Showing posts with label FDF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FDF. Show all posts

Friday, August 31, 2012

Family Dinner Friday



You may...or may not...have noticed that Family Dinner Friday took a summer vacation.

So, school is back in session and it's time to get back on schedules and start eating regular dinners together as a family.

Yes, I know many of us have crazy busy schedules once school starts.  Softball, soccer, dance, volleyball, piano, cross-country, homework, etc, etc, etc.

This is why it's even more important to plan dinners together.  Make sharing dinner together as a family a priority rather than a last minute run thru a drive thru.  Making time to sit down together as a family and connect over dinner helps keep families grounded and connected.

Our 'Family Dinner Friday' family this week is the Bahr family.  The Bahr's have been attending Redding First for about 8 years.  Their family is very involved in our church (have you called the church office recently, you probably had the pleasure of talking to Carmen) as well as connected and busy with various other activities around Redding.  This is one busy family, yet they make family dinners a priority.  

the beautiful Bahr family {Mitch, Izzy, Isaac & Carmen}
photo by Solange Duarte Photography
Meet the Bahrs:

Question:  How many people are in your family and the ages of the kids?  
There are four people in our family, Isabelle is 9 and Isaac is 7.
photo by Solange Duarte Photography

Q: How many times a week do you eat dinner as a family?
Nearly every night we eat dinner as a family.

Q: Do you have picky eaters in your family?
Yes, Isaac is our pickier eater though he doesn't like to be labeled this way.  I make him try at least a little bit of everything and have stopped giving him other food options.  Meat is not his favorite thing so he often eats a lot of vegetables and fruit. 

Q:  Do you have any weekly activities that make dinner together hard?
Yes, during the school year we have Mitch's meetings at school, the kids music lessons, and sports.

Q:  Do you ever feel like NOT making dinner?
Yes, often!  If it could be made for me that would be awesome!

Q:  Have you found something that makes dinner together easier?
I try to have us work together as a team.  One child sets the table, one child clears it, Mitch and I clean up together after dinner.

Q:  What is something you think is important about eating together?
It is an opportunity for all of us to sit down together and hear about our days and how things are going.  It's a time to connect when the least amount of distractions are happening.

Q:  Do you have any major dinner time rules?
We usually have the tv off, but a "crucial" Giants game could change this fact.

Q:  Where do you grocery shop?  And who does the grocery shopping in your family?
Mainly Trader Joes and Costco.  I do nearly all of the shopping.  Mitch will occasionally stop by the store for something I need or forgot.

Q: And what is one of your favorite throw-down meals (a meal that doesn't take much time to throw together/down)?
Throw down meals that we often eat are tacos, taco salad, spaghetti with marinara sauce from a jar, breakfast burritos and other breakfast foods...
The meal that I'm sharing today is fajitas.


I've tried many versions of fajitas, especially early in our marriage.  Mitch actually prefers the fajita mix purchased in a packet in the mexican food section of the grocery store.  

All you need to do is slice a bell pepper, onion, and about a pound of chicken and follow the directions on the back of the packet.  Sauté the veggies and remove from pan, cook the chicken, add the veggies back to the pan, and add the seasoning mix and water.  

We enjoy having grated cheese and guacamole with our fajitas.  We use either a flour tortilla or lettuce leaf and add the meat, veggies, cheese, and guacamole to it.  Enjoy!


Thank you Bahr's!

Let me know if you have an easy family friendly throw-down meal and would like to be featured of Family Dinner Friday!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Family Dinner Friday

It's Family Dinner Friday time...

Today we are meeting the Rush family.

photo by Betsey Walton Photography

Robert and Rayna are active in the Family Ministry at our church, Redding First.

Robert is a leader with the 1st-5th grade kids on Wednesday nights, and helps about once a month on Sunday mornings.  He was also the group leader for the 5th grade kids last year during our VBS program.

Rayna has served on the MOPS steering team at our church for the past 3 years, volunteers in our church nursery &/or Sunday School classrooms once a month (that was until their most recent baby boy was born 7 weeks ago!).  She also served as our VBS coordinator last year, 2011, and is helping with this years new
VBS program.
sweet baby Carter at 5 days old...photo by Betsey Walton Photography
Question:  How many people are in your family and the ages of the kids?  
     There are 4 people in our family, us and our two boys, Lincoln age 4 1/2 and Carter 7 weeks


Q: How many times a week do you eat dinner as a family?
     Almost every night. It is rare that we don't eat as a family, even if that means taking shifts to eat while one of us is holding Carter.


Q: Do you have picky eaters in your family?
      No, we have always made food a non-issue, so Lincoln tries everything (within reason) at least 3 time and then if he doesn't like it then he doesn't have to eat it. We haven't found much food that he doesn't like even if it means fibbing a bit and telling him shrimp on his plate is just chicken.


Q:  Do you have any weekly activities that make dinner together hard?
     No, but I am sure that day is coming. 

Q:  Do you ever feel like NOT making dinner?
     Haha, YES I feel like this almost every night, well maybe not the making of the dinner, but the deciding what to have is the hard part for me. 

Q:  What is something you think is important about eating together?
     That if we make dinner together a priority now then when life gets really crazy with activities and school and friends family dinner will just be the norm for our family and will also help us stay connected with our boys.

Q:  Do you have any major dinner time rules?
     No electronics at the table and unless its an emergency we don't answer the phone. We have an answering machine and we can call people back. 

Q:  Where do you grocery shop?  And who does the grocery shopping in your family?
     We shop at Winco (have to contribute to our retirement) and I do most of the shopping, but since Robert works there, there are times that he brings food home.

Q:  It's summer time right now, do you change your menu/cooking habits based on the seasons?
        I would say we do more grilling and less baking. The less we can turn on the oven during the summer the better. 

Q: And what is one of your favorite throw-down meals (a meal that doesn't take much time to throw together/down)?
       I have a few, apple chicken salad (one of Roberts favorites), beef stroganoff, and taco salad. 

The meal/recipe that the Rush family is sharing with us today is actually one that our family shared with them earlier this week.

Grilled Pizza
*pre made dough of your choice (we used thin crust Boboli for the adults and then full pita bread rounds for the kids)
*sauce of your choice (kids had a red sauce and adults had a pre-made white sauce from WinCo deli)
*Grated Cheese of your choice (we used mozzarella)
*Toppings of your choice, we used the following
     'adult pizza': grilled chopped chicken, fresh spinach, sun dried tomatoes in oil & drained and chopped, canned artichoke hearts drained and chopped, and sliced mozzarella cheese to top
     'kids personal pizzas': cheese...that's all they wanted...

pre grill
Preheat your grill.
Cover your 'dough' with sauce, cheese & other toppings
For the 'adult' pizza we turned the grill to low, placed the pizza on and closed it up for about 5-7 minutes until the cheese was melted.
The 'kids' pizzas got a little over-grilled this way, so round 2 for them we turned the grill off and placed the pizzas onto the still hot grill, closed it up and about 5 minutes later the cheese was melted to perfection.

all pizza's on the grill
the 'adult' pizza, so very yummy!
Thanks Rayna for sharing your family's dinner time with us.  And thanks for the yummy easier summer meal!

On this journey with you,

Pastor Beau




Friday, May 11, 2012

Family Dinner Friday


It's time for a Friday Family Dinner...this week our 'cook' is Pastor Kirk the associate pastor at Redding First.

Pastor Kirk with his beautiful wife, Maria
Now some Q&A with Pastor Kirk

Question:  How many people are in your family and the ages of the kids?  
4 people in family Ben is 11 Carson is 9


Q: How many times a week do you eat dinner as a family?
4-5


Q: Do you have picky eaters in your family?
Not so much


Q:  Do you have any weekly activities that make dinner together hard?
Many - Exercise schedule, evening meetings and commitments as a result we don't always eat at the same time every night


Q:  Do you ever feel like NOT making dinner?
At least 4 times a week. So Maria and I share the responsibilty. That way no one get to burt out. 


Q:  What is something you think is important about eating together?
Family conection. It is priceless to have a regular event that everyone attends. We talk about the day and mostly simple stuff but it reinforces our connection. I can't image life without this time. 


Q:  Do you have any major dinner time rules?
No games or books at the table. No one can begin eating until everyone is at the table and we pray. Wash hands before dinner. Use good table manors. Eat what is in front of you until you are full, but you don't have to clear your plate. 


Q:  Where do you grocery shop?  And who does the grocery shopping in your family?
Winco. Safeway, TJ


Q: And what is one of your favorite throw-down meals (a meal that doesn't take much time to throw together/down)?
Actually many of our meals fall into this category. I do a lot of stir fry because it is fast and you can put any vegetable in it. I will often use up little bits and parts of stuff from the week, throw it in a walk and add sauce. We also like tacos and salads and spaghetti all of which can be made in around 30 minutes


And the meal/recipe that Pastor Kirk is sharing with us today is a great throw down meal and creative to boot...Tuesday Night Throw Down Dinner : 

Spaghetti with a twist
Ingredients (only 3!)
Whole Wheat Spaghetti Pasta
One Jar of Spaghetti Sauce (what ever brand is on sale that is not high in sugar or salt)
Sausage

Step one:  Cut Sausage into 1 inch pieces and insert dry spaghetti into the pieces (check out picture below)

Step two:  Cook spaghetti (w/ sausage pieces) according to directions on package.


 Step three:  Drain and serve with pasta sauce of your choosing!
Sides: Spinach Salad with croutons


Thanks Kirk!
Do you have regular meals as a family?
Do you have family meal traditions?
Do you  have a favorite family throw down meal that you'd like to share on Family Dinner Friday?  Just leave a message and I'll get in contact with you!

Friday, April 13, 2012

Family Dinner Friday

Here's the first of a new series of easy to make, throw down meals that anybody can make.  Throughout this series Kiera will be talking with different families who will be sharing their favorite throw down meals with us.  The idea here is to learn how other families do 'family dinner' while possibly learning some new favorite recipes.

First Family Dinner Friday Meal:  The Chambers Family :)
_________________________________________________________________

We all know it...sitting down at the dinner table eating dinner together as a family is important!
We know there are statistics about how eating diner together is good for our families...we've heard them numerous times

  • gives our children better grades
  • they're less likely to try drugs and alcohol
  • less likely to have an eating disorder
  • their more likely to abstain from sexual behaviors
  • have lower cases of depression and ADD or ADHD
  • higher levels of self esteem
  • kids eat healthier foods
  • families save money on grocery/food bills
  • and countless other positives

If we know these facts then why do an overwhelming percent of American households still not eat dinner together?
And by together I mean TOGETHER...
in the same room,
at the same table,
no TV,
no cell phones,