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

#10 Family Fun Nights in Smaller Families plus Tons More Ideas for Family Times

 In this episode, we're going to talk more about family fun nights. Last time we talked about a whole lot of ideas for events you can have together in your family. A lot of those were for large families, so today I'm going to give you ideas for how to have a family fun night when you have a smaller family, even if it's just mom or dad and a child. 
The reason I'm talking about family fun nights is because I feel like they're such a big part of family closeness and togetherness. Plus, a lot of them use food, or are to do with food, and include a way to eat that's different to the norm, and that's lots of fun. So, today we're going to talk about some more ideas for family fun nights, and how to do them when you have a smaller family. 
Somehow, when you're focused on time with a particular child, even if you're together for most of the day. During that special time, you focus on them more than usual, you talk about stuff that you have in common. You ask them specific questions. You kind of really build a relationship, and work on that relationship by having good chats and a good time together. 
So, in the same way, a family fun night can be something that a small family, or a mom and child, or a dad and child can do together. It can just be something really easy that you both enjoy, like playing some board games or playing some kind of sports games, indoor or outdoors. Or it can be more involved - listen for a ton of ideas!

#9 More about building an Emergency Food Go-Bag and What to Cook with Limited Equipment and Supplies

In this episode, we're going to talk a bit more about the food go bag, and the best ways to go about using the list.
Then we're going to talk about some easy meals that can be made when you have a few more supplies than the absolute minimum, but still not many - or perhaps no power, or limited power from a generator.
But before I give you some ideas for those, I want to talk more about the emergency food go-bag. If you haven’t downloaded the printable with the list of items that you can select from for the food go bag, (you can also add your own) and then plan your meals for your bag, you can find that on familyfoodformoms.com/foodgobag. 
It's important to know that not all the items on this list are meant to be packed into your food go bag. You need to choose some of them, so as to have enough supplies for two or three days. That's what we're aiming for. So, you want to have enough food for two breakfasts or three breakfasts. You decide how many days - two or three, or if you want to do more days, that's fine. But remember that you obviously are going to need to carry all this. 
Say you have two to three days of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, dinners, and perhaps desserts, which are always good for cheering you up when things are hard, and are also needed for extra energy boost if you're staying up late trying to figure things out. Once you've decided how many meals you need, then you can go about planning them.
The lists in the printable are arranged so that you can decide what meals you're going to make, tick off what you want to add to your GO-BAG, and then add how many of each thing you'll need. 
Download your Food Go-Bag Printables on Familyfoodformoms.com/foodgobag

#8 What to Cook with Limited Supplies & No Power, What to Put in an EMERGENCY FOOD GO-BAG!

The world feels very serious right now. There’s so much going on! So many people are affected by conflicts, and by Hurricane Helene. They have to either move, or figure out their lives without power or water. Now with the new hurricane Milton coming, there’s so many people in the world who live in ways that we can't even imagine - they have so little. 
So, my prayers go out to all of you who are affected by the hurricanes or whatever other things in life that are very hard.  So today was supposed to be my second family fun night episode but I'm going to postpone that till next week, and do an episode about about  an emergency food go bag that you can build up and then ways to cook simple nutritious meals if you don't have power, and if you have really limited supplies, (like no fresh food) using the food from the GO BAG. 
I also have a new printable for you, which will be a list of supplies for the emergency go bag. So don't worry if I mention Odd things to add to the bag at various times through the episode. I've compiled them all into a categorized list for you to download so that you can have that and you don't have to worry to write down as you listen. 
You can find the printable on FamilyFoodForMoms.com/FOODGOBAG (one word)

#7 Family Fun Nights - Tons of Ideas for the Best and Craziest Family Meals and Together Times at Home

In this episode I'm going to talk about family fun nights. Family fun nights can be as simple as takeaway pizza in front of a movie or an episode of Masterchef, or they can be something that takes a bit more preparation.  There are many different seasons of having children at home, and we found that no matter what the kids’ ages are, there are family fun nights that everyone can enjoy. 
So, I'm going to mention some of the ones that we love to do. I'll do more in future episodes, but I'm going to tell you about some of our favorites. Family fun nights are such a great way to wind down, even as mom and dad, after a long week. They’re a great way to relax, have fun, and connect with each other and with the kids, and to really enjoy each other's company. 

#6 How does the French way of eating and dining apply to me and my family?

Hi friends, I'm Karyn and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast.  We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining. 
It's very inspiring thinking about how the French approach food and dining.  Last time we spoke about what we can learn from the French about dining and meals. In this episode we're going to talk about how we can apply the principles and hacks we've learned from the French about food!

#5 Ten Things We Can Learn From the French about Food and Dining

 Hi friends, I'm Karyn and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast.  We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining. 
It's very inspiring thinking about how the French relate to food and to meals. In this episode, we're going to talk about what we can learn from the French about food and dining.
The French are a fascinating culture, and when it comes to food, they've got a lot of things right. First I'm going to talk about some things that I find really significant about the way the French approach food and dining. Then, in the next episode, we'll talk about how we can apply some of these principles in our own lives.
I know we don't always have a lot of time to make changes in our lives! I think the thing to do is to choose one or two things that you want to work on in your own family and then try them.
When you feel that those are working well, then you can add something else or try something new. We shouldn't feel pressure or feel overwhelmed when thinking about these things, but rather, we should feel joy in considering what ways we want to improve our family's health, wellness, and togetherness through the way we eat.
Remember you can download Conversation Starters on familyfoodformoms.com/conversation. 
Thanks for listening!

#4 Fast Healthy Snacks for Busy Moms (to keep you from eating junk) !

Hi friends! I'm Karyn, and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining. 
Today we're going to talk about a few snacks I find that are really helpful to have available in the fridge when I have a crazy day, which is most days. I definitely have a sweet tooth, and often I'm looking for something sweet but healthy to grab when I feel that lull in energy - or when I'm just feeling like I want to eat something.
So I’m going to talk about a few things that are quick and easy both to make, and to grab from the fridge when you're at home and you're craving something good. Sometimes as a mom, it's hard enough to make sure that you're getting the nourishment you need - forget about sitting down and actually enjoying eating your meals - some days are just too busy! Also, there's the time in between meals when you need a snack - a protein snack or just something to keep up your energy.
I struggle with knowing what to grab!
One thing I know for sure is that if I'm not nourishing myself properly, then a lot of other things are going to start falling apart. If my blood sugar is all over the place, if I'm moody and tired, then things are not good. When my blood sugar is balanced, I feel calm and able to handle my days much better. If I don't eat enough protein and enough nourishing food, then I feel exhausted. Exhausted, and often overwhelmed and not able to cope with all the conversation that goes on in a busy home plus homeschool. But if I eat good protein and nourishing meals then I've got energy and I can give my attention to my kids, to my family and the home as needed. I have energy for cooking for other hard times too. 
So do you have these struggles? Then stick around for some ideas. 
Also, if you'd like to see the full recipes, have a look at this particular blog post on familyfoodformoms.com under podcast - Episode 4.

#3 Five Easy Ways to Make Your Dinner Table Special

Hi friends! I'm Karyn, and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining. 
Today we're going to talk about five ways to make your dinner table special. Imagine you're in a fancy hotel in Paris, looking out the windows. We all love a beautiful view and any kind of beauty enhances the meal experience.  
We can set the atmosphere by setting the table beautifully, serving nourishing food, and then encouraging good conversation (with laughter for the soul)! We have to guard our family dinner time if we want it to happen at all. There's so much else that wants to pull us away from eating together!
I want to talk about practical ways to make your dinnertime special, to get your imagination rolling - and then you do the things that suit you and your family; things that you love!
Hopefully this episode will inspire and encourage you to do that.
Check out familyfoodformoms.com/episode-3 to see the videos of napkin folding.
 

#2 Food and Dining in Downton Abbey Times

Hi friends! I'm Karyn and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining. Check out our website on familyfoodformoms.com!
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.
In today's episode we'll be talking about what we can learn about food and dining in Downton Abbey times!
It's fascinating to think about these people and how they lived. It's  so different to how we live today. Today we have a very fast paced life and And in those days it was such a slow lifestyle in so many ways. 
What can we learn about food and dining in the Edwardian era and around Downton Abbey times?  It wasn't so much about the food itself, although it was definitely whole food, growing their own vegetables and fruit, hunting their own venison from their land, making their own condiments,  but it was even more in the way they dined - slowly, together, being present and making it an occasion.
That's what we're going to talk about today!
 

#1 Introduction to the Family Food for Moms Podcast

Hi friends! I'm Karyn and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining. Check out our website on familyfoodformoms.com!
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 inspiration! We can get it from all kinds of places: from our grandmothers or our parents; the way they used to cook and eat, we can learn from other cultures like the French, the Italian, or the Mexican; and the way they do things, or from the internet and famous cooks and chefs from both the past and the present. There's so many ways we can be inspired. Even looking through a good cookbook can inspire us and it's so important to be inspired by it. 
We should know what we want to achieve and why, and then we should know how we want to go about it. Celebrating together as a family is such a wonderful thing, especially when it's done with food. Having special family meals brings connection and closeness. Fun events and traditions help us to enjoy our meals, enjoy our food and to relax after the craziness of life. 
Slow food makes time for conversation and to be together as a family unit. We need to create an atmosphere for our family that encourages celebration. 
We'll talk about all kinds of family events: 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.