Winter weather does not have to mean an end to fresh produce. While the variety is not quite as bountiful as in spring or summer, some foods do reach peak ripeness during winter months. 

When combined with fall foods that store well, like apples, pears and potatoes, it’s easy to eat in season this week with wonderful, winterful recipes. Need fresh produce storage tips? Visit the produce storage page on www.MealsMatter.org at http://ht.ly/8TTFY

Feed your family a wonderful, winterful meal of Root Vegetable Gratin, Sunday Roast Chicken with Giblet Gravy and Cinnamon-Stewed Apples. Explore other winter produce all week long with Polenta with Winter Squash, Gorgonzola and Walnuts, Roasted Pears with Cheddar Crumble, Lower Fat Parsnip and Potato Casserole and Hashed Brussels Sprouts with Lemon Zest. Register at 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, www.MealsMatter.org, maintained by registered dietitian moms with Dairy Council of California. Healthy Eating Made Easier™

Photo Caption:  Root Vegetable Gratin, EatingWell.

Wintry weather has come to most parts of the country and comfort food is once again on the menu. Whether served from the stove top or the slow cooker, these hearty recipes are sure to warm your family from the inside without adding extra weight to their outsides.

Tuck in to steaming bowls of French Country Beef Stew, Cheddar Bay Biscuits and Creamy Fruit Dessert for a healthy, hearty and balanced family meal. Enjoy other hearty favorites this week like Broccoli and Cheese Strata, Slow-Cooker Posole, White Chili and even Slow-Cooker Breakfast Casserole. Many of this week’s recipes, while simple to prepare, do require significant cooking time. Please be sure to read each recipe carefully and plan accordingly.

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, MealsMatter.org, maintained by registered dietitian moms with Dairy Council of California. Healthy Eating Made Easier™
 

Photo Caption:  French Country Beef Stew, EatingWell. Photo by Ken Burris.

This blog is part of the Eat Better, Eat Together blog series where registered dietitians and parents have shared stories and advice to help families start or strengthen a commitment to balanced family meals. In this final post, Valerie Fung-A-Ling shares how a childhood filled with family meals influenced her son’s habits even after he left home.

We all have our epic moments that mark our kids’ independence and our own success as parents.  I realized one of these moments recently in a  conversation with my eldest son, Max and his college housemate Sam. 

Max and Sam share a house with two other students – all four are juniors at California Polytechnic Institute, San Luis Obispo.  Together they decided to each prepare one meal per night every week.  The idea alone was enough for me, but only when I probed a little deeper did I gain a richer appreciation for the value of “family meals.”

Q: So Max, tell me about the inspiration behind your “Family Meal Plan?”

Max: We had a meeting together to discuss the idea – three of us really wanted it and the fourth went along.  We wanted our house to be our home.  We’d all been eating as a family our whole life and we thought it (the Family Meal Plan) would bring us closer together.  It’s nice to come home and dinner is made – like at home.

Q: What is involved for each meal?

Max: On average it’s about three hours to buy and prepare a meal.  But since it’s only one meal per week there’s motivation to put out effort and creativity to make your best meal – you don’t want to let your friends down. 

On your night to cook you have to get the groceries for the meal.  It’s also a thing in our house to always bring back milk.  A gallon of milk typically lasts a day in our house.

Q: What have been the nutritional benefits of this plan?

Sam:  By designating the time in your day to make, prepare and share your meals – what this did ultimately was create healthier meals.  It’s a way of getting more involved – I call my mom for recipes.

During our exams, we were all busy so our dinners were less frequent – not taking the time to slow down – I noticed I was drinking less milk.  During our meals we always bring out the gallon of milk as part of our meal.

Max: We get to eat healthy more frequently – these meals would ordinarily be expensive in restaurants.  We prepare full balanced meals every single time – salad, steak, asparagus, and mashed potatoes.

Q: What about the social benefits of breaking bread together?

Max:  We feel more like a family.  It brings everybody together.  We share the preparation of the meal and we all learn from it.

Others want to know about it.  In general we take pride in what we’re doing.  It’s always been and will always be an important part of what a family is about. 

Family meals matter at every age.
As a mom, it’s easy to wonder if the values you set for your children make a lasting impact. Sharing family meals has been a ritual I've instilled faithfully. Twenty-one years later, it's gratifying to know that the tradition has now been passed along to my son.

Valerie Fung-A-Ling
Territory Manager, Dairy Council of California

Thank you for reading our Eat Better, Eat Together blog series. Please take a moment to complete our survey about the series to be entered in a drawing to win one of three grocery store gift cards totaling $1,000.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and for some busy families, it’s also the best time for family meals. Research shows starting the day with a protein and fiber-rich breakfast helps you feel full longer and less hungry throughout the day. While most experts recommend a balanced breakfast with foods from at least three food groups, this week we’re going one step further  and helping families everywhere pour on the protein with milk and milk products and fill up on fiber with healthy breakfast ideas.

Your family can power through morning meetings or math class with the protein and fiber provided by Creamy Wheat Berry Hot Cereal, Citrus Salad with Ginger Yogurt and Indian Tea. Eat Better, Eat Together with other protein and fiber-rich recipes like Homemade Granola, “Drink Your Cereal” Milk, Layered Yogurt and Easy Cheesy Skillet Frittata.

Visit Facebook to take the Eat Better, Eat Together family meal pledge and follow the Twitter hashtag #EatBetter2Gether for family meal updates. Then 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:  Creamy Wheat Berry Hot Cereal, EatingWell Photo by Ken Burris.

We are hosting a Blog Carnival and have asked bloggers from around the web to share with us how they balance their family’s needs, activities and preferences to get a well-balanced family meal with all the food groups on the table at least three times per week.

We think you'll enjoy the numerous perspectives and advice this group of bloggers has put together. Please visit, comment and share! And, if you haven't already done so, be sure to make the pledge to Eat Better, Eat Together.

10 Commandments for Guilt-Free Feeding – Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen, MS, RD 
Beating the Lunch Box Blues – Katie Sullivan Morford, MS, RD
Dinner Time – Michelle Rowe, RN and Health Educator
Eat Better, Eat Together – Jessica Fishman Levinson, MS, RD, CDN
Family Dinners Fuel Healthier Kids – Susan Weiner RD MS CDE CDN
Families that Cook Together Eat Together – Kia Robertson
Making Time for Family Meals: How I’ve Earned My “RDH” – Trina Robertson, MS, RD
Meal Planning: Taking the Stress Out of the ‘What’s for Dinner’ – Laura Everage
Pressed for Time? Moms Know Best: Tips for Getting Food on the Table – FAST! – Samantha Lewandowski, MS, RD, LDN
Roasted Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal – Cheri Liefeld
Sunday Night Family Dinner, In the Dining Room – Jill Castle, MS, RD, LDN 
The Balancing Act – Ann Dunaway Teh, MS, RD, LD
The Power of Family Meal Time & How to Squeeze It In! – Bridget Swinney MS, RD, LD
The Truth About Family Dinner – Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD
Toughen up: Give Two Choices for Dinner – Take it or Leave it! – Glenda Gourley

Families who eat together tend to eat better. They have higher daily intakes of important nutrients like calcium, fiber, iron, protein, vitamins B6 and B12, C and E, with less overall dietary fat. In fact, children who eat at least three family meals  a week are less likely to be overweight than those who eat with their families less often. (AAP, May 2011)

This fall, Dairy Council of California urges families everywhere to Eat Better, Eat Together with family meals. Meals do not have to be elaborate or time consuming to be beneficial. Get a balanced meal on the table in 30 minutes or less with Red, White and Green Grilled Cheese, Mango Salad and Roasted Peach Sundaes. Pour some milk and dinner’s done!

Mix and match recipes like 15 Minute Beef Fajitas or Easy Chicken Enchiladas with Warm Corn and Tomato Salad and ChocoRazz Smoothies to bring the family together for balanced meals with foods from all the food groups throughout the week.

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

“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: Red, White and Green Grilled Cheese recipe and photo from the Deliciously Healthy Family Meals cookbook, courtesy of Keep the Beat™, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health

Last week, I blogged about how to make your mornings easier by providing quick and easy back to school breakfast tips.  As important as a healthy breakfast is, it isn’t enough to nourish children for an entire school day. So, what they eat for lunch is important too. 

A healthy lunch, “5 out of the 5” food groups, is critical to help kids excel through their entire school day.  And to save time, I've come up with a way to combine lunch preparation with family time. Below are some of my tips for providing your kids a healthy lunch with all of the food groups represented that also allows me to spend valuable time with my kids. 

Pack lunch together the night before – this is by far the most helpful.  Make sure you do it together.  By involving your child in packing the lunch, you will have more of a buy-in when they eat it because they will feel like they helped make their lunch choices.

Make a game of packing lunch – let them choose what they want to put in their lunch then, review the contents with them.  If they are missing any of the food groups, point it out and then give them a couple choices to add to their lunch that will complete it while representing all of the 5 food groups.

Let them help with the shopping list – ask them what types of foods they would like from each of the food groups, and then make sure those are available to them when they are packing it.

Solicit their help when making dinner – you would be surprised how much more enthusiasm you get from your kids for a healthy breakfast and lunch when you involve them in all the meals that are prepared throughout the day.  Ask them to help plan and prepare a couple of dinners a week.  It will not only get them thinking about how they should be eating, but it will also teach them the skills they need to prepare and eat healthy once they are actually out on their own!

Dinner leftovers also make a great lunch meal the following day and since your kids helped prepare it, they will be excited show their friends what they created and rave about how good it is!

School mornings don’t have to be terrifying.  With a little preparation, you can have more relaxed mornings, enjoy the extra time spent with your kids and know that your kids are getting all of the nutrients they need to succeed throughout the day!

Debbie Asada

As the easy summer mornings come to an end and the hectic school morning  schedules approach, I remember the difficulties I had at the beginning of last year getting the kids up and ready for school, with a healthy breakfast in their bellies and a healthy lunch packed to sustain them for the day. 

I have 5 kids, 4 of them school-aged, so you can imagine how chaotic our mornings can get.  It doesn’t seem to matter how early we get up, there is never enough time.

So, last year I devised a plan to make the mornings less chaotic and still provide my family with those healthy meals that they need to sustain them and allow them to succeed throughout the day.

Lets’ start with breakfast.  Breakfast is a must to help our kids succeed until lunch.  A good rule of thumb I use is to build a breakfast that contains at least “3 out of the 5” food groups:  Grains, Breads & Cereals, Vegetables OR Fruits and Milk & Milk Products OR Meat, Beans & Nuts. 

Below are some quick, nutritious breakfast ideas that I discovered that will save you time and provide our kids with the energy they need.

·       Frozen Banana on a stick – put a banana on a stick, dip it in yogurt and then roll it in granola.  Place on wax paper and freeze for 1-2 hours.  Make these the night before and then there will be no time needed in the morning to prepare.

·       Apple bagel – cut a bagel in half, add one or two slices of an apple, top off with a slice of cheese then place in the oven at 375 degrees for ~ 5 minutes.

·       Egg burrito – one tortilla, add two scrambled eggs, sprinkle cheese, roll up and enjoy!

·       Oatmeal- always a quick and nutritious choice.  Be sure to add some fruit and a glass of milk to complete the 3 out of 5 breakfast.

See how easy breakfast can be?  Stay tuned and next week I will provide tips on lunch!

 Debbie Asada

This is a guest blog post by Sally Kuzemchak R.D. for our Eat, Play, Love: Raising Healthy Eaters blog series, which brings stories and advice from parents and dietitians to help you build lifelong healthy eating habits for your children.

I thought I had a pretty good handle on the best way to feed my kids and encourage healthy eating in a positive and reasonable way. But even when you’re a dietitian, nothing can prepare you for your child’s dinner strike.

For months, my two year old barely took a bite of his dinner. I knew I needed to keep my cool and stay the course with the Division of Responsibility. I was deciding what and when we were having for dinner, and my son was deciding whether and how much he would eat (answers: no and nothing).

But that’s easier said than done when, night after night, the nutritious meals I spent time planning and cooking and carefully arranging on his special Bob the Builder divided plate were never even touched.

So I consulted food sociologist Dr. Dina Rose, whose blog—It’s Not About Nutrition—teaches parents how to shape their children’s relationship with food. She was full of ideas and surprising suggestions like these:

*Serve Less Food. Dr. Rose advised I put just a few bites on my son’s plate. If he asked about it, I should say, “It doesn’t seem like you want much food at dinner, so I’m respecting that. But if you want more, just ask.” Dr. Rose says this instantly changes the dynamic at dinner for many kids (and it worked for us!).

*Allow Honesty. I don’t permit disrespectful words like “yuck” and “gross” at my dinner table. But Dr. Rose said I should give my son replacement words, such as “I don’t like the way this tastes” and allow honest feedback like “This meatloaf looks like dirt”. Children should be allowed to explain why they don’t want to eat something. It’s empowering for them (and insightful for you).

*Play Games. Reverse psychology—“Gosh, I sure hope you don’t eat that broccoli!”—works wonders for strong-willed kids like my son. Dr. Rose says children love being silly with their parents (especially at the dinner table, which can be boring for kids). So games like this are okay as long as they’re fun for everyone involved and don’t dominate mealtime.

You can read more about my son’s dinner strike and Dr. Rose’s advice in my four-part blog series here.

Sally Kuzemchak, Registered Dietitian

Subscribe to our Eat, Play, Love: Raising Healthy Eaters blog series to find ways to build lifelong healthy eating habits for your children.

For more tips and information on raising healthy eaters, follow @mealsmatter and the #eatplaylove hashtag on Twitter.

Looking for an exciting new way to feed your family? Try a Dinner Bar! Coined by Jill Castle, registered dietitian, mom and blogger, Dinner Bars feature entree ingredients assembled on a table so each family member chooses which foods, preferred combinations, and how much they want to eat. While each family member gets to “build their own” entree for dinner, make sure other meal items such as fruit, vegetables, grains, and milk are available to choose from as well, to complete a nutritious meal.

This week, serve up your own “Dinner Bar” with make your own tacos. Start with Crispy Taco Shells and Bean and Rice Ole. Add your family’s favorite fixings, like cheese, salsa, fresh tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole, then serve Caramel Flan with Mangoes for dessert. Even the pickiest eaters can fill their taco with healthy, nutritious options. Enjoy other recipes this week like Cabbage, Carrot and Pineapple Salad , Strawberries with Cream, Mini Maui Pizza Pies and Cheeseburger Meatloaf.

Register free at MealsMatter.org to follow the Eat, Play, Love: Raising Healthy Eaters blog series and add these and other recipes to your meal plan and shopping list. Be sure to follow @MealsMatter  and #EatPlayLove on Twitter for more tips and recipes for raising healthy eaters.

“Family Meals Matter” features recipes selected by registered dietitians from the thousands of user-contributed recipes available at our free online nutrition and meal-planning website, Meals Matter, sponsored by Dairy Council of California. Healthy Eating Made Easier™