Mr Zee’s Apple Factory: A Children’s Story about Processed Food

May 22, 2013  |
• by The Family Dinner


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The food and beverage industries spend almost $2 billion a year to market mostly unhealthy products to our kids. Our friend Bettina Elias Siegel created this short story to help young kids become a little savvier about the media messages they encounter and to get them thinking about healthful eating.

Please consider sharing on Twitter and Facebook. And check out Bettina’s blog The Lunch Tray.

Make Another Mother’s Day

May 10, 2013  |
• by The Family Dinner


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Our friends at Cozi have launched a special campaign called Make Another Mother’s Day. For plenty of moms, especially if they are single, Mother’s Day can be kind of sad.

Make Another Mother’s Day is based on a heartwarming story about a single mom who had no Mother’s Day plans because her son was too young to plan for it. One of her friends was kind enough to leave an anonymous gift on this woman’s doorstep in celebration of Mother’s Day to show that she too was appreciated as a mother.

Cozi wants to spread the word about Make Another Mother’s Day. If you know someone who works hard to do best by her kids and family but maybe doesn’t have someone to tell her how much her hard work is appreciated, here’s your chance to Make Another Mother’s Day.

Valentine’s Day Family Dinner

February 14, 2013  |
• by Laurie David


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This Valentine’s Day, plan a festive family dinner with these love-inspired recipes.

Whether you’re planning a cozy dinner for two, four or ten this Valentine’s Day, make sure the first ingredient is love. Instead of feeling duped into buying corny cards or overpriced flowers, why not use it to start a family ritual? A home-cooked meal where everyone participates is the best gift of all…

Invite Great Grandma to Dinner Tonight

January 08, 2013  |
• by Laurie David


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As we all know, dinner isn’t just about the food that’s on the table; it’s also about the conversation and the connections around the table. So tonight, invite your great grandmother to dinner.

Today is the day to open wide your fancy dish cabinet. Find the dainty cups, silver napkin holders and soup terrines that hold stories about your ancestors. Dust them off, gather them on your table and get ready for an evening of storytelling.

Tell your kids about why your grandmother or mother or uncle’s heirlooms are special, what were their lives like, and from where did they come?

Every year for my birthday my mother gives me a few pieces of her mother’s silverware. I use them often and am always reminded of the two of them and the seven years during World War II that silverware spent deep in a hole in the backyard, hidden from harm. And I imagine the first dinner after the war, when it was dug up, polished and set at a peaceful table. Had these stories not been told to me, the silverware would just be cutlery and not a reminder of where I am from.

Emory University’s Sloan Center for the Study of Myth and Ritual has spent over a decade studying the impact of rituals and have concluded that passing on our family stories directly builds resiliency and self esteem in our children. And the best place to tell these stories is around the dinner table!

So light great grandma’s dusty old candelabra (no need to polish it first), stick a few daisies in your uncle’s martini shaker and tell your kids the funniest story about when grandpa…

If you don’t tell them, how will they tell their kids?

The Importance of the Family Dinner

January 07, 2013  |
• by Jen Hansard


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Growing up, dinner was at 6pm and we all were there.

No matter how busy our day was, it slowed down when we ate dinner together, talked about our day and filled our bodies with home-cooked food.

Fast forward 25 years…

6pm rolls around and you may find us eating in the truck as we drive to baseball practice. Or some nights we pick up a pizza and have the kids watch Sesame Street while they eat, just so mommy and daddy can enjoy a meal in peace. We live extremely busy lives and dinner is an afterthought. Honestly, I’m just happy to have their little bellies full so they will sleep well.

Is making sure the kids have been fed what dinner is all about? Or could there be more to it?…