Eating is usually a topic that becomes important to families at some point in time. I know food and eating more healthfully has been an interest of mine for a very long time! Eating can take on a whole new dimension when the family is involved. There is so much to consider. Is is okay to eat in front of the TV? Can we bring books to the table? Do we eat breakfast together as well as dinner? Are the kids allowed to complain about what they are served? Do they have to eat it? How do we carry on pleasant conversations at the dinner table with young children? Learning how to balance family members' preferences and still eat well (whether that is healthy or just tasting good!) can be another challenge as well.Here is one article that shows the importance of having at least one family meal together. Meals Matter shares another article about the nutritional benefits of eating together as a family regularly. Iowa State Extention has helpful article on how to get the family to eat together.
There are a plethora of cookbooks, meal time organizers, menu-planners, and helpful hints out there to feed your family. If something works for you, use it! It doesn't have to be hard to fix a simple meal for your family, and get them to eat it. Here are a few of my favorite resources:
- Saving Dinner or Menu Mailer
- The Joy of Cooking
- Super Baby Food
- Feeding the Whole Family
- Nourishing Traditions
- Earth Fare's free menu planning program
3 comments:
Oh boy, I could use some advice on the whining about the meal bit. Mine whine and whine when they haven't even tasted the food before. A good part of the time, when they finally eat some they say "It's not so bad!" but it's still a struggle to get them to eat even just a few bites.
Maryann,
I think this is a very common struggle. You are not alone. Many families have an "eat two bites" rule where everyone has to eat at least two bites of the food before commenting on it. If they still do not like it after the two bites, then they can say, "no thank you," and do not have to finish it. It will take time to establish a new routine, so try not to stress out about it. Another helpful idea is to try to make sure you fix something you know they like within the whole of your meal. If they like cheese, cut up a few chunks and serve as a side dish, etc.
For the whining thing, I explained to my son that complaining about the food hurt my feelings. That, plus not letting him have dessert (cottage cheese with peaches) if he whined helped a lot.
I have to admit that I get frustrated with some advertising campaigns that try to equate home cooked meals with good mothering. I used to prepare meals just about every night that would take half an hour to an hour or more to prepare. Then the dishes would have to be done afterwards so dinner ended up taking hours! My husband suggested that I get more prepackaged frozen meals so I could relax more in the evenings and spend more time with the family. Honestly, some of those things cost less than buying individual fresh ingredients and the cleanup is a snap. Plus, I'm not quite as emotionally invested if my four-year-old snubs it.
As for dinner rules, we've had to implement a "no toys at the table" rule. Otherwise nobody would eat anything.
Catherine
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