Family Meal Times: How We "Found" an Extra Couple of Family Hours Each Week

Once upon a time, I had four children under age six. My husband got off work at 5:00, and was home exactly 5 minutes later. The table would be set, the smell of delicious hot food would fill the air, and we would sit down by 5:15 to eat a hot, homemade meal.

Then the kids got older. And they jumped into sports and activities. And the priority of family dinners got shuffled around a bit. At my core, though, I really valued that family time around the table. It is something that I placed a high priority on, and something that I wanted in our lives even with the addition of sports and activities and big kid stuff. I wanted to establish a family meal time when our children were young, so that when they were old, it would still be a regular family "thing". I wanted my children to have a place where questions and conversations were natural and welcome. Sports and activities were throwing a wrench into my plans.

What took me a while to consider was that the priority was on a family meal time, not necessarily a family dinner time. Who said that meal had to be dinner? We began utilizing family breakfast or lunch times. Lunch was more natural for me as breakfast meant I had to be up extra early (uh, not happening).

Our life has been a little more full lately. We spend a lot of our time at our martial arts gym training and teaching. All four of our children, plus my husband and I take classes, putting us home later in the evening. We generally do simple meals on our later nights, but it felt so "rushed" as of late, and I really wanted to reclaim some of that family meal time. I hated rushing home, throwing food on the table, eating, and sending them off to bed.

Recently, I began to set the table for dinner early in the afternoon, before we even leave for our evening classes. A cute centerpiece, candles, dishes and cutlery, etc. Just the simple act of preparing an otherwise plain table began to draw my children to the kitchen. When we come home from the gym, we kicked our "watch tv or play until mom's done prepping dinner" habit in favor of a "sit around the table and talk together" routine. Our kitchen and dining table are connected, making it easy for me to prep food and talk with the family. I put the finishing touches and prep on dinner, my family sits at the table or helps out, and we enjoy the time together while dinner is getting ready.

This one tiny little change has given us an easy extra two hours or more of family time a week. Our dinners have been more enjoyable, our kids are staying at the table longer, and the conversations have been more relaxed. The stress of getting home late and eating quickly has mostly diminished, and we are once again enjoying our family dinners together.

It seems like something so silly and simple. And it is. But silly and simple solutions that yield positive family time are my kinda solutions.

If you are in a similar phase of life with activities or evening things that may be threatening your family meal time, I highly encourage you to think outside of the box. Is there another meal time that would work for your family? Is there a way to spend more time in the kitchen or around the table together? Dinner isn't the only opportunity for time around the table with your family. If it's a priority to you, get creative and make it happen!

Whole Wheat Strawberry Lemon Crepes (Sugar & Egg Free)

I posted yesterday on the Mothering with Creativity Facebook page that I totally scored on some fresh strawberries at my local WINCO yesterday here in Reno.  The had 2 pound containers for just $1.48!  There was a limit of 4, but even after that, they were only $1.98 per container!  I ended up buying 12 pounds for just $10!  AND, they were fresh, not moldy, and not needing to be used any time soon!

So, today for breakfast, we made some crepes.  We made them sugar free and egg free, used whole wheat flour, and used strawberries and yogurt to top them off!  The kids did not even mind that there was no syrup to be found!  This batch yielded 9 crepes, which was plenty for our family of 5.

List of ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

2 TBL honey

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Vanilla yogurt (optional-for filling and topping)

Found all your ingredients?  Okay, let's get this party started!

STRAWBERRY LEMON FILLING

First, start your filling so that it can simmer while cooking up your crepes.  

Place 1 cup of chopped strawberries in a small pot.  Add 1 TBL honey, 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water.

Heat over medium high heat, stirring occasionally until it begins to boil.  Turn heat down to medium low and continue to simmer until strawberries are soft and begin to thicken a little bit.  Some liquid is okay, as it makes a nice drizzle for your crepes.

*Chop an additional 1/2 cup strawberries to add on top of your crepes and set these aside.  

WHOLE WHEAT CREPES

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 TBS honey, 2 cups milk, and 1/2 tsp vanilla.

Pour wet ingredients into dry and whisk until smooth.

Heat a pan on medium heat.  Use a non-stick pan or spray it with non-stick spray.  

Scoop 1/4 cup of batter in the hot pan.  Make sure the batter thins out across the pan to create thin crepes (ours were a little thicker today, but we loved them).  

Once the bottom begins to turn golden brown, flip it over and brown the other side.  They brown rather quickly since they are thin, so you'll want to keep your eye on them while cooking.  

To Assemble:

Scoop some of the strawberry filling into a crepe.  Add a spoonful of vanilla yogurt.  Fold crepe over onto itself.  Top with some uncooked, chopped strawberries, and a bit more vanilla yogurt.

Enjoy!  

Banana Oat Pancakes

Last week I saw this unusually interesting 3 ingredient banana pancake recipe over at sunflowersonthehill.com.  I've been thinking about it ever since!  So this morning, I got up and prepared some of these pancakes.  But, as you know by now, I have this problem...I like to add and change things when I make a recipe.  But, my "problem" turned out to be rather fantastic!  Booya!

Ingredients

4 ripe bananas, mashed

4 eggs, slightly beaten

3/4 cup oats, blended for a few seconds (don't leave any whole pieces, but you also don't need a powder consistency)

Cinnamon (to taste)

1 handful chocolate chips or blueberries

In a bowl, mix together all ingredients.  Stir well.  Fold in blueberries last if you are using them.  In a nonstick pan (or spray with non stick spray or coconut oil), heat a pan over medium heat.  Pour batter onto pan, heat until browning, flip, heat until done.

Serve warm with syrup or honey or yogurt or whatever you like to eat your pancakes with!

The verdict:  These were SO good.  Our whole family ate them, and it seemed to be exactly enough food for our 5 person family (our 3 year old ate 4 small ones!).  I would like to attempt these with applesauce instead of the eggs (or instead of some of the eggs).  I'm wondering if they would still stick together without the eggs, though, or if they would just fall apart? 

Anyway, you should definitely try these.  Definitely.  The are flour and sugar free (unless you use chocolate chips, of course), and if you use gluten free oats these can be gluten free!  

Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

One of my family's very favorite breakfasts is baked peanut butter oatmeal.  It is soooo tasty and has a different texture than regularly cooked oatmeal.  I often make it on the weekend when I have a little more time in the mornings, however it is very quick to throw together and only takes about 20 minutes to cook. 

Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  In a bowl, mix together:

• 2 cups oats (I use old fashioned, but quick should work fine)
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup milk or almond milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup applesauce (or butter)
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Spread mixture into a glass 9x13 inch pan and bake for 20-22 minutes until done.  Serve warm.  My 3 year old likes hers served with milk on top, but I like it plain.  

Enjoy!

Click below to print a recipe card for this recipe!