Food Town Family Meals Month: Good Food is Better Together

Good food has a way of bringing people together, and that’s exactly what Family Meals Month is all about. Celebrated each September, it’s a reminder to make room in our busy schedules for shared meals, good conversation and time spent around the table. At Food Town, though, we think that idea deserves more than one month on the calendar.

Family meals can be meaningful any time of year, whether you’re serving a Sunday supper, squeezing in dinner between activities or gathering over a weekend breakfast. Read on for easy ways to make those meals more fun, meaningful and manageable for your crew.

Family Meal Ideas That Offer Benefits Beyond the Plate

The best family meal ideas aren’t just about what you’re serving. After all, there are plenty of reasons to make gathering together a priority. Sitting down together gives everyone an opportunity to connect, catch up and build healthy habits. Research has even found associations between frequent family meals and a number of positive outcomes for children and families. Here are a few reasons to make room for them when your schedule allows.

• Create Time to Connect: Dinner offers a natural opportunity to put some of the day’s distractions aside and hear what’s happening in one another’s lives. Ask about something funny that happened, a challenge someone faced or what everybody is looking forward to tomorrow.
• Encourage Balanced Eating: Family meals can make it easier to serve a variety of foods together, including fruits, vegetables, proteins and other favorites. Research has also associated regular family meals with better diet quality among children and adolescents.
• Introduce New Foods: The family table can provide a low-pressure opportunity to explore different ingredients and flavors. Serve something new alongside familiar favorites so everyone has something they know they’ll enjoy.
• Build Family Traditions: Taco Tuesday, Sunday supper or Grandma’s famous recipe doesn’t have to be reserved for a holiday to become meaningful. Meals your family returns to again and again can become traditions kids remember long after they’ve grown up.
• Give Everyone a Chance to Slow Down: Life gets busy. Even a short meal together can create a welcome break between the school or workday and whatever comes next.

Remember, there’s no requirement that everyone gather for dinner specifically. If schedules make evenings difficult, breakfast, weekend lunch or another shared meal can offer the same valuable opportunity to spend time together.

Serve Up Some Fun with These Family Dinner Ideas

You don’t need fancy place settings or a three-course menu to make dinner memorable. Often, the best family dinner ideas are simple touches that get everyone involved and make gathering around the table something to look forward to. Here are a few ideas to try.

• Start a Conversation Tradition: Ask everyone to share the best part of their day, something they’re grateful for or one thing that made them laugh. You could even write conversation starters on slips of paper and let a different family member draw one each night.
• Serve a Family Favorite: Sometimes special means making the meal everyone requests again and again. Let family members take turns choosing favorites so everybody gets a night that’s “theirs.”
• Get the Kids Involved: Children can help choose recipes, shop for ingredients, wash produce, measure, mix or tackle other age-appropriate kitchen tasks. (And for many kids, the more involved they are in the process, the more likely they are to try the finished product!) Our Let the Kids Cook Pinterest board has plenty of inspo for helping little chefs get started.
• Give Dinner a Theme: Turn an ordinary evening into ballpark night with hot dogs and nachos, for example, build a menu around foods featured in a favorite movie or choose a different country and explore its flavors. Themed family dinner ideas can make trying something new feel like an adventure.
• Make it Interactive: Set up a taco, baked potato, pizza or sandwich bar and let everyone build their meal exactly how they like it. It’s fun, takes some pressure off picky eaters and gives everyone a role in creating dinner.

The goal isn’t to make every meal an event. Think of these as easy ideas to pull out when your family’s routine could use a little something different.

Make Busy Nights Better with Easy Family Meals

Finding time to gather is one thing, but finding time to cook is another! That’s why easy family meals are so important. A little planning and a willingness to take advantage of shortcuts can help get everybody fed without adding unnecessary stress to your day. Here are a few ways to add ease to those eats.

• Plan Before You Shop: Take a few minutes each week to map out meals around your family’s schedule. Save quicker options for especially busy evenings, check what you already have at home and build your grocery list from there. You’ll spend less time wondering “What’s for dinner?” when everybody’s already hungry.
• Put Your Slow Cooker to Work: Prep ingredients in the morning and let dinner come together while you tackle the rest of your day. By mealtime, most of the work is already done. Check out these slow cooker tips and ideas for great ways to put this handy appliance to work.
• Make Friends with Frozen Foods: Frozen vegetables, proteins, sides and prepared foods can save serious time on busy nights. Serve them as-is or go the semi-homemade route by adding your family’s favorite seasonings, sauces or fresh ingredients. Our Frozen Foods Fixer-Uppers Pinterest board is filled with ideas for elevating frozen options into something extra great.
• Fire Up the Air Fryer: The air fryer is another useful tool when you need something on the table quickly. Visit our Amazing Air Fryer Pinterest board for recipes for quick meals, sides and snacks.
• Cook Once, Enjoy Twice: Make a little extra when you’re preparing foods that reheat well, then transform those leftovers into another meal. Tonight’s roasted chicken could become tomorrow’s tacos, sandwiches or casserole.
• Keep a Few Go-to Recipes Handy: Not every night needs a new culinary adventure. Build a collection of easy family meals you know everyone enjoys and rotate them throughout the month. When you do want to branch out, our Recipes page is a great place to find your next favorite.

Family Meals Month may come around each September, but the opportunity to connect over good food is always in season. Whether you’re sitting down to a longtime family recipe, experimenting with something new or heating up a quick dinner after an especially hectic day, the time you spend together is what makes family meals meaningful.

Your neighborhood Food Town is here to make getting that meal on the table a little easier. Here’s to plenty of good food, great conversation and family meals together. We’ll see you soon at your town!

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