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

#31 What we can Learn from Restaurants about Cooking and Dining

 Today we're going to talk about some things we can learn from elegant restaurants about food and dining - things that we can apply at home without making it a huge big effort, but still making our dinnertime more special, more meaningful, and more nutritious. 
Certainly there are fast food restaurants and things that we wouldn't want to emulate. And, we're not going to be able to create a restaurant at home - that's a lot more work than we have time and ability for. You'd need all the waiters and waitresses and all the chefs. But I just want to think about ways that we can apply some of the principles to make our own mealtime special. 

#30 Simple but Effective Health Tips For Your Kitchen

Thanks for joining me on the Family Food for Moms podcast!
Today we're going to be talking about simple health tips for your kitchen. These are some unusual health ideas, ones that I find important, and that I like to do in our family. I thought that you might enjoy hearing them - you haven’t heard some of these before!

#29 What to do When You're Feeling Stuck in your Kitchen

Sometimes things just get stuck, often around the holidays and other busy times of year. There's so much to catch up with, and things kind of get stuck when it comes to food and cooking. I found this out recently, when there was so much going on, and I didn't even realize that I didn't have a proper food plan.
Every day I would be like; whoa, I have no idea what we're doing for lunch or dinner today. Then I would have to make a last minute plan, like doing some quick online shopping for something like quiche or pie, or chicken breasts that I could cook quickly. This just kept happening day after day. 
That's not usually the case, because we usually have stuff that we've cooked that week. We like to do a lot of cooking on Tuesday and Wednesday - our kids each help on different days. We also do quite a bit of cooking for our church family, so we have to be doing a lot of cooking, but sometimes there's just a lot going on, and things don't happen. That's what happened to me last week, and I had about four days where I just realized: oh, I don't have a plan for this. 
Now I want to tell you what I did to kind of correct that, because it got to the point where I felt overwhelmed, and it wasn't working, and I just never had the energy to cook.
Lets chat!
 

#28 What we can learn from the Chinese about Food and Cooking

The Chinese are a fascinating culture when it comes to food. They have a unique approch to eating and there is a ton we can learn from them. Everybody loves a good chinese takeout, and its great to learn to cook chiniese broth, noodles, stir fry, etc at home.
So today, Lets talk about what we can learn from the Chinese about Food and Cooking!
This is the last episode for 2024. I'll be back on Monday 6th January! Have a blessed Christmas, friends!
 

#27 What we can Learn from Queen Elizabeth II about Food and Dining

 Queen Elizabeth II was an amazing lady. She lived to the age of 96, and she reigned as monarch for 70 years, which was the longest of any British monarch. She was healthy and active up until close to her death, so it's very interesting to learn about what she ate, and how she ate it.
I enjoy watching YouTube videos by Darren McGrady, who is a former royal chef for the Queen, and then for Princess Diana when William and Harry were young. He's also written some recipe books, including recipes he used to cook for the Queen. I think it's so interesting to look at her lifestyle and the way she ate. So, today I want to talk about some things that we can learn from the Queen, about food, about eating and a healthy diet, and then dining, and how things worked around her.

#26 What we can Learn from the Italians about Food and Dining

 Today we're going to be talking about Italy - what we can learn from the Italians about food and dining.
I've been doing quite a few “what we can learn froms” recently, and the reason for that is that I'm also currently working on my book - the Family Food for Moms Inspiration for Food and Dining - all about what we can learn from all these amazing cultures and people, and then how to practically apply those principles.
I think it's so valuable to be inspired by what others have done, and to see the ways that people do things is really helpful and really insightful, and really helps us to figure out the way we want to do things in our families. 

#25 What we can learn about Food and Eating Habits in Biblical Times

Today I want to talk about food in biblical times, and what can inspire us from that time, what we can learn about food from the Bible.
In the Bible, eating is a sign of rejoicing and celebrating, and eating is an opportunity to share food, and fellowship through conversations - this was more special because it was done over a meal. Eating was a sign of contentment, peace, and provision. They ate what they had produced in their gardens after planting and harvesting, and it was very satisfying...
Let's talk more about this..
 

#24 What we can Learn From the Spanish about Food and School Lunches in Spain

 Last time we talked about school lunches in France, and this time we're going to talk about school lunches in Spain, which are also very interesting and rather healthy. As always, there'll be links in the show notes.
 We'll also talk a little bit about Spanish food; their fascinating culture and how they approach food and dining. Similar to the French, mealtime is very important to Spanish culture. It's important to them that they eat slowly, and that it's a social occasion, that they enjoy their food, and don’t rush through it.
If you go to familyfoodformoms.com, episode 24, then you'll be able to find the links to the websites that I mention.

#23 What French Children Eat for School Lunches plus Tips for Picky Eaters

“I walked into the dining room to see tables of four already set - silverware, silver bread basket, off white ceramic plates, cloth napkins, clear glasses, and water pitchers laid out ready for lunch. I was standing inside my children's public elementary school cafeteria, or canteen as the French call it, in our local town near Annecy, France.”
This is a quote from the website mindbodygreen.com, from an article about what French kids eat for school lunch. I find it so inspiring to see the way the French have decided to do school lunches for their younger children. They have courses, usually four courses. They have real, nourishing, freshly cooked food. They sit down to enjoy it together at beautiful tables with lots of time - they have at least half an hour to sit, and they have to enjoy their meal slowly. There are so many good principles that we can learn from this! Also, it's just so inspiring to see the actual food that they are served. It’s not easy, I can imagine, to make it all happen, but the benefits are huge.
So, today we're going to talk about what French kids eat for school lunches, and we're also going to mention a few tips for picky eaters. All the websites that I reference will be linked in the show notes on familyfoodformoms.com. This episode is number 23, and if you go to that post, you'll find a link if you want to read any of the articles that I'm referencing, or look at the photos.

#22 Easiest Things to Start with when Learning to Cook

Learning to cook starts slowly, and then you gain momentum as you get better at the basic tasks, at multitasking, and you grow in confidence and experience. Then your knowledge and skill just increases exponentially. I think it's great for kids to learn to cook before they leave home. I couldn't cook very much at all at the beginning, and we mainly ate either frozen meals made for us by my mom, or pre-packaged meals from the supermarket with a few homemade things in the middle there. I felt very intimidated by cooking and by big chunks of meat; I wouldn't know what to do with those. I was intimidated by cooking in the oven. These days we have so many amazing tools, many more than we had then, and it's so great to know how to use those. 
I think that for somebody starting out cooking, who's going to be leaving home to start out on their own, or who are getting married, both ladies and gents, I think it's so important to learn how to cook. I'm going to talk about in a couple of different episodes how to get started with learning to cook. We're going to talk about what exactly are good things to learn first. To start with, learn some mains, sides, and sauces, or just a simple meal consisting of a main and a side and maybe a sauce to add interest. 
Once you get the basics down, then you can start to use those in different ways to mix and match. Then you start to grow exponentially in your cooking skills. Let's talk about what are good things to start with when you're learning to cook.