Love is in the air this week and we’re celebrating with family meals! Eating together at home improves nutrition and brings you closer together as a family when you turn off electronics and tune in to each other. This week, we’ve compiled red or chocolate themed recipes keeping in the spirit of Valentine’s Day to help you fall in love with family meals.

Count on Cupid for a family meal of Tuscan Tomato Turkey Burgers, Orzo with Spinach and Tomatoes and Strawberry Banana Blasts for dessert. Keep love in the air and family meals on the menu all week long with Citrus-Ginger Roasted Beets, Easy Skillet Sausage and Penne Supper, Cocoa Crusted Pork Tenderloin and Roasted Bananas with Chocolate Yogurt Cream. Register at http://www.mealsmatter.org/ to add these and other recipes to your personalized family meal plan and shopping list.

“Family Meals Matter” features registered dietitian-approved recipes from the thousands of user-contributed recipes available at the free family-nutrition and meal-planning website, http://www.mealsmatter.org/, maintained by registered dietitian moms with Dairy Council of California. Healthy Eating Made Easier™

Photo Caption:  Tuscan Tomato Turkey Burgers, Tomato Products Wellness Council.

Eat Better, Eat Together is a blog series by registered dietitians and parents whose stories and advice help families start or strengthen a commitment to balanced family meals and create healthy, successful families. Take the Eat Better, Eat Together Family Meal Pledge at Facebook.com/MealsMatter.org.

Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa to you all! The Meals Matter Moms are getting ready for a holiday break and will return in the new year. Before we do, I’ve compiled some of our favorite holiday activities, traditions and recipes to share with you.

Music makes the season bright for Meals Matter Mom Maureen Bligh and her family.

We’ve had fun the past few years learning holiday Christmas carols and playing them as a family band. My husband plays the guitar and sings, I play the piano, son Brian plays the drums and son Andy plays electric guitar. After practicing our parts, we have a few families over for dinner and a “concert.” We won’t be going on tour any time soon, but we have fun!

Mom of toddler twins LeAnne Ruzzamenti makes sure to work physical activity into her family’s holiday traditions.

We gather with a few other families to go get our Christmas trees. We spend the day in the foothills taking advantage of the recreation (hiking through the tree farms) and good eating (a picnic lunch with fresh apple pastries.) Then we meet back at one friend’s home for a wonderful spaghetti dinner. It is my most favorite day of the year!

Food is also central to Trina Robertson’s traditions.

Before Christmas my boys and I make Pizzelles, a thin Italian cookie baked in a waffle-like press. One batch takes about two hours to make over 100 cookies (read more about Trina’s Pizzelle tradition at Adventures in Eating.) Other holiday baking traditions include “See’s" fudge  and  Grandma’s fudge filled cookies.  On Christmas Eve we celebrate with the same Italian fish dinner with pasta. Then we set out milk and cookies for Santa and raw oats for the reindeer.

Making sure the reindeer are well-cared for is a common theme.  Registered dietitian Tracy Witmer and I both have fond memories of setting out carrots for the reindeer.  I’m not sure what happened to our carrots but Tracy figures hers ended up with her horses.

Thinking of others is also a time-honored tradition for Tracy and her family.

Every year before Christmas, my sister and I would go shopping with my mom to pick out warm coats and gloves for needy children. At the time I thought it was nice, but I can now really appreciate what a great learning experience it was and what great memories I have from spending this time together. The first year I went on my own, I cried sentimental tears!

For me, it’s just not Christmas without Rubens and Potato Soup made in double batches so they will last almost to New Year's Eve. Leftovers are also at the heart of Ashley Rosales' post Christmas tradition. She uses the left over Roasted Chicken to make her late grandmother's famous Chicken and Dumplings. 

The second I start making her recipe I instantly feel like she is with me. She was an amazing woman and Christmas was her favorite time of year. My family is from Kentucky and I live in California, so making this recipe is like buying a plane ticket back home. 

From all the Meals Matter Moms and everyone at Dairy Council of California, we wish you and your families
Healthy Eating to All, and to All a Good Bite!

Sara Floor Miller 

Subscribe to the Meals Matter blog, follow @MealsMatter and #EatBetter2Gether on Twitter for more tips, recipes and family meal inspiration.

Eat Better, Eat Together is a blog series by registered dietitians and parents whose stories and advice help families start or strengthen a commitment to balanced family meals and create healthy, successful families. Take the Eat Better, Eat Together Family Meal Pledge at Facebook.com/MealsMatter.org

Not every holiday celebration can take place at home or be scheduled around family mealtimes. If your family's holiday schedule includes buffet or restaurant eating, here are some helpful tips to make sure you Eat Better, Eat Together throughout the holiday season.

When a family meal is not possible, due to time constraints or unusual schedules, eat a small nutrient-rich snack before a party. Fruit or whole wheat crackers and string cheese can help tame your appetite so you don't overeat at the event.

Watch what you drink, limiting alcohol and other high-calorie drinks. Opt for sparkling water or milk.

Order wisely when eating out. Try to choose foods that represent all five food groups, just like you would serve at home. Most restaurants serve oversized portions, so consider splitting an entrée with a friend or boxing half your meal to take home.

Don't skip dessert, just order it family style! Share a special treat with a friend or two.

What other ways can you Eat Better, Eat Together away from home this holiday season?

Subscribe to the Meals Matter blog, follow @MealsMatter and #EatBetter2Gether on Twitter for more tips, recipes and family meal inspiration.

Eat Better, Eat Together is a blog series by registered dietitians and parents whose stories and advice help families start or strengthen a commitment to balanced family meals and create healthy, successful families. Take the Eat Better, Eat Together Family Meal Pledge at Facebook.com/MealsMatter.org

Enjoying traditional foods with family and friends make the winter holidays special. Now more than ever, balanced family meals can—and should—be part of your healthy holiday strategy. Instead of calling out seasonal treats to avoid, we suggest you focus on what to eat before you head out to holiday events or parties.

Make time to eat balanced meals together as a family, even during the busy holiday season. As long as you've had a balanced meal with foods from all the food groups, don't worry too much about an extra cookie or sweet here or there. By keeping the focus on balanced meals, you'll be less likely to fill up on holiday sweets.

Before you head out to holiday festivities, whip up a balanced family meal of Chicken Parmesan Subs, Orange Glazed Carrots and Best-Ever Applesauce. Keep fast family meals on the menu all week long with Cheesy Tuna Melts, Lickety-Split Lasagna Soup, Cheese and Fruit Kabobs and Oven Roasted Broccoli.

Follow the Twitter hashtag #EatBetter2Gether for family meal updates and register at MealsMatter.org to add these and other recipes to your personalized family meal plan and shopping list.

“Family Meals Matter” features registered dietitian-approved recipes from the thousands of user-contributed recipes available at the free family-nutrition and meal-planning website, Meals Matter, maintained by registered dietitian moms with Dairy Council of California. Healthy Eating Made Easier™

Subscribe to the Meals Matter blog, follow @MealsMatter and #EatBetter2Gether on Twitter for more tips, recipes and family meal inspiration.

Photo Caption:  Chicken Parmesan Subs, EatingWell

For many families, celebrating holidays like Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa involves preparing and enjoying special foods with family and friends. Whether it is turkey, gravy and stuffing; latkes and chocolate gelt; tamales and cookies for Santa or the Karamu, food is as much of our holiday celebration as the historical, religious or cultural tradition.

Since holidays only happen once a year, it is important to make the most of this special time. Now more than ever, regularly-scheduled balanced family meals can—and should—be part of your healthy holiday strategy. 

Make time to eat balanced meals together as a family, even during the busy holiday season. Plan a quick family meal of sandwiches or wraps with carrot sticks, applesauce and glasses of milk before holiday parties. On those nights when there is just no time for a complete meal, plan a family snack with food-group foods like low-fat milk and fruit that are often in short supply at seasonal events. 

As long as you've had a balanced meal, or at least a healthy snack, don't worry too much about an extra cookie or sweet here or there. By keeping the focus on balanced meals, you'll be less likely to fill up on holiday sweets.

During meals, make time to talk to each other. By making time for conversation, you're also giving your brain time to register the feeling of fullness.

Giving yourself permission to choose enjoyable foods and eating them in satisfying amounts along with regular and reliable family meals is the core of registered dietitian Ellyn Satter's healthy eating model. Learn more about Satter's approach in this article aptly named The Joy of Eating.

How will you Eat Better, Eat Together to make the most of this holiday season? 

Eat Better, Eat Together is a blog series by registered dietitians and parents whose stories and advice help families start or strengthen a commitment to balanced family meals and create healthy, successful families. Take the Eat Better, Eat Together Family Meal Pledge at Facebook.com/MealsMatter.org

No other holiday is as closely associated with eating together as Thanksgiving, so it is a perfect time to give thanks for family and family meals. Be sure to take the Eat Better, Eat Together Family Meal Pledge on Facebook, to make family meals part of your routine.

Enjoy traditional Thanksgiving favorites like Green Bean Casserole, Maple Roasted Turkey and Best Light Pumpkin Pie for a healthy family feast. Add festive Thanksgiving appetizers and sides like Spinach Balls, Caramelized Apple and Toasted Walnut Brie,  Cranberry Salad and Harvest Vegetable Roast to your basic Thanksgiving menu or enjoy them as meals throughout the week.

Follow the Twitter hashtag #EatBetter2Gether for family meal updates and register at MealsMatter.org to add these and other recipes to your personalized family meal plan and shopping list.

“Family Meals Matter” features registered dietitian-approved recipes from the thousands of user-contributed recipes available at the free family-nutrition and meal-planning website, Meals Matter, maintained by registered dietitian moms with Dairy Council of California. Healthy Eating Made Easier™

Photo Caption:  Green Bean Casserole, EatingWell

Subscribe to the Meals Matter blog, follow @MealsMatter and #EatBetter2Gether on Twitter for more tips, recipes and family meal inspiration.

The high expectation the holiday season holds for many people, such as finding the perfect gift, throwing the perfect party and staving off those extra holiday pounds, ushers in plenty of stress. And, as the stress accumulates it not only strips away the joy of the season, it can have lasting health impacts.

For a less hectic holiday and New Year season with your family and friends, follow these tips:

1. Be realistic. There is no such thing as a perfect holiday! Instead of scrutinizing all the little details, make a conscious decision to enjoy the extra time you spend with your family. For example, delegate decorating and holiday gift shopping to other family members so that you have time to focus on meal planning and preparation. If your to-do list is getting too long, let some of the tasks go!

2. Plan ahead. Organize your holiday shopping list  now so that you aren't rushing to the store at the last minute. Search for delicious holiday recipes on Meals Matter. 

3. Enjoy the season. Play festive music, go ice skating and decorate with your family. Engaging in activities you enjoy with people you care about is a great way to relieve stress!

4. Exercise! Don't ditch your usual workouts just because your busier than usual. Physical activity improves your mood, combats chronic diseases, helps you manage your weight, boosts your energy and promotes better sleep. If you don't exercise regularly, start now! It doesn't have to be complicated. Go for a walk after dinner or schedule a walk with a friend.

5.Prioritize. Ask yourself sensible questions, such as, What about the holidays is important to me and my family? Is it necessary (or realistic) to attend every single party and holiday event?

The holidays present an opportunity to break from your routine and the demands of your day-to-day schedule. Relish that. Make time to connect with your loved ones...savor special holiday recipes...and enjoy the "possibilities" that the new year affords!

What holiday better showcases family food traditions than Thanksgiving?  Our traditional pecan pie always reminds my family of my Southern roots.  And even when my daughters spent Thanksgivings away from home during their college years, they managed to fashion a cornbread and sausage stuffing recipe as close to Mom’s as they could manage (a particular challenge in Italy!).  Those specific tastes and smells conjure up all sorts of good memories.

Over the years, I’ve hosted Thanksgiving dinners serving anywhere between 2-15 people. Can it be stressful?  You bet!  But over time I’ve tapped into some strategies that bring the “frantic” level down to something manageable.  I work fulltime so don’t have days ahead to prep.  The mantra I’ve adopted is “KISS – Keep it Super Simple”:

• Make it a potluck. In our family, the “host” supplies the turkey, stuffing and gravy – everything else is up for grabs. Be sure, however, to find out what people are bringing ahead of time, so you can plan refrigerator and freezer space accordingly, as well as oven time needed.  
• Don’t be overly ambitious. Those home and cooking magazines can tempt you to try several new recipes all at once. That can make for anxious moments in the kitchen when you’re not sure if the result will be a hit or a miss. Try adding just one new recipe to your pool of tried and true dishes.
• Tap into people’s strengths. While my older daughter is a whiz in the kitchen, my younger daughter likes to point out that she has other “skills.” Her assignment? Ambience! She does terrific centerpieces and flower arrangements and set a table to rival Martha Stewart – which is a major time and stress saver for me.
• Take advantage of Wednesday night prep time.  Pies, rolls (if you’re baking from scratch), cranberry sauce, dips all do very well when prepared the night before.
• Don’t overdo appetizers; plan one or two at the most.  You don’t want to spoil appetites for the main event.  
• Consolidate re-usable plastic containers ahead of time so that dishing up leftovers for family and friends to take home is a breeze.

Your Thanksgiving meal can be memorable and fun-filled without your sacrificing hours and hours chained to the kitchen.  Remember that the point of the day is to reconnect and enjoy your loved ones.  This is a chance to celebrate and showcase your family and cultural traditions. Take a deep breath, sit back and enjoy it yourself!

What are some of your tips for keeping the Thanksgiving meal ranking low on the stress meter?

Mary Anne Burkman, MPH, R.D.
Director, Program Services

We recently compiled Spanish-language resources and promoted them around Día de los Muertos tohelp Latino families celebrate their culture and family food traditions by eating more like their ancestors, and it got me to thinking about my own family’s food traditions.

From the silly, like sticking black olives on our fingers during Thanksgiving, to the sacred, like decorating loaves of Easter Bread (Paska) with signs of our faith, my family’s food traditions cemented key values that remain with me today. Istrongly believe that no matter your background, family food traditions: 

• introduce children to cooking at a young age,

• help children experience a wide variety of flavors and tastes,

• reinforce the benefits of eating meals together as a family, and

• help instill personal values 

Growing up, we spent every Easter with my step-grandmother, whose family was from Eastern Europe. Kneading the Paska (EasterBread) dough under Grandma Emily’s watchful eye is my earliest memory of cooking. Covered in flour, even the youngest cousin could roll out long ropes of dough to braid in intricate designs or mop the loaveswith egg whites before baking. The whole family looked forward to the thickslices of yeasty bread slathered with butter that were the fruits of our labor.

Paska was just one of the traditional foods we enjoyedwith Grandma Emily. She introducedus to kielbasa, golumpkis, pierogis and other previously unknown dishes. Kielbasa remains one of my veryfavorite foods, especially when cooked with sauerkraut or red cabbage. Iappreciate that our family food traditions exposed me to these different dishes, as itinstilled in me an enthusiasm for trying new foods.

The rest of my childhood revolved around my paternal grandparents, and the several generations who would converge upon Grandma Floor’s house for Sunday dinner.(The black olive on the finger Thanksgiving tradition started with this group.) On Sundays, we’d eat pot roast, bakedchicken, stew or barbeque with carrots and broccoli, potato salad and icedteafor dinner. We’d always have chocolate chip cookies and milk for dessert.

These meat-and-potato meals were far less adventurous when compared to Grandma Emily’s, but no less influential. From sharing with others to table manners andteamwork while doing the dishes, our Sunday dinner family food tradition taught me endless lessons on the value of eating together as a family.  

Many years have passed since I was able to share Thanksgiving with my family or bake Paska with my cousins, but these family food traditions have instilled lifelong personal values. I often enjoy Sunday dinner here in California with my husband’s family and we’re always trying new foods like lumpia and paneer, but it’s just not Thanksgiving without black olives or Easterwithout kielbasa.

What family food traditions do you remember from childhood? How are you sharing your culture and getting your children involved with family meals?

SaraFloor Miller
Communications Manager

With staples like corn, beans, rice, milk products and plenty of fruits and vegetables, the traditional Mexican eating pattern has a very healthy base. Extend that healthy base by choosing fresh and natural foods instead of pre-packaged convenience foods with a week of recipes to celebrate culture.

Be sure to add these and other recipes to your family meal plan and shopping list.

Start with a festive family meal of Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas Verdes, Nopales (Cactus) Salad and Brown Rice Pudding. Enjoy other fresh and natural Mexican flavors throughout the week with recipes like Stuffed Zucchini, Flan with Fruit, Tangy Jalapeno Chicken and Mexican Rice.

FEATURED FAMILY MEAL LINKS
Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas Verdes
http://www.MealsMatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/82494
Nopales (Cactus) Salad
http://www.MealsMatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/82495
Brown Rice Pudding
http://www.MealsMatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/82496

Other Featured Recipes
Stuffed Zucchini
http://www.MealsMatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/82513
Flan with Fruit
http://www.MealsMatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/82505
Tangy Jalapeno Chicken
http://www.MealsMatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/82516
Mexican Rice
http://www.MealsMatter.org/recipes-meals/recipe/82514

Photo Caption: Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas Verdes, Monica Montes, R.D. for Dairy Council of California.