“I walked into the dining room to see tables of four already set - silverware, silver bread basket, off white ceramic plates, cloth napkins, clear glasses, and water pitchers laid out ready for lunch. I was standing inside my children's public elementary school cafeteria, or canteen as the French call it, in our local town near Annecy, France.” This is a quote from the website mindbodygreen.com, from an article about what French kids eat for school lunch. I find it so inspiring to see the way the French have decided to do school lunches for their younger children. They have courses, usually four courses. They have real, nourishing, freshly cooked food. They sit down to enjoy it together at beautiful tables with lots of time - they have at least half an hour to sit, and they have to enjoy their meal slowly. There are so many good principles that we can learn from this! Also, it's just so inspiring to see the actual food that they are served. It’s not easy, I can imagine, to make it all happen, but the benefits are huge. So, today we're going to talk about what French kids eat for school lunches, and we're also going to mention a few tips for picky eaters. All the websites that I reference will be linked in the show notes on familyfoodformoms.com. This episode is number 23, and if you go to that post, you'll find a link if you want to read any of the articles that I'm referencing, or look at the photos.

Learning to cook starts slowly, and then you gain momentum as you get better at the basic tasks, at multitasking, and you grow in confidence and experience. Then your knowledge and skill just increases exponentially. I think it's great for kids to learn to cook before they leave home. I couldn't cook very much at all at the beginning, and we mainly ate either frozen meals made for us by my mom, or pre-packaged meals from the supermarket with a few homemade things in the middle there. I felt very intimidated by cooking and by big chunks of meat; I wouldn't know what to do with those. I was intimidated by cooking in the oven. These days we have so many amazing tools, many more than we had then, and it's so great to know how to use those.  I think that for somebody starting out cooking, who's going to be leaving home to start out on their own, or who are getting married, both ladies and gents, I think it's so important to learn how to cook. I'm going to talk about in a couple of different episodes how to get started with learning to cook. We're going to talk about what exactly are good things to learn first. To start with, learn some mains, sides, and sauces, or just a simple meal consisting of a main and a side and maybe a sauce to add interest.  Once you get the basics down, then you can start to use those in different ways to mix and match. Then you start to grow exponentially in your cooking skills. Let's talk about what are good things to start with when you're learning to cook. 

Today I want to talk about Thanksgiving. For me, one of the biggest challenges for both Christmas and Thanksgiving is to not become busy during the event, but to be present, and also to not become stressed before the event, but to be relaxed, and to enjoy the time with my children, with my family, because that's basically what it's all about. It's not about making it perfect. This is a concept that my brain doesn't easily accept, but I really do want to be present. I want to have the mindset of being present and not the mindset of finishing, or making it just right, or making it just how I want it, but rather to enjoy that process with them. It is easier now that they're a bit older - it was more challenging when I had many young children. But either way, I really want to engage with them, connect with them, and make special family memories together. 

Today, I thought it might be fun to talk about some US presidents and their favorite meals, with Thanksgiving coming up next week, and in honor of the elections. Let's talk about some of our recent presidents and what they liked to eat. And then I'll mention some from quite long ago, and what they enjoyed.  I find it really fascinating seeing what someone will eat when they have a chef at their disposal, and can eat whatever they want. I think the first ladies would have had a lot to do with planning menus, and even encouraging their husbands to eat healthier things. Some of the things I'll mention are from when the presidents are just on their own, and they eat whatever they feel like, and then other things would be more what they would eat if there's a White House dinner, or a small dinner party, or if they’re simply eating with their wives, but is still cooked by the chef.

Today, we're going to be talking about kitchen utensils that I find really helpful in cooking and serving food. I don't like having a ton of stuff, especially gimmicky things, lying around the kitchen. Good utensils have got to be simple, fit into the drawers, and really be super helpful. There are no affiliate links with these - these are just things that I have in our home that I wouldnt want to do without. See familyfoodformoms.com for photos. Let's chat!

It's a fun one today. We're going to talk about what we can learn from Masterchef.  I'm sure you all know the show Masterchef, Masterchef USA. There's Masterchef Australia.  We like to watch Masterchef USA and Masterchef Junior.  And it's always so inspiring to me even what the young kids can cook and how  elegantly they do it and how much variety. They seem to know how to cook all these obscure ingredients that I have never tried to eat before, let alone cook.  But it's very exciting and inspiring. So I thought I would just mention for fun 10 things that I've learnt from watching Masterchef. 

Today we're going to be talking about ways to foster and grow family closeness and connection at your dinner table, making dinner time meaningful and special. This can really transform a simple meal into a chance to be close as a family, connect with each other, reflect together on how your days' went, and to relax after the craziness of the day. Join me as we chat about family closeness at dinner time.

Today I want to talk about things that we prep in our kitchen for the week. Now I'm not talking about meals, not meal prep.  Other things, so snacks,  protein maybe to add to breakfast,  sauces, salad dressings,  bone broth,  sides maybe for family members who don't eat wheat or who are gluten free and then I want to replace them with something.  And then the meat and veg that I cook through the week. So,  I'm mainly going to be talking about all the things that we prep at the beginning of the week. But I may just mention some of the others. So this really helps me because  then I've got snacks organized, I've got a good breakfast supplement organized when the kids make their own breakfast.  We've got homemade sauces and we've got all the things that really help with the health and with the flavor and the yumminess. 

Today we're going to be talking about what we can learn from our grandparents and great grandparents about food and dining; our grandmothers and our mother's past generations. I asked one of my daughters what she thinks of when she thinks of granny's food, and she said that the food is very solid and simple whenever we go to visit. It's meat and vegetables, and it's not complicated and difficult. I like that. I think we can learn so much from past generations about food and about how to cook.   There are always special things that are passed down from our moms and grandmothers. In our case, it's things like homemade ice cream, which I'll give you the recipe for. There's a wonderful British fruitcake that my mom makes, a Christmas cake with the icing and all, and there are crunchies made with syrup. Good, hearty fare comes to mind.  

Previously we spoke about five ways to save money in your kitchen,  and we talked about some unusual and controversial things you can do while trying to keep your food nourishing and delicious.  It's not easy to do that when you have to cut costs, because often the healthiest things are expensive. But it's definitely possible to eat healthy food and nourish your family while spending less.  Today we're going to talk about five more unusual ways to save money in your kitchen.

Hi friends! I'm Karyn, and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining.  Today, I want to talk about ways to save money in the kitchen. It's so easy to feel overwhelmed these days, and a bit discouraged. I want to feed my family healthy meals and delicious meals, but everything is so expensive. We're just going to talk about a few ways to save on money, save on time and keep the health and the yumminess there. I know it's not easy, but we can do hard things, right? The more we practice hard things, the better we get at doing them.   I hope these five unusual ways to save money inspire you and help your grocery budget!

Hi friends! I'm Karyn and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining. Check out our website on familyfoodformoms.com! I want to help you with the inspiration, the perspiration, and the celebration of food in your family. Today, we're going to talk about a fun topic, and that is what we can learn about food from children's and young adults’ literature. There are such beautiful descriptions of food and dining in books. And it comes from other eras, other countries, or other times that are very different from the way that we live now. I love to look at that, reflect on it, and see what we can learn from it.  So let's chat about it!

Hi friends! I'm Karyn, and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining.  In this episode we're going to be talking about more ways to make your dining table special.  Last time in episode 3, I mentioned five things - we talked about decorative underplates, lighting, fancy napkin folding, personalized place names and music for ambience.  We all love a beautiful view and any kind of beauty enhances the meal experience. As a family, it helps make wonderful memories and feel connected to each other. So,let's consider more ways to make a dining table special for a family or fellowship meal.  

 In this episode, we're going to talk more about family fun nights. Last time we talked about a whole lot of ideas for events you can have together in your family. A lot of those were for large families, so today I'm going to give you ideas for how to have a family fun night when you have a smaller family, even if it's just mom or dad and a child.  The reason I'm talking about family fun nights is because I feel like they're such a big part of family closeness and togetherness. Plus, a lot of them use food, or are to do with food, and include a way to eat that's different to the norm, and that's lots of fun. So, today we're going to talk about some more ideas for family fun nights, and how to do them when you have a smaller family.  Somehow, when you're focused on time with a particular child, even if you're together for most of the day. During that special time, you focus on them more than usual, you talk about stuff that you have in common. You ask them specific questions. You kind of really build a relationship, and work on that relationship by having good chats and a good time together.  So, in the same way, a family fun night can be something that a small family, or a mom and child, or a dad and child can do together. It can just be something really easy that you both enjoy, like playing some board games or playing some kind of sports games, indoor or outdoors. Or it can be more involved - listen for a ton of ideas!

In this episode, we're going to talk a bit more about the food go bag, and the best ways to go about using the list. Then we're going to talk about some easy meals that can be made when you have a few more supplies than the absolute minimum, but still not many - or perhaps no power, or limited power from a generator. But before I give you some ideas for those, I want to talk more about the emergency food go-bag. If you haven’t downloaded the printable with the list of items that you can select from for the food go bag, (you can also add your own) and then plan your meals for your bag, you can find that on familyfoodformoms.com/foodgobag.  It's important to know that not all the items on this list are meant to be packed into your food go bag. You need to choose some of them, so as to have enough supplies for two or three days. That's what we're aiming for. So, you want to have enough food for two breakfasts or three breakfasts. You decide how many days - two or three, or if you want to do more days, that's fine. But remember that you obviously are going to need to carry all this.  Say you have two to three days of breakfasts, lunches, snacks, dinners, and perhaps desserts, which are always good for cheering you up when things are hard, and are also needed for extra energy boost if you're staying up late trying to figure things out. Once you've decided how many meals you need, then you can go about planning them. The lists in the printable are arranged so that you can decide what meals you're going to make, tick off what you want to add to your GO-BAG, and then add how many of each thing you'll need.  Download your Food Go-Bag Printables on Familyfoodformoms.com/foodgobag

The world feels very serious right now. There’s so much going on! So many people are affected by conflicts, and by Hurricane Helene. They have to either move, or figure out their lives without power or water. Now with the new hurricane Milton coming, there’s so many people in the world who live in ways that we can't even imagine - they have so little.  So, my prayers go out to all of you who are affected by the hurricanes or whatever other things in life that are very hard.  So today was supposed to be my second family fun night episode but I'm going to postpone that till next week, and do an episode about about  an emergency food go bag that you can build up and then ways to cook simple nutritious meals if you don't have power, and if you have really limited supplies, (like no fresh food) using the food from the GO BAG.  I also have a new printable for you, which will be a list of supplies for the emergency go bag. So don't worry if I mention Odd things to add to the bag at various times through the episode. I've compiled them all into a categorized list for you to download so that you can have that and you don't have to worry to write down as you listen.  You can find the printable on FamilyFoodForMoms.com/FOODGOBAG (one word)

In this episode I'm going to talk about family fun nights. Family fun nights can be as simple as takeaway pizza in front of a movie or an episode of Masterchef, or they can be something that takes a bit more preparation.  There are many different seasons of having children at home, and we found that no matter what the kids’ ages are, there are family fun nights that everyone can enjoy.  So, I'm going to mention some of the ones that we love to do. I'll do more in future episodes, but I'm going to tell you about some of our favorites. Family fun nights are such a great way to wind down, even as mom and dad, after a long week. They’re a great way to relax, have fun, and connect with each other and with the kids, and to really enjoy each other's company. 

Hi friends, I'm Karyn and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast.  We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining.  It's very inspiring thinking about how the French approach food and dining.  Last time we spoke about what we can learn from the French about dining and meals. In this episode we're going to talk about how we can apply the principles and hacks we've learned from the French about food!

 Hi friends, I'm Karyn and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast.  We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining.  It's very inspiring thinking about how the French relate to food and to meals. In this episode, we're going to talk about what we can learn from the French about food and dining. The French are a fascinating culture, and when it comes to food, they've got a lot of things right. First I'm going to talk about some things that I find really significant about the way the French approach food and dining. Then, in the next episode, we'll talk about how we can apply some of these principles in our own lives. I know we don't always have a lot of time to make changes in our lives! I think the thing to do is to choose one or two things that you want to work on in your own family and then try them. When you feel that those are working well, then you can add something else or try something new. We shouldn't feel pressure or feel overwhelmed when thinking about these things, but rather, we should feel joy in considering what ways we want to improve our family's health, wellness, and togetherness through the way we eat. Remember you can download Conversation Starters on familyfoodformoms.com/conversation.  Thanks for listening!

Hi friends! I'm Karyn, and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining.  Today we're going to talk about a few snacks I find that are really helpful to have available in the fridge when I have a crazy day, which is most days. I definitely have a sweet tooth, and often I'm looking for something sweet but healthy to grab when I feel that lull in energy - or when I'm just feeling like I want to eat something. So I’m going to talk about a few things that are quick and easy both to make, and to grab from the fridge when you're at home and you're craving something good. Sometimes as a mom, it's hard enough to make sure that you're getting the nourishment you need - forget about sitting down and actually enjoying eating your meals - some days are just too busy! Also, there's the time in between meals when you need a snack - a protein snack or just something to keep up your energy. I struggle with knowing what to grab! One thing I know for sure is that if I'm not nourishing myself properly, then a lot of other things are going to start falling apart. If my blood sugar is all over the place, if I'm moody and tired, then things are not good. When my blood sugar is balanced, I feel calm and able to handle my days much better. If I don't eat enough protein and enough nourishing food, then I feel exhausted. Exhausted, and often overwhelmed and not able to cope with all the conversation that goes on in a busy home plus homeschool. But if I eat good protein and nourishing meals then I've got energy and I can give my attention to my kids, to my family and the home as needed. I have energy for cooking for other hard times too.  So do you have these struggles? Then stick around for some ideas.  Also, if you'd like to see the full recipes, have a look at this particular blog post on familyfoodformoms.com under podcast - Episode 4.

Hi friends! I'm Karyn, and this is the Family Food for Moms podcast. We're talking about inspiration for family cooking and dining.  Today we're going to talk about five ways to make your dinner table special. Imagine you're in a fancy hotel in Paris, looking out the windows. We all love a beautiful view and any kind of beauty enhances the meal experience.   We can set the atmosphere by setting the table beautifully, serving nourishing food, and then encouraging good conversation (with laughter for the soul)! We have to guard our family dinner time if we want it to happen at all. There's so much else that wants to pull us away from eating together! I want to talk about practical ways to make your dinnertime special, to get your imagination rolling - and then you do the things that suit you and your family; things that you love! Hopefully this episode will inspire and encourage you to do that. Check out familyfoodformoms.com/episode-3 to see the videos of napkin folding.