Eat, Laugh, Talk: The Family Dinner Playbook

(Hardback)

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Description

Research has shown what parents have known for a long time: sharing a fun family meal is good for the spirit, brain, and health of all family members. Recent studies link regular family meals with higher grade-point averages, resilience, and self-esteem. Additionally, family meals are linked to lower rates of substance abuse, teen pregnancy, eating disorders, and depression.Eat, Laugh, Talk: The Family Dinner Playbook gives you the tools to have fun family dinners with great food and great conversation. The book includes conversation starters as well as quick and easy recipes to bring your family closer. You will find tips for bringing your family to the table such as setting dinnertime goals, overcoming obstacles, managing conflicting schedules, and how to engage everyone in the conversation. Eat, Laugh, Talk also includes real stories from families who have successfully become a part of The Family Dinner Projects growing movement. Lets do dinner!

Reviews

"The ideal cookbook to remind us thattogethernessis the only perfection needed when it comes to dinnertime."
- Carla Hall, chef and author of Carla Halls Soul Food

"There's no doubt family dinner has proven social, emotional, and nutritional benefits for kids, but many parents grapple with a lot of obstacles (and guilt!) in trying to make it happen. Armed with these doable strategies, kid-friendly recipes, and dinner table games, families will feel empowered to gather around the table together more often to share mealsand make memories."
- Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD, author of The 101 Healthiest Foods For Kids and founder of Real Mom Nutrition

"Eat, Laugh, Talkis a heartfelt guide through 52 weeks of easy, diverse, and tasty recipes along with real-life examples from families and how different family dinner 'case examples' have been resolved. Alongside both some expected and some unusual family scenarios are tips for conversation starters and dinner table games that pair well with different family dinners. Bringing together actual research from family therapy and nutrition science in the narrative, this book is an easy-to-read, delightful way for any family (however it may define itself) to revamp and reinvent itself around a positive family dinner experience. African curry, dessert sushi, and more, are just a few of the tantalizing recipes you will find to whet your family's appetite!"
- Uma Naidoo, MD, director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital

"Eat, Laugh, Talk!is a comprehensive mealtime guide for parents.

Aiming to bring the whole family together for a healthy, home-cooked meal, the text sparks ideas for food and fun. It throws out perfectionism in favor of 'ease, affordability, taste, and versatility.' This approach celebrates small victories, like a toddler taking two bites of vegetables, and holds realistic expectations about challenges like technology, co-parenting, picky eaters, and children who respond to questions about their days with 'fine'.

Straightforward, delicious recipes boast short ingredient lists whose items are readily available in grocery stores. Their instructions are direct and they involve short preparation times. They presume basic kitchen skills. Tasty, nutritious options for every course include Pineapple Sundaes, Lentil Sloppy Joes, and Curry Vegetable Dip.

Sections about feeding groups and adapting recipes to dietary needs are also helpful, while the suggested games and conversation starters are adaptable to a wide variety of ages. They include 'Would you rather...' and a joke jar kept on the table, and range from lighthearted but meaningful to more serious. The book suggests involving children in the meal process, helping them to feel engaged and, hopefully, making cajoling them into eating and interacting less necessary. Insights on resolving mealtime conflicts are particularly useful.

This work is supported by research into the bountiful benefits of family meals, which include better physical health, greater emotional and mental health, and better educational outcomes. Beautiful photos of food and diverse families help in envisioning these proposed family meals.

Brimming with commonsense wisdom,Eat, Laugh, Talk!paints an attainable picture of enjoyable family meals."
- Melissa Wuske,FOREWORD Reviews

Author Bio

The Family Dinner Project is a growing movement of food, fun, and conversation about things that matter. We are a nonprofit initiative housed at Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Academy.Our team members come from a variety of personal and professional backgrounds, brought together by our shared belief in the power of family dinners. We are parents and non-parents, from different types of families. Our ages range from "young professional" to "Medicare-eligible." Our collective professional experience includes education, family therapy, research, food, design, social work, marketing, and communication. We are working together, along with inspiring family dinner champions in numerous communities, to help families have more frequent and meaningful meals. We work both online and at community events to encourage families to share their experiences and learn from each other as they come together around the dinner table to benefit from the power of shared meals.Contributors:Lynn Barendsen, Executive DirectorBrianne DeRosa, Content ManagerAnne K. Fishel, PhD, CofounderShelly London, Creator and CofounderCindil Redick-Ponte, Assistant Executive Director