Family Food for Moms Podcast I Inspiration for Family Cooking and Dining I How to Enjoy Special Meals Together

Hi friends! I’m Karyn and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We’re talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining. Do you ever feel overwhelmed or discouraged as a Mom trying to feed your family healthy meals. Would you like to be inspired in the kitchen. Would you like your mealtimes to be full of joy, fun and healthy delicious food. Come hang out with me on the Family Food Podcast so I can inspire you to bring the purpose and inspiration back into your family meals. We’ll learn about food from our grandmother’s ways of cooking, from other cultures and from ancient traditions. And in the process, we’ll make the family table a special place that you and your children will remember forever. I help Moms feed their families nourishing, delicious food, find purpose in their cooking, learn from past generations and other cultures; and celebrate special meals together through practical advice, tips, inspiration and encouragement.

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Episodes

2 days ago

Today we're going to be talking about salads. Salads are fascinating, and they're quite versatile. We all have our favorites. I'm going to tell you a little about the history of salads, and then we’ll talk about the main types of them, and then about some unusual ones. 
So, salads stretch back many, many years. They've changed a lot through various cultures and food trends. In ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and Rome, there were already early forms of salads, which were simple mixes of raw vegetables like lettuce, onions, and cucumbers. They would be dressed with vinegar, oil, or even fermented fish sauces. 
The word salad comes from the Latin “salata”, meaning salted, because Romans often ate raw greens dressed in brine or other salty dressings.
I find this very interesting because doing that's supposed to help a lot with digestion. The French will often add a green salad, like plain greens in some olive oil with some salt, in between courses to help with digestion. They had it right back then. 

3 days ago

Today we’re going to be talking about picnics and picnic food. It's such fun to eat outdoors if we're prepared and organized in advance.
One of the great things about it is that it's easier to clean up. There's fewer dishes, and it somehow helps you to let go of things a bit.
As busy moms, we've always got so much going through our brains, and so many little things that need doing at any given moment, and I really find that sitting in my camping chair outside and eating out there helps me to just let go. This is partly because all the preparation is in advance, and then you can just sit and enjoy it, but also the surroundings help.
Being outside and being relaxed with each other and with your family is a great thing. 
So, we're going to talk about how to be prepared for picnics, and then about some ideas for what you can eat outdoors. 

Monday Jul 07, 2025

Hi friends!
I'll just be doing one episode this week - I'll be back with the regular two per week from next week. 
Today we are going to talk a little bit about toddler food, up to maybe age six or seven, some ideas and principles that you can use when you are thinking about what to make for your little ones for lunch and even breakfast and dinner, and what'll help you in that pursuit. 
I love the years with little ones. Sadly, I don't have one under 10 anymore. Our five are all 10. Well, 11 and over, but those were such special years. I must say though, the teenage years are wonderful and special in a different way too. Very much so. But those little years are such fun. I remember often we would have outside lunch during homeschool, so they would have a little divided plate with a yogurt and a piece of cheese and some kind of bread, or a bread roll and a little bit of meat.

Wednesday Jun 18, 2025

Hi friends!
I'm going to be taking two weeks off from the PODCAST - for some that's a summer break, and for other's its winter. I'll be back as usual on Monday 7th July! I hope you have a wonderful summer, or are not too cold during your winter!
Today we're going to talk about what we do for lunch, and hopefully give you a little bit of inspiration if you're struggling to figure out lunches. I'll talk about what I do for lunch for myself as well. Sometimes I'll eat the same as the family, and sometimes not. 
We are a homeschool family of seven - we have five children. Two of them are young adults and are working, though mostly from home, so they're still here for the meals. Our younger three are still in homeschool, two of them in high school. I do have more time available than I had when they were all young in homeschool, but I do have two businesses that I run, and a lot of things going on. We also do cooking for church on a regular basis as part of the Mercy Ministry, so there's a lot happening. I'll often do the online shopping or get something cooking every day in the mornings, so we need lunch that’s simple and easy. I want to tell you our general plan for lunch, and what we end up eating most of the time.

Monday Jun 16, 2025

Today we're going to talk about one of my favorite foods in the world. Whenever people ask me what's the food that I could eat over and over, if I could just choose one food, that would be artichokes; fresh, whole, steamed artichokes with a feta dip. 
I love to take the whole green artichoke, cut off the top of the leaves where it's spiky, cut off a little bit of the stem, and then put them with the stem down in my steamer. They steam for about 45 minutes, and then they're beautifully soft. Then you pull off each leaf, scrape it on your teeth, and eat the inside of it. Then you start to slice off the little pieces of the heart to eat. The flavor is just incredible - there's nothing like it. Artichokes are a unique vegetable. They're beautiful, they're fresh, and they just taste so good. 
I've always loved artichokes, ever since we lived in California and I was introduced to them. Sometimes we dip them in garlic butter, but just the flavor of the artichoke leaf is amazing. If you've never tried an artichoke, I encourage you to try them. You can steam them in a pot with a bit of water and the lid on, and there are many pre-cooked and canned ones you can buy. You can buy jars of artichokes in oil or sometimes in brine, and then you just drain them. Inside, you'll usually find the heart, and you can just chop that up and add it to things like salads and pizza.
So, we're going to talk about the benefits of artichokes, what you can use them in, and all of those things. The globe artichoke is actually a thistle. It comes from the Mediterranean region, and it's cultivated for its edible flower - the bud of the flower; it's harvested before the flowers bloom. What we eat is the fleshy base of the leaves and the tender heart.

Wednesday Jun 11, 2025

 Today we’re gonna be continuing our chat about plating techniques and how to make your dishes at home look a little elegant when you want them to.
Episode 66 was about doing a chef's tasting menu for fun at home in a simple, delicious way that’s totally possible. You definitely don't want it to be overwhelming. 
Just to bring a bit of balance and reality, let me say that I'm always inspired by doing fancy meals at home, but most of the time I’ll cook something very simple and then sometimes make it look fancy.

Monday Jun 09, 2025

Today we’re going to talk about plating techniques made easy for cooks at home, and I’ll give you some different ideas for dishes - you can serve your courses on unusual things. I’ll tell you how to make it look extra special without a huge amount of hassle, how to elevate your fancy meal or your tasting menu meal if you're having one. I think it's a lot of fun to try elegant plating. You don't have to do it every time, but it's certainly fun to do it some of the time. 
Starting with a plan is very important. Before placing any food on whatever dish you're using, think about what's the star; what's the main ingredient you want to highlight? Think about the balance of colors. Do you have some greens - some bright vegetables, or some sauces for contrasting color to lift it, so that it's not all brown? Also think about portion sizes. Usually less is more - less than we’re accustomed to doing. Leave some empty space on the plate. It adds to the elegance, and somehow it makes it more appetizing, and it doesn't feel overwhelming to the person eating it. 
 

Wednesday Jun 04, 2025

Today we’re going to talk about what we can learn from South Korea about cooking and eating. Their cuisine is fascinating and delicious. First, I’m going to mention what they generally eat in a day, and then I’ll talk about things that we can learn from the South Korean people to apply to our own cooking and eating at home.
In traditional Korean cuisine they’ll eat a lot of seasonal produce. They eat with a lot of variety and balance.
Here’s an example of what they may eat for breakfast - seaweed soup with rice and banchan, which are small side dishes served along with cooked rice. For example, maybe these could be soybean sprouts, spicy cucumber salad, pickled garlic, stir fried zucchini, sweet and salty soybeans, stir fried anchovies, noodles, et cetera.
This is light, hydrating, and it's rich in iodine and minerals. They may also have kimchi for probiotics, as well grilled tofu, pan fried egg, steamed spinach with sesame oil, et cetera. Often they'll drink something like barley tea, which has no caffeine, and it's gentle on the stomach 

Monday Jun 02, 2025

Today we’re going to be talking about Chef’s Tasting Menus; how they work, how they’re structured, and how we can try it at home! We don't want to spend hours in the kitchen, but it is such fun to have a fancier meal at home.
Picture a special meal with your husband and children, where they've helped to prepare different courses that are elegant and delicious, but simple, and able to be made in a relatively short amount of time.
The ingredients of the meal are not too fancy, but the meal feels special and elevated. You have time to linger over the meal and enjoy the different flavors, which are tied together by some theme, whether it's a country inspired dish like Italian, or whether it's seafood, or whatever works together well. 
I'm going to give you some suggestions of things you can make to have a tasting menu meal at home - just for fun!

Wednesday May 28, 2025

Today we’re going to be talking about what we can learn from Australia about food, cooking and dining! Hopefully it'll inspire something new in our kitchens. So, quite a few of their food traditions originally came from the indigenous or native Australians, often called the Aborigines. Later on there was a large British influence, as it was a British colony. Australia is now a constitutional monarchy with the King of England as its head of state, and it's a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, so you'll find that a lot of the things that are for sale in Australia are similar to what's available in the UK. I'll talk about things like vegemite and marmite - good old British things. If you haven't heard of those, I'm sure it'll be interesting. 
Traditional foods and techniques from the Aborigines are things like using fire pits and earth ovens, smoking food, and eating bush foods like wattle seed, finger lime, kangaroo, of course, and the kakadu plum. These are very powerful flavors, and very recognizable in Australian cuisine.
Being a British colony, colonists brought with them ingredients and food traditions from the UK like flour, sugar, tea, potatoes, and dairy. There's obviously a lot of sheep in Australia - there's sheep farming, so beef and lamb are popular. They have classic British dishes like meat pies, roasts like roast beef and roast chicken, stews, puddings like Christmas pudding, and fish and chips. These are common in Australian households, and the British tradition of tea drinking also remains popular today. 

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About the Family Food for Moms Podcast

Hi friends, I'm Karyn and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed or discouraged as a Mom trying to feed your family healthy meals? Would you love to be inspired in the kitchen. Would you like your mealtimes to be full of joy, fun and healthy delicious food.

Come hang out with me on the Family Food Podcast so I can inspire you to bring the purpose and inspiration back into your family meals. We'll learn about food from our grandmother's ways of cooking, from other cultures and from ancient traditions. And in the process, we'll make the family table a special place that you and your children will remember forever.

We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining! 

I want to help you with the inspiration, the perspiration, and the celebration of food in your family. So often we only talk about the middle one of these, the perspiration. That's all the practical stuff. We need to plan meals, we need to shop, we need to actually cook the meals, and we need to serve them to our family. And that’s what takes up a lot of the time, but I think there's so much more to food in our families than the perspiration. The first category, inspiration and the third category, celebration are just as important as the practical part, the perspiration.

So on this podcast, we're going to be talking about all three of these things. We need the inspiration. It's the information that we can get from all kinds of places, from our grandmothers or our parents, the way they used to cook and eat,  learning from other cultures like the French, the Italian, the Mexican, and the way they do things,  the internet and  famous cooks and chefs from the past  or the present. We should know what we want to achieve and why, and then we should know how we want to go about that. 

Celebrating together as a family is such a wonderful thing, especially when it's done with food. Having special family meals that bring connection and closeness.  Fun events, traditions,  those just help us to enjoy our meals, enjoy our food and to relax after the craziness of life. 

We'll talk about all kinds of family events, uh, family, fun nights, date nights at home, larger family celebrations, or just all kinds of things you can do to help to celebrate your dinners together.

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