Last week I finally went to a MOPS meeting! It was fun and encouraging. The speaker was Robin Shea, who does a segment on our local news channel, WBKO's Midday Live every Wednesday called "Meals in Minutes." She got into meal stacking as a mother of four (correct me, someone, if that is incorrect!). She talked at MOPS about the importance of families eating together regularly. Obviously, there are plenty of demands on our time that makes this kind of thing hard, especially as children get bigger. But the statistics show that kids who eat with their families 4-5 times a week are less likely to use drugs and/or engage in other deviant behaviors in their teen years.
It was rather convicting for me because we have gotten into a bad routine of dining in front of the TV. Now that Lewis is eating solids, we often feed him and then eat while he plays. We can see the benefit to sitting around a table and eating just so he can visibly picture how adults eat. When we have sat with him at the table, he does mimic what we do (sort of!) and I think it will become even more important as he gets bigger. The other benefit would be spending some quality time with your spouse. We are working on implementing Robin's ideas in our home. I grew up having dinner with my family and look at how well we turned out! (just kidding!). Do you have tips to share about how to make dinner time as a family come together?
Go to www.wbko.com/mealsinminutes for tons of free recipes to spice up your lives!
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4 comments:
This is SO HARD!!! It does get easier as children start to eat a bigger variety of foods!! We have gotten in a really bad habit of eating around our "bar". We are eating together and we are all sitting but its not the table. I'm working on getting us back into eating at the table.
SavingDinner.com has made a world of difference in our home. I feel like we are eating so much better and there is a lot of variety so no one gets bored, which is wonderful.
I am so happy that fresh produce is coming back into season. We are loving fresh fruits and vegetables at reasonable prices.
One last thing I would say about this is DO NOT GET IN THE HABIT OF MAKING TWO MEALS. I have a friend who makes a meal for her children and then one for her and her husband. I'm very old school about this. I make sure to make dinners that it is reasonable to expect my children eat. Sam and Ethan have no choice, they eat everything on their plate or they don't get up. I give them very small portions so they cannot say they are too full to eat. Gabe will eat everything on his plate except meat. Since Sam and Ethan were the same way at his age I give him a little grace, but his day is coming. I just can't stand picky kids and insist they try everything and choke down the very few bites I give them even if they don't like it. I know food can truley become a war in the house, but I have found if I am firm from the beginning there is no question later on.
Anywho...I'm rambeling....
Heather
We try to make a habit of eating together almost every night. Of course, my hubby works weird schedules, but that means that my son and I will have a light, nutritious snack so we can hold on for dinner until Val gets home. It works out well because we get a point of connection in the day and now the our son talks, well, he can share about his day! :)
Plus, it gets our son into the habit of seeing what we eat. He always has put before him what we are eating. If he doesn't eat, well, then that is his choice, but there won't be anything else for the rest of the evening. I think because of that, our son LOVES all kinds of food and spices, and sauces etc.. that most other 2 year olds won't try! Anyway, some nights it is hard to get a meal on the table, but I'm always glad I did (even if it is something easy like spaghetti)!
Heather -
Which menu as SavingDinner.com do you subscribe to? At first, I thought it was kind of steep to pay for recipes each week when I could find other recipes online for free. But now, being newly pregnant and having a toddler who suddenly needs to eat table food, my family is starving. Seriously. I don't have an appetite so I can't get excited about cooking or picking out recipes. But at least with that site, I could just follow their list and Matthew would at least have dinner. Let me ask you - do you generally like all the recipes they send? Do they repeat within a year's subscription? Thanks for the advice. I've been looking at the site, and it seems like it might make a big difference in our home as well. - Sarah
Sarah,
First congrats on baby number two! The first part of pregnancy is always such a bummer, I will say, I think it got easier with each pregnancy.
I chose the Regular Menu Mailer. I was with you that I really didn't want to spend money for recipes, BUT I was also REALLY tired of coming up with menus and shopping lists! It has been such a weight off my chest.
If I were you I would sign up for a Mailer that has two portions. I've been making the six portion menu and it really is too much for us, but two just isn't enough (they do have four portion menus but not on Regular Mailer option).
My mother signed up for the Low-Carb menus. That one has atleast two fish dishes (as does the Heart Healthy). I myself just cannot do fish in my house, I cannot stand the smell, so these would probably not work for me. The Regular Mailer does have fish about once a week but I just simply don't make that menu OR sometimes they give you an alternative for the fish (ie. chicken, tofu, beans, etc.).
My sister recently signed up for the Frugal Menus, I'm not sure if she has used it yet, I'll have to ask her.
They have a whole section that compares all the different menus, but the charts are rather overwhelming. So far we have not had any repeats and I've only had one recipe that I didn't like (Greg liked it) and for atleast 30 menus, I think that's pretty darn good. If I were you I would try the 3 month trial and then go from there. If you pick one menu and then find you don't like it, you can always switch to a different one, all though I think there are a few steps you have to take to do it.
Hope all this helps!!
Heather
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