Sometimes knowing that other women, mothers, sisters, friends, and care takers just like us face the same battles of what to make for dinner. Be it our task/chore/burden/or hobby of what to make for our families to eat each day sometimes it just seem easier to bear when you have a good recipe recommended from a "GIRLFRIEND"; they provide us with the boost to get over the lack of motivation or stumbling blocks in our way and get dinner on the table!


The number of those who report that their “whole family usually eats dinner together” has declined 33 percent. This is most concerning because the time a family spends together “eating meals at home [is] the strongest predictor of children’s academic achievement and psychological adjustment.”

Family mealtimes have also been shown to be a strong bulwark against children’s smoking, drinking, or using drugs. There is inspired wisdom in this advice to parents: what your children really want for dinner is you.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks Good, Better, Best (Nov. 2007)

Two researchers at the University of Minnesota investigated the potential benefits of family mealtimes on children and found that families that dine together tend to have healthier, more well-adjusted children. Their studies indicate that the more often children and teens west with their parents—and the happier, more structured these mealtimes are—the more the children gain these benefits:


Better Nutrition

Better language and literacy

Fewer Eating Disorders

Fewer risky behaviors


The national center on addiction and substance abuse at Columbia University (sept 2005) found that compared with teens who dine frequently with their families (Five to seven dinners a week), teens who have fewer than three family dinners per week are:

Two and a half times likelier to smoke cigarettes

More than on e and a half times likelier to drink alcohol.

Almost three times likelier to try marijuana


“….Mealtime becomes a way for families to bond. To show children they have access to a caring adult.” (The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner p. 11)


So as Women, Sisters, Daughters, Wives, Mothers, Grandmothers we can not put a price on the work that we do. Dinner hours and menus can be daunting at times and others it feels like a breeze. As we gather together and share in our love for caring for our families and enjoying the connections we have with them as we sit around the dinner tables of our homes. I hope that each of us can step back occasionally on those hard mommy days and “Believe in what we are doing! Believing in who we are and that we can make a difference one meal at a time.

~ Jill


Sunday, October 18, 2015

Salted Carmel Pretzel Bark

Salted Carmel Pretzel Bark-Nicole Hendershot
This is a delicious Pinterest find☺

½  bag of mini pretzel twists
2 sticks of butter (1 cup total)
1 cup of brown sugar
1 bag of chocolate chips (2 cups)
Sea salt or table salt

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Then line a large jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and lay a single layer of pretzels down. 
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and the brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil gently just until it starts to stick to the bottom and it forms a nice smooth caramel. You’ll want to let it bubble a little and get really thick.
Remove from heat and pour evenly over the top of the pretzels (don’t worry if every single pretzel isn’t covered). Put in the oven at 350 degrees for five minutes.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the top. You can let the caramel melt the chips, but I prefer to put it back in the oven for one minute.
Spread the chocolate chips around with a spatula until mostly melted.
Sprinkle generously with salt.
Let cool on the counter top for a few minutes and then pop in the freezer for at least two to three hours.

When it comes out of the freezer, break it up into uneven chunks with your hands and serve.

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