If I told you that one thing could help reduce the incidence of drug use, alcohol abuse, and eating disorders and obesity in adolescents, promote emotional well-being and your long-term health, would you want to know more? Of course you would. Well, that amazing miracle is actually a simple family meal. According to Miriam Weinstein, author of The Surprising Power of Family Meals, family meals, especially dinners, are a ritual, and rituals form “the permeable line between stability and change.” “Sitting down to eat together draws a line around us. It locks us in and, for a brief time, strengthens the bonds that connect us with the other members of our self-defined clan, to the exclusion of the rest of the world.”
There is a great deal of research from a multitude of sources to back up Ms. Weinstein’s claims. One of the most convincing is a study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University that found that dining with the family was more important than church attendance and school grades in predicting behavior. of the kids. “Regularly eating dinner together as a family tops the list of variables that are within our control.”
To me, it makes an enormous amount of logical sense. I certainly don’t remember all the dinners at my house growing up, but I do remember a lot of them. Also, I remember special rituals like dinner at my grandmother’s house every Friday night with cousins, birthday dinners at restaurants, and of course Thanksgiving. I’d wager that most of us can remember special moments from our childhood that center around meals and around a table.
As important as food is in my life, really, it’s the conversation that really cements the importance of family dinners to me. I make it a point to get my family together around the dining room (or restaurant) table five nights a week. We’re not all there all the time (sometimes I work late and sometimes my husband) but someone is there, talking about the little things with my kids. See that it is this sharing of the good things and the challenges of the day that makes an impact on the children. As they say, if they can’t share the little things with you, they won’t share the big things with you. Dinner parties provide an opportunity for connection, and connection is vital to building and maintaining strong relationships.
So how exactly do we find time for these dinners, and more importantly, what the heck can we put on the table? Well, luckily food manufacturers have gotten a lot better at packaging ready-to-eat foods. I think I haven’t bought a head of lettuce in years! I’m sure my kids think that lettuce grows washed in bags.
I think a little bit of prep is the best way to beat the stress of what to make for dinner. As usual, I have a couple of easy-to-implement strategies and resources to share with you:
- Shop online using a local grocery store that delivers
- Cook on the weekends (get the kids involved…I love to cook and cook and baking makes for a wonderful project and awesome memories too!) and freeze or refrigerate portions for later in the week.
- Double a recipe and freeze
- Hire a personal chef… I have several recommendations for some amazing and affordable services. They come to your house and cook a predetermined number of meals at a time and package and freeze them. A perfect investment!
- Catch a new show on The Food Network…Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller. It’s a brilliant concept: one main course (usually the protein) that then serves as three meals. Each program has a shopping list and a “game plan.” This show is MADE for us! Go to http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_rm for full description and broadcast times.
- Google the many new businesses that are springing up that are now delivering meals to your doorstep. Try searching for “prepared dinners”
Be sure to connect with each other and enjoy the wonderful food. Remember, the conversation and meeting itself is what will live in your memory and in the minds of your children for years to come. Food will live on your hips for years to come… but that’s another article.