"If anything is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
G. K. Chesterton
Eating together as a family, even a single meal a day, has fallen to a rare normal. A mere 27% of families eating together, only eat, drink, and converse at meal time (listen to Les and Leslie Parrot talk about this sobering pattern). Eating purposefully, together, and regularly is indeed worth doing, but admittedly, sometimes needs a few shortcuts. Create space to mealtimes. Give these a try. Be realistic. Suggest a few of your own shortcuts in the comments below:
Use paper plates. Try fun colors or paper party plates. Special touch for sabbath family meals. Easier for you, you'll also win eager eaters.
Try frozen entrees. A reheated lasagna and fresh salad is a cinch to prepare, and is a step above frozen pizza.
Prepare two, freeze one. If you go to all the trouble of preparing a meal, save yourself some work by preparing double, and freezing half for a future meal.
Rotate helpers. Even middle schoolers can make a pot of mac and cheese and throw in some tuna and veggies for a one pot wonder. To simplify, assign a specialty meal for each helper to prepare on their meal night.
KISS. Keep it Simple, Silly! Have a regular finger food night that is simple to prepare and fun to eat. Find a hummus recipe you like. Dip veggies and bread. Easy to make ahead and serve in a moment!
Commit to 15 mealtime minutes. Be realistic. An average week night meal need not carry the pressure of a long drawn out ritual. Focus on sweet and prompt times together. You will be more likely to connect regularly if you set a reasonable goal.
Think outside the norm. Instead of family dinner time, try Saturday morning pancakes or Sunday pizza parties. Spending a family meal together is most important.
Pondering the soulful knitting between eating and being, I wanted to hear how you handle the daily logistics of good eating. My little rut-full system always needs updates and fresh ideas. Especially, have you:
jumped on the once a month cooking bandwagon, shopping and prepping a whole month's worth at a time to simplify your routine?
found a fabulous frozen entree (not that I would ever serve it to you, but sometime I want a night off)?
found a good rhythm for favorite meal rotations?
stashed your favorite staples in the pantry?
juggled dietary restrictions for the whole family without driving anyone crazy?
Your ideas will help me, and maybe save my little family a bit of peace!
This is little peek into a few moments of Mom's life story. Mom to eight kids. Most determined woman I know. Queen of DIY. Stead-fast Christ follower. Spunky with a sense of humor. Constantly curious. Out of this world cook--on a dime a day. Gumption of an explorer. Most beautiful smile there is. In her own words:
My daughter has asked me to write a
little in honor of mother’s day, so I agreed. I am grateful to be a mother to
eight children, 4 boys and 4 girls (some grown, some still little), and a
grandma to one very special grandson. They are all very precious and incredible
individuals. Their gifts and personalities are all very unique, each a very
special gift from the Lord. I cherish each and every one of them. Knowing and
loving these people is a very rich experience. They have stretched me (not
always pretty) far beyond where I thought I was capable. I am thankful for the
privilege of nurturing these precious children. I enjoy them immensely and
learn so much from them. Much of
what I’ve learned about mothering, I learned from my mom.
Mom is a devoted mom to 4 children,
a grandma to 12 grandchildren, and a ‘great’ grandma to my grandson. She taught
me to love in many ways. Throughout the years, she has been thoughtful and
giving of herself. As well as caring for our needs, she somehow managed to
provide little surprises for us along the way. As a mom, I now realize how much
effort these ‘little’ surprises took, and wonder how in the world she fit them
in to her busy days. I like to think of them as little celebrations of life and
those we love. I am amazed as I walk through my own journey of motherhood and
think of things she did in the midst of the responsibilities and struggles of
her life. She found a way to pause, to bring joy into a day. I believe it was a
choice for her, to intentionally take a moment and make it special, to choose
to love in this way. She had a knack for turning a simple day into something
really fun, taking a limited budget and providing good food and entertainment,
a gift of love. These taught me to ‘celebrate’ in the midst of my own chaos, (I
lack organizational skills) to look for joy in the sorrow and trials (the
deepest joy is sometimes in the midst of our most difficult trials), and to
cherish my own children, a gift from the Lord. I’ll share just a few of those
memories.
For no apparent reason, Mom made us
a treasure hunt. I have no recollection of what treasure was at the end, but I
sure remember my brothers and my excitement as we followed clues and searched
all over the house. It was great fun.
Mom provided each child with a little
hiding place for a piece of candy or a coin (a coin could buy a lot of candy
then), under a candlestick, a mug, a figurine. That place was ours alone, and
we knew Mom was thinking of us when a surprise awaited us there.
We lived where we had some pretty
amazing winters, and in the days where kids played outside most of the time
(even in single digits!). We (my siblings, and the neighborhood kids) loved
coming in to our house. We were cold, our fingers and toes were numb, and were
hungry. We all knew that we would find yummy food, hot drinks, and a fire to
sit around. (my father worked hard to see that we were always warm) Mom often
fed us a special treat, peanut butter and jelly toasties with hot chocolate to
drink. I’ve found a lot of people don’t know what they are, so I will explain.
Take a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and grill them like a grilled cheese
sandwich, then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Kids and adults love them. After getting the hunger taken care of, we’d
sit around and play games while our coats, gloves, and boots dried (there were
a lot of those), then go out and repeat the whole process. My friends were
impressed, and I was happy my mom was mine. Now that I’m a mom, I realize the
effort and the gift of herself that she gave not only to her own children, but
to the neighbor kids as well.
She ‘let’ me cook beside her. I
suspect that her goal was to teach me to cook, but she did it in such a way
that I felt privileged to spend the time with her alone. (absolutely nothing
came out of a box) Not only did my mom let me cook with her, but I remember a
few special times around Christmas that we turned out all of the lights and
cooked by candle light! What fun that was. How did she squeeze that into her
evening, after a day of working to serve? I still haven’t figured that out!
We had everything we needed, my
father saw to that. He worked hard to provide. Steady, serving, whistling. But
we didn’t have a lot of extra money, so had to be creative with fun things. I
learned from Mom how to take a moment and bring joy and spontaneity into it, to
look at circumstances I can’t change, accept them, and find something to
celebrate in the moment. Sometimes I just don’t have it in me to do this, I
know that is okay too. At those times, we don’t celebrate (to say the least…you
can fill in the rest). These are
just a few of the memories that I have of Mom giving of herself. There are many
more.
Disclaimer: It takes a lot of courage to say Martha Stewart is my homekeeping hero, since many of my dearest friends would rather die than read a word by Omnimedia. Let me just say I love that her ideas, her recipes, her plans, always work the first time. No adjustment needed. Brilliant!
Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook is the ultimate, hefty bible for more than you ever wanted to know. I suggest buying this book for those upcoming wedding showers, as it is sleek, beautiful, practical, and timeless. Hardbound and heavy enough to kill an intruder, illustrations and instructions are given for organization, cleaning, maintenance, and planning. The stress and money saved by properly caring for your possessions will be well worth the read, and well worth the gifting. The charts are easy to use, fully comprehensive, and are simple to follow. The black and white illustrations are beautiful enough to frame. If anything, let this guide help you create space to be in your lovely home. As the dedication states,
"To all mothers and daughters,
fathers and sons
who have a room, an apartment,
or a home to care for."
That's pretty much all of us. By far, this is the best of Martha Stewart. My hero.
