go, day #1:
Breakfast: Sliced apples, peanut butter toast, and milk. Healthy, easy, and all together. We missed the bus, but we will get it down... :-)
After school snack: Kids ate pistachios and oranges. I didn't eat with them, but I think I will start doing this as well. Good time for school debrief, and I was really starving by dinner, so I kind of need the snack, too.
Dinner: Now this was interesting. I decided that as something to try out, instead of making a big salad for everyone, I would chop everything up and put each ingredient in a small bowl, salad-bar style. Not only was this a hit (no picking out certain things from the salad), but we had less waste AND this allowed the kids to snack on carrots, celery, tomatoes, raspberries, grapes, cucumbers, and peppers while I made the dinner. I don't want them to ruin their appetites, but my feeling on this is that it's out there for dinner anyway, and if they are going to snack on fresh fruits and veggies, I will not discourage them. I actually had to refill the raspberry bowl before sitting down to the meal. Yay for nutrition!!! :-)
Dinner was great. Steak and baked sweet potato wedges and salad and water. We all ate. We all talked. We all cleaned up afterwards. The kids are learning to do the dishes, so I bought some plastic dishes to eat from, and those worked great. They are small, but that is fine. They clean up easily and there is not risk of them breaking. They are also super pretty. (I will include a link to them below.)
I went to Costco this afternoon and stocked up on the stuff we will need for the week. Tomorrow is salmon night. The kids LOVE salmon, especially if I put lemon on it. (I also bought lemons.) Salad again, and I need to think of another side...I'll let you know what it is tomorrow.
Happy family time and healthy eating!
-Catherine
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/18714/
