Growing up, family meals were really important to my dad. It was the only time of day he could sit with the entire family after a long day at work. My mom had dinner ready every night at 6 pm and we were expected to help set the table around 5:55pm. The television was always off and our family would exchange stories about our day. I took those days for granted but now looking back, I miss it terribly.
Now, my sister lives in New York City, my parents live in Taipei and my brother and I live in Tampa. We try to see each other often but having the five of us together is very hard. This summer, we'll finally all be back in Taipei together.
I still make family dinner a priority in my house even though it's just me, my brother and my boyfriend. I want to instill in my brother the idea of sitting down to a meal and talking about his day. I like listening to him ramble about silly things. I try to make all my dinners special and tasty.
Nothing makes me happier than when my brother chirps, "This is good!" It's a small victory considering when he was in Taipei, he ate out all the time. Food in Taipei is amazing so I know he misses it a great deal. My mom cooked more when all of us lived under the same roof. Now that he lives with me, he definitely had to get used to the fact that I don't eat out that often.
He really enjoys learning about cooking and food. He jumps at the opportunity to go grocery shopping with me. I like to teach him about nutrition labels, how much things cost, and picking out good produce. We baked brownies together on Tuesday. I managed to only eat one piece saving the rest for his packed lunch.
I get excited packing his lunch every morning. Tomorrow, I set aside some leftover shredded chicken and I'm going to make a BBQ Chicken Calzone with my homemade whole wheat pizza dough. I'm trying to use up all the cheese in my fridge because the boyfriend gave up cheese for Lent.
Speaking of Lent, you'll notice the absence of red meat from all my dinners this week. Chicken is so versatile so I'm definitely not bored of it yet. I'm going to make sure to pick up some seafood this weekend though.
Thai Shredded Chicken with Julienned Vegetables
Thai Tofu Coconut Curry
Turkey Meatballs with Whole Wheat Pasta and Zucchini
Tonight's Dinner
Steamed Broccoli and Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Spiced Roasted Chicken Leg Quarters
Spiced Black Beans, Peppers, Corn and Brown Rice
Do you make family meals a priority?
12 comments:
Thanks for stopping by my blog, because now I have found yours. I'll be back and following. Your food looks wonderful, and congratulations on the progress you have made toward health and fitness.
Yes, I still make dinner almost every night, and hubby and I always eat together (well mostly- sometimes it can't be avoided). When my brother and sister were living with me, we all ate dinner together, no TV, and talked about our days, it's something I was pretty passionate about- no cell phones were allowed either!
Delicious meals! I miss family dinners but with just me and my husband it ends up being a quick meal in front of the TV most of the time!
I always make dinner unless my mom is here lol.
All those dishes look great! I used to cook for us 90% of the time, but now that we are on opposite schedules I find myself not cooking for just one. It'll be nice when things go back to normal!
Yay! I love it when you post pictures about your dinners and tell us about them. I get lots of ideas from you!
We've started eating around the table so much more now that we actually bought a table (yay, IKEA to the rescue!). The boys love it, we chat, and after Isaac clears the table, I wash up the dishes while Ty reads stories to the boys before their baths. It's something special now. We used to just eat around the coffee table in the living room--it was fun at first because I came from a family where eating in front of the tv was a very rare occasion, but then it got old fast...that "family" feeling just wasn't there with the boob tube staring at us--even when it was turned off. Dinners are much better now--healthy, happy, and much more family oriented :)
Your food looks so yummy. I'm envious of your childhood dinners together and your relationship with your brother, you are a great sister :)
That Thai shredded chicken looked delish. I love all of your food choices...so flavorful and good and YUMMO! Thanks for sharing!
Can you please post the recipe for the tofu coconut curry? LOOKS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!
Everything looks sooo good, as usual! I try to make my meals a priority. I'm not always successful though. Keep March 12 & March 13 open, please. If you can. Please? :-)
OMG yum...What time should I be over for dinner? Wow...delicious and thoughtful....so awesome.
I admit that I don't:( Right now my husband is on a plan that is pretty much opposite of mine. But I did find a recipe to try this week that will work for us both:)
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