Five Tips to Celebrate Family Meals Month

family-meals-logo-1

September, Family Meals Month is a good time to set a successful dinner table especially in the fall with hectic family schedules. I asked Barbara Baron, RDN a healthy eating consultant and a Family Meals Dietitian for some tips to help you put some healthy foods on the table in no time at all.

Barbara’s Five Family Meal Saving Secrets!

Be Flexible.

Adapt meals to the way you and your family live, but make it healthy! If you work late and need to get your children off the bus to a game or practice, plan ahead so you can sit and eat before or grab a satisfying snack (string cheese and a fruit) to hold you over until you get home and eat a meal together sitting (not standing) together at the table!

family-cooking-eating-2
Cooking Together!

 

Cook Together. Eat Together Stick together.

Good memories start in the kitchen preparing the food. Get family (or friends) of all ages to help. Peeling, chopping, washing teach basic cooking skills. Setting a “proper” table can help start good table manners; and just gathering together encourages conversation. Aim to sit together with family at least twice a week if you cannot go for all 7. Invite your children’s friend to stay for dinner, too. At the table and in the car to and from practice, parties, play dates, etc. are two great places you learn about their lives.

Make Mealtimes Memorable.

Start by bringing a healthy attitude to the table. It helps to make a favorite food from a member in the family. If you introduce something new to the meal, it helps to bring a little known fact or family history about that food to increase acceptance. Trite but true, put away all devices and enjoy a conversation. Ask each other, especially your children, what was the favorite part of their day or what they are looking forward to? Barbara raised two boys, and learned very quickly – never to ask, “Did you have a good day?” The answer was always “good”. Ask the open ended questions

family-eating-3
Eating Together!

Salad is a Staple at Dinner.

Salads can help curb your appetite so you don’t overeat. Barbara’s mom served a salad with every meal, (so did mine) and she continues the tradition. Choose greens rich in Vitamins A, C and potassium, too! Barbara loves using Escarole, Chicory, Arugula, and Romaine or a combo. Sliced tomatoes or beets are also easy stand-alone salads. Her go-to dressing is extra virgin olive oil with vinegar or lemon juice but choose something you like. For Barbara, dinner is not a complete without a salad.

boys-4
Barbara’s sons Daniel and Michael having fun together raised their soup bowls to enjoy the very last drop.

Cook and eat at home! When you do these tips you will find yourself savoring the savings.

Your wallet will thank you. Most often you can make a protein and two sides at half the cost of dining out. Plus, no tipping required. Again schedules can get in the way, so cook double on your off day and you will have enough for leftovers to heat and serve during the week when time is scarce.

barbara-baron-picture-headshot-5

Barbara Baron, RDN works with individuals, health care providers, and organizations who want more energy, time and money while juggling demands of family, work and fun! A mother of two, she has over 30 years of bringing good tasting healthy foods to the table believing it is critical to become your own healthy eating advocate, be an MVP, using a three prong approach shedding light on the important roles of Moderation, Variety and Planning.

barbara-relaxing-at-nearby-nj-beach-img_0506
Barbara enjoying the New Jersey shore

In her spare time, Barbara loves visiting fresh farm markets and the ethnic neighborhoods! Born and raised in Brooklyn, Barbara especially loves visiting tried, true and even new specialty food shops.  She dishes up healthy tips to meet your personal needs to improve health for you and your family, believing in a simple yet a forgotten concept bringing loved ones back to the table to share their stories over a healthy good tasting meal instead of in front of a screen. In her free time, loves yoga, cross country skiing, bike riding, and simply relaxing on the beach! For more visit BarbaraBaron.com; @barbbaron

Thanks Barbara for your easy to do tips to help families create memories around the dinner table. What are your tips to get a healthy meal on your family dinner table? We can’t wait to hear!

Love,

Chere and Barbara

4 thoughts on “Five Tips to Celebrate Family Meals Month”

  1. Meal times together are the best part of the day ,you get to know what everyone did you get to know their likes and dislikes always start with ‘Grace’ and everything will taste good even if its a vegetable you don’t like’ We always ended with fruit for desert and then then some sweets.

    1. Hi Lucy
      I agree meals always start with gratitude and I wish I would have told my kids veggies taste better with GRACE!! My favorite sweet to end the meal is a glass of chocolate milk! thanks for writing! Love your daughter so much! Chere

Comments are closed.