Making Family Meals a Priority

Written by Keeley Drotz, RD, CD
Published in October 2008

(HealthCastle.com) In our busy lives, sitting down to a family meal may not seem possible. The good news is that we don't have to eat together every night to reap the benefits. The recommendation is four meals per week, but if you can do even one meal more than you are right now, it's worth it. And if you can get every family member interested in eating a meal together, it will be more likely to happen. It doesn't have to be dinner, either, it can be breakfast or lunch.

5 Tips for Making Family Meals a Priority

1. Make meals enjoyable and get everyone involved: Involve all family members in meal planning, shopping, and preparation. Also, include everyone in thinking of ways to make meals more healthful. Let kids build pizzas or fill tacos with healthy toppings. Plan times to try new ethnic cuisines, such as Indian, Greek, or Latin. Regularly give each individual a turn to plan their favorite menu.
2. Turn off all distractions: These include the television, radio, computer, video games, and phones.
3. Encourage positive conversation and avoid being critical: Focus on good things that happened that day and events family members are looking forward to. A great question to ask is, "What are you thankful for today?" Being critical or discussing unpleasant topics causes stress.
4. Set a good example: Children are much more likely to eat healthfully and establish good eating habits if they see you doing the same.
5. Be flexible to accommodate your family's schedule: Change the time that you typically eat dinner so everyone can be present, or plan a "family lunch" on Sunday afternoon when everyone is home. Or, pack a healthy meal to take with you and eat together between your children's activities.

A family dinner no one will want to miss: "Create Your Own Pizza Night"

• Make whole wheat or other whole grain pizza dough in your bread-maker, food processor, or mixer. Make a few batches when it is convenient, wrap it in parchment paper, place it in freezer bags and freeze. On pizza day, put the dough in the refrigerator to thaw. You can also purchase whole wheat pizza dough or ready-made pizza crust (such as Boboli). Give each family member their own individual crust to top.
• You can make your own pizza sauce, buy it, or use spaghetti or marinara sauce.
• Use part-skim mozzarella cheese with no more than 5 to 6 grams of fat per ounce. To save time, prepare lots in advance, as with the pizza dough. Shred a large amount of cheese in your food processor when you have time, and store it in freezer bags in the freezer. Place a bag in the refrigerator to thaw on pizza day.
• Put out a selection of lean meat toppings: Canadian bacon, turkey pepperoni, and chicken breast
• Load pizzas up with vegetables (and fruit): chopped Roma tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, quartered artichoke hearts, green and red peppers, onions, green onions, fresh mushrooms, sliced olives, baby spinach leaves, chopped broccoli, and pineapple chunks all make good toppings
• Serve a green salad with low-fat dressing to boost your kids' vegetable intake. If you're short on time, use bagged salad greens and add some grape or cherry tomatoes.