{"id":5640,"date":"2018-09-12T08:54:23","date_gmt":"2018-09-12T12:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eatrightpa.org\/?p=5640"},"modified":"2021-10-30T03:37:52","modified_gmt":"2021-10-30T03:37:52","slug":"harness-the-power-of-family-meals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/2018\/09\/12\/harness-the-power-of-family-meals\/","title":{"rendered":"Harness the Power of Family Meals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by Karen Buch RDN, LDN<\/p>\n<p>Juggling jobs, kids and the demands of a\u00a0busy, modern life\u00a0often come at the expense of family\u00a0mealtime at home. In fact,\u00a063 percent of Americans decide what to eat less than an hour\u00a0before eating. It&#8217;s easy to opt for\u00a0take-out or fast food when schedules get hectic. But there&#8217;s science-based evidence to support making the effort to eat more family meals instead.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why Make Time for Family Meals?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Research demonstrates positive outcomes related to family meals when children and parents gather around the dinner table and engage with each other in conversation<strong>. <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Studies show that eating home-cooked meals together as a family\u00a0nourish the spirit, brain and health of parents and kids alike.<\/li>\n<li>When people cook most of their meals at home, they\u00a0consume fewer carbohydrates, less sugar and less\u00a0fat than those who cook less or not at all.<\/li>\n<li>Plus, regular meals are linked to the kinds of outcomes we all want for our children: higher grades and self-esteem, healthier eating habits and less risky behavior.<\/li>\n<li>In fact, kids and teens who share meals with their family three or more times per week are significantly less likely to be overweight, more likely to eat healthy foods and less likely to have eating disorders.<\/li>\n<li>With each additional family meal shared each week,\u00a0adolescents are less likely to show symptoms of\u00a0depression, less likely to use\/abuse drugs and less\u00a0likely to engage in delinquent acts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5645 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.eatrightpa.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Capture-300x172.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"402\" height=\"231\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to a Harris Poll, only 30 percent of American Families share dinner every night.\u00a0To keep families eating together around the dinner table, we\u00a0all\u00a0need\u00a0quick,\u00a0easy\u00a0recipes,\u00a0meal\u00a0solutions and tricks on how to\u00a0prep once and eat twice to save time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Prep Once, Eat Twice<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Whenever I make 3-bean chili, I serve it with rice.\u00a0The Chili can be easily stored in the fridge or freezer as a heat-and-eat dish. The leftover\u00a0rice stores easily in the fridge\u00a0too\u00a0and can be warmed\u00a0in the microwave or\u00a0re-invented later in the week\u00a0as veggie &amp;\u00a0rice stir-fry.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, whenever I slow-cook chicken breasts to make pulled chicken BBQ\u2014I always save the broth to make a creamy risotto or chicken soup. What are some of your favorite ways that you like to cook once and eat twice?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Plan for What\u2019s on the Menu <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To help with meal planning at our house, I recently sat down with my family to make a list of our favorite meals. My meals listing includes the name of each dish, key ingredients needed and favorite side dish accompaniments (including plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables). This simple meal idea list helps me when it comes time to plan meals, write my shopping list and stay organized.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Favorite Family Meal Recipes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here are just a few of my family\u2019s favorite meals. Click on the highlighted link to access the full recipe.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Breakfast<br \/>\n<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.karenbuch.com\/single-post\/2018\/09\/10\/Mushroom-Spinach-Tomato-Omelette\">Mushroom, Spinach &amp; Pepper Omelette<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5643 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.eatrightpa.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Mushroom-bell-pepper-omelette-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"454\" height=\"340\" \/><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Lunch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.karenbuch.com\/single-post\/2018\/09\/10\/Caprese-Salad\">Caprese Salad<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5641 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.eatrightpa.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Caprese-Salad-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"454\" height=\"454\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Dinner<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.karenbuch.com\/single-post\/2018\/09\/10\/Pan-Seared-Glazed-Salmon\">Pan-Seared Salmon<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-5642 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.eatrightpa.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Honey-Dijon-Glazed-Salmon-257x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"479\" height=\"559\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Search social media\u00a0for <strong>#FamilyMealsMonth <\/strong>to find more recipes and ideas on how to eat one more family meal a week! And, use #FamilyMealsMonth when you\u00a0share ideas and tips for making family meals happen&#8211; especially\u00a0during September: National Family Meals Month\u00a0and\u00a0all year long! Dietitians and community collaborators can access a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fmi.org\/family-meals\/toolkits\/community-collaborators-toolkit\">free toolkit<\/a> for ideas and best practices to join the family meals movement in your community.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;d love to hear about some of your favorite family meals and ways that Pennsylvania\u2019s dietitians encourage clients to eat family meals together more often.\u00a0<strong>Tag us\u00a0<\/strong>in your family meal posts on twitter or Instagram .@<u>EatrightPA\u00a0<\/u>!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.karenbuch.com\/foodnewsreviews\">Karen Buch, RDN, LDN<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.karenbuch.com\/foodnewsreviews\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-4140 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http:\/\/dev.eatrightpa.org\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Head-Shot-Karen-Buch-e1517939714260-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a> is a Central Pennsylvania-based Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who promotes the healthy enjoyment of food and helps consumers better understand the connection between food, nutrition and health. As owner of Nutrition Connections LLC, Karen provides a variety of food and nutrition communications consulting services to the food industry nationwide.\u00a0Connect with her on the web at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.NutritionConnectionsLLC.com\">NutritionConnectionsLLC.com<\/a> or follow her on facebook: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NutritionConnectionsLLC\/\"><strong>Nutrition Connections LLC<\/strong><\/a>, instagram: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/karenbuch1\/\"><strong>@karenbuch1<\/strong><\/a>, twitter: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/karenbuch\"><strong>@karenbuch<\/strong><\/a> or subscribe to her blog: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.karenbuch.com\/foodnewsreviews\"><strong>Food News &amp; Reviews<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Karen Buch RDN, LDN Juggling jobs, kids and the demands of a\u00a0busy, modern life\u00a0often come at the expense of family\u00a0mealtime at home. In fact,\u00a063 percent of Americans decide what to eat less than an hour\u00a0before eating. It&#8217;s easy to opt for\u00a0take-out or fast food when schedules get hectic. But there&#8217;s science-based evidence to support [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":5642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[70,143,9,144,16],"class_list":["post-5640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dietitian","tag-eat-together","tag-eatrightpa","tag-family-meals","tag-kids-eat-right"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10518,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5640\/revisions\/10518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}