It's just body weight, and that is simple enough to change.
Karen Bentley

Dinner is more than just eating

Did you know that one of the suggested action steps given to parents with overweight kids is to have a family dinner? A family dinner is the evening meal period when everyone sits down all at the same time to eat and to talk, and it's the time when TVs, computers and video games are turned off. Fifty years ago the practice of having a family meal on Sunday and regular weeknight family dinners was an honored tradition in most middleclass American homes. These days the practice of eating a meal while connecting with others is disappearing from our cultural landscape. Instead of being a pleasurable, nutritious break, eating is just another chore on an endless to-do list of things that have to get done in a day. For many people dinner is an opportunity to multi-task. We eat and watch TV. We eat and read. We eat and scroll through e-mail. We eat and drive. We eat and do work or homework with our kids.

Eating like this "doesn't count" because it doesn't really register that we're eating. When eating is just another multi-tasking activity, the potential to nourish your mind, your body, your emotions and your relationships is dramatically reduced. This is an invitation to stop treating dinner like a mindless chore and to start nourishing yourself with dinner by making dinner count. Eating counts when you pay attention to what you're putting in your mouth and when you notice and appreciate you're actually having a meal. One of the functions of saying grace before a meal is to pay attention to your food and to express gratitude for it. The practice of saying grace makes food your friend, not your enemy. It makes food something to celebrate rather than something to get through. And it instantly uplifts your state of mind to a positive place – all this from noticing your food and saying thanks for it. Consider incorporating a small expression of grace at dinner time. Grace can be said out loud or silently. The effects are the same.

Main Course Collection

Table of Contents
Dinner is more than just eating

FISH & SHELL-FISH RECIPES
- Captain’s Cod
- Crab Cakes
- Cuban Style Fish
- Sautéed Fish with Tomato-Olive Vinaigrette
- Sea Bass with Tomatoes & Onions

CHICKEN RECIPES
- Balsamic Chicken with Pearl Onions
- Chicken in Mushroom Cream Sauce
- Chicken Piccata
- Chicken with Prosciutto & Cheese
- Grilled Chicken Breasts with Tomato, Olive & Feta Relish
- Pesto-Crusted Chicken Breasts
- Stuffed Chicken Breasts

BEEF RECIPES
- Chuck Roast
- Everyday Meatloaf
- Fajitas without Tortillas
- Mexican Kebabs
- Sesame Beef Stir-fry

PORK RECIPES
- Baby Back Ribs
- Pork Chops in White Wine
- Pork Chops in Herb & Tomato Sauce
- Pork Cutlets Parmesan
- Winter Pork Roast

VEAL RECIPES
- Veal Saltimbocca
- Veal Chops with Tarragon