Love your food and eating! Series: Post 1 of 3

Well I have done a tonne of different things with my kids over the years to instill responsibility and accountability in them.  Why a tonne?  Well, if you have kids you probably know that while something may work extremely well at first, the glory of it quickly fades!  There are a few things though, that remain strong in our home.  The kids, husband and I expect and look forward to them.  My next few posts will be about these special rituals.

As a family, we have always made a point of sitting down at the table to eat meals together (especially dinner).  About 6 months ago I came across a great book,  The Creative Family:  How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule, full of great crafts, projects and a few ideas for traditions or rituals.  I am the first to admit that we are not a religious bunch and so have never said "grace" before meals, but the idea of regrouping, centering ourselves and being thankful for the wonderful food that has been lovingly provided and prepared for us is one I grabbed onto.  Here is our pre-dinner ritual:

We all take our seats with our plates served.  We hold hands, physically creating a circle around the table and joining us together.  We take a deep, reflective breath (we added this in the hopes of ridding all the negative energy from the day and preparing us to sit politely and enjoy the meal - it works!). 
Then we say:

Earth we thank for this food,
For rest and home and all things good,
For wind and rain and sun above,
but most of all, for those we LOVE!

Then, beginning with our youngest, we squeeze hands all the way around the circle.  When the squeeze makes its way back to her, she announces, "Let's eat!"

I feel that this ritual has completely changed dinner-time for us.  The deep breath is truly cleansing and everyone is a little more present for the meal.  Do we still have some battles with sitting nicely and eating properly?  Well... yes, sometimes.  But I believe the battles are fewer and farther in between!

How do you prepare to enjoy your food? 

Dinner For One

A few of the wonderful members of our team are always focused on providing healthy meals and snacks for their families; I am not one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I have an excellent family, just not the immediate husband and kids situation, at least not yet. I am 23 years old and live with my two roommates, a similar living situation to many of my friends around my age. For us the challenges around meal planning often involves being motivated to create healthy and exciting meals for one.

The biggest struggle for me was to change my mentality of “meal time”; this was typically viewed as time being shared with family, friends, love and laughter. So the thought of eating dinner alone over the sink is enough to steer anyone clear from that part of their day.

Embrace these meals; start to look forward to them instead of dreading them. For this to work it has to start with the groceries! Grocery shopping should be a fun time, not a rushed get in and out affair. I like to buy my groceries on my day off, enjoying my time alone and walking slowly through the aisles of my local grocery store or farmers market. This is when I allow myself to feel inspired by my food and excited about my purchases, this way I am much more likely to want to cook them.

Always make extra everything, leftovers are your friend. One of my favourite things to cook in the winter is to buy vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, red onion, beets and zucchini and roast them covered in olive oil, garlic and lemon. The next afternoon I add them to some spinach for a yummy roasted veggie salad. Keep things simple, fresh fruit and vegetables can taste great on their own. A little lemon and some fresh herbs go a long way, and can add some powerful antioxidants and flavour to almost any meal.

Intention is always my final ingredient. I believe my mother’s homemade chilli always tasted so good because of the love she cooked it with. I try to always cook for myself for the same reason I would cook for anyone, out of love.

I now consider meals alone as part of my “me time”, they fit right up there with baths, good books and personal playlists. They require zero accommodation for anyone else’s taste buds, no complaints and you are free to eat any odd combination you find tasty without any weird looks. So next time you sit down for dinner for one be sure to honour your alone time, enjoy the silence and Bon Appetite!

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