What’s for Dinner?

Week 5 in the Series

Hey Mamas and Papas,  time to check in! We are wrapping up the first part of our Feeding Your Family Series. This week is the time for HONEST reflection.

Can you answer all 3 questions?

1.    What day of the week do you meal plan?
2.    What day (s) (no more than 2) do you grocery shop?
3.    What day (s) of the week do you cook and prepare food (no more than 3 or 4)?

If not, make those decisions, write them down on your calendars, and set up a reminder system to keep you accountable. These 3 questions are your building blocks to finding peace with food.

I want you to notice that I did not ask if you knew HOW to meal plan, HOW to grocery shop, HOW to prepare the food. We are going to spend the next few weeks exploring these components in more detail. At this point, it’s important that you become consistent with the knowledge you currently have.

The Game of 20 Questions! The questions below are meant to bring awareness and help you to navigate more clearly, your personal path to creating peace with food. You are the only person seeing these responses so answer HONESTLY! And remember: you can’t help someone else, including your family, until you begin to help yourself.

Grab a pen and paper! 
1. Do you enjoy cooking?
2. Do you enjoy eating?
3. What inspires you to cook?
4. Do you skip meals?
5. Do you eat main meals in your car more than 2 times a week?
6. Does your family eat together at a table 4 or more times per week?
7. Would you or someone close to you consider yourself a picky eater?
8. What textures, foods, smells do you typically avoid or limit?
9. What thoughts run through your head when you see an overweight person?
10. What thoughts run through your head when you see a normal weight person?
11. What thoughts run through your head when you see a very thin person?
12. Who does the food shopping in your house? (If it isn’t you then get that person to read with you.)
13. Who does the cooking in your house? (If it isn’t you then get that person to read with you.)
14. Do you dine out more than 3 times a week (including breakfast/work cafeteria)?
15. Does your cooking repertoire consist of 6 or less recipes that you rotate through each week?
16. Do you eat planned snacks every day?
17. Do you eat breakfast every day?
18. On a scale of 1-10, how much to you value providing quality, nutritious food to yourself and your family? (10 being the highest)
19. You’ve made it through all these questions, what is keeping you here?
20. You deserve a reward! What is a non-food reward you can give to yourself?

Loads of questions, I know! But knowing this information is going to be helpful in assessing your food attitudes and what you are modeling to your children as appropriate behavior. Remember, you can’t help someone else, including your kids, until you begin to help yourself.

Stay tuned! Next week we dive into the art of meal planning. Thank you to one of my followers for asking for recipes. I'm happy to start adding a fun recipe each week. See you next Monday.

P.S.  I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! PLEASE WRITE YOUR STORIES & QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. If you like what you read, SHARE IT with your friends and family.

Recipe:

Massaged Kale, Apple & Quinoa Salad

(adapted from Cynthia Lair’s Feeding the Whole Family Cookbook)
Preparation time 25 minutes
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
2 pre-baked chicken breasts, diced
1 bunch kale
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
¼ cup diced red onion
1/3 cup currants
¾ cup diced apple, (½ apple)
2 cups cooked quinoa
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons unfiltered apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Cook quinoa as you would pasta. (Add to boiling water, boil until tender, then drain. For extra fluffy effect, add uncooked quinoa to dry pan and lightly toast while water is coming to a boil.) De-stem kale by pulling leaf away from the stem.  Wash leaves.  Spin or pat dry.  Stack leaves, rollup and cut into thin ribbons (chiffonade). Put kale in a large mixing bowl. Add salt, massage salt into kale with your hands for 2 minutes. To toast seeds, put in a dry skillet over low to medium heat and stir constantly for a few minutes until they change color and give off a nutty aroma.

Put kale in a fresh bowl and discard any leftover liquid.  Stir onion, currants, apple, quinoa, chicken and toasted seeds into kale. Dress with oil and vinegar and toss.  Taste for salt and vinegar, adding more if necessary.

PS This is a great recipe for your kids to help with. They can mix, add, taste test.

FACT: Kids are more likely to try it if they’ve helped make it. Weekly Challenge: Involve your kids in helping you with at least ONE meal this week.