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


Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Oriental Chicken Salad

Copy-cat of Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad -Jill Carpenter
This is one of our favorite lunches and it is so speedy because I always keep fresh torn lettuce in the fridge. Even my kids like this one.
Oriental Dressing
3 Tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
Blend together all ingredients for dressing in a small bowl with an electric mixer. Chill
Salad (Jack and I usually have a combination of a dark leaf lettuce and iceberg in the fridge, but it even works well with bagged salad)

3 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 cup red cabbage
1 cup napa cabbage
1/2 carrot julienned or shredded
1 green onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon sliced almonds (We like to toasted)
1/3 cup chow mein noodles
We use PANKO Grilled Chicken from Costco-a favorite pantry/freezer stocked item or Grilled chicken breast strips(you can buy this in bags too if you are avoiding breaded chicken) or chicken nuggets what ever makes it fit into the time you have to make it happen.
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