Albondigas, Pork Saltimbocca, Watermelon and Arugula Salad with Feta Cheese. These are a few of the dishes my husband and I like to cook. We put a lot of love into our food, try to buy good ingredients, and while it may not always be the healthiest food, it's always fresh and homemade.
My brother is leaving this week to move to Idaho. Unfortunately, he and his wife were having difficulty finding jobs in San Diego. My sister in law is from Idaho, so she flew out a couple of months ago for a job interview and got hired, so now my brother has the U-Haul all packed up and is moving to the land of potatoes.
M
y brother has never lived anywhere beside San Diego, and all of our famil
y lives here. When I asked him what he's going to miss the most, he said "The food." Unfortunately, his wife and her family aren't big cookers. They mostly buy the pre-made stuff and heat it up. My brother hoped that his wife would be influenced by our family and our love of cooking, but it never rubbed off. Th
is got me thinking about how many families eat the way my sister in law's do, and how many kids out there have never really had a "home cooked" meal.Some people may argue that cooking at home is too expensive, but if you know what to buy and where to buy it, it is infinitely cheaper than eating out. Others may argue that it is too time consuming, but there are a lot of meals that are faster than ordering pizza!
Michelle Obama has started a campaign called Let's Move, which is a campaign to get kids to eat healthier and be more active. Whether or not you agree with the Obama's politics, this is a great idea. With the combination of people eating more "convenient" (unhealthy) food, and the overwhelming amount of time kids spend watching TV, playing video games, and being on the internet, kids are experiencing more problems with hyperactivity and health issues such as
diabetes. I think it is important that as future educators, we stress the importance of being active and eating healthy. Also, I know that in our house, dinner is a time where we get to sit down as a family and have conversations with each other. Most of what I learn about what is going on in my 17 year old step son's life is over a meal.What are your feelings on the state of our children's health? Do you have a favorite dinner you like to make? Do you have family dinners, or do you eat out?
I think that children's health is a huge issue today. I know a lot of children whose parents pick them up at the end of the day and ask them where they want to go to dinner, and a lot of the time they decide on some burger place. This isn't a once or twice a week thing either, it's an everyday occurrence.
ReplyDeleteMy family used to eat dinners together and it was a good time for everyone to unwind and share what went on that day. As we got older, and had conflicting work and school schedules, the family dinners stopped. A home cooked meal is always a welcome relief to going out. It's just a much more comfortable eating experience, and you know exactly what went in to what you are eating.
Desirae,
ReplyDeleteOmigosh! Just looking at those pictures of you and your family enjoying all that good food made me hungry!
I agree with you that mealtime is a great time for families to connect. With the teens, it's just like you said: mealtime is probably one of the few times you can get a few moments of their undivided attention and find out what's going on in their lives!
When I was raising my daughters as a working mom, I remember it was sometimes one more thing to do at the end of a long day, to prepare dinner at home. I'd include the girls in the preparation, and as they got older, they were each responsible for planning and preparing a meal one night a week. Now, my 13 yr. old grandson and I have some of our best times together in the kitchen. He made a bruchetta one night that was awesome, from a recipe he saw on Emeril Live.
Life moves faster and faster, and I think we lose connections to each other in the process. We also lose that connection to our bodies, and being able to hear what it tells us. We need time to be still; we need to take the time to nourish our bodies and our spirits.
It sounds like you will miss your brother quite a bit! I'm sorry to hear they have to move out of state to find work. Best of luck to all!
Just looking at your pictures, makes me want to go get lunch right now! Anyways, health and food are so important. Children now have so much more sugar and junk food. As a result, its hard for them to pay attention in class, or concentrate on their work. When I worked at a school for children with behavioral problems, students were not allowed to bring any sort of sugar. I found that completely interesting. Food has a huge impact in one's behavior.
ReplyDeleteRebecca Neville
I love having dinners with my family. Growing up my family and I ate out but not that often. Meals were times to sit down and talk to one another. I learned so much about what was going on in my family's lives during meal time.My mom would always come home from a busy day at work and prepare a meal for the family. My favorite foods are still the ones my mom makes! As an adult my family and I often eat dinner at the t.v, or separately from one another, but I still try to have everyone eat at the table at least a few times a week. Dinner is such an important time to connect with those around us. In the fast pace world we need to learn to take time and connect to those around us.
ReplyDeleteSo many parents I talk to have no clue what is going on in their kids lives. It makes me really sad! I feel like the lack of dinners together is a direct cause of this.
It is widely recognised that a healthy childhood is the foundation for a healthy adult life. Habits formed in childhood have a long term impact on health and well being. AFter reading your blog I think that you are raising your boys great and teaching them the important things in life, not only is knowing what is healty to eat vut just looking at your pictures it looks like your family is close and i also think that is important to teach your children!
ReplyDeleteWe like fresh food cooked at home. But there are always excuses for going out to restaurants and fastfood places. Besides, tasty food tends to be unhealthy. I think it is important to model for kids how to eat and live healthy. If many families can do this, the society will be in a good shape overall, and the cost of health care won't seem formidable as it is today.
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