★★★★★
If you know me in real life, then you absolutely know my insistence on family dinners. It was a staple of my childhood – we ate together every dinner. Breakfast and lunch on weekends as well.
In fact, the only time we DIDN’T eat at the dining table was on Christmas – where we would have snacks and generally loaf about until the BIG family dinner at Grandma’s.
And when I got married…much to my surprise, my husband to-be was literally the opposite. His family only ate together on Christmas Eve – and he told me how much he enjoyed that one special family dinner of the year.
Well…like most women, upon marriage, I instituted a few changes to his lifestyle…and we eat dinner together every night.
It was a way to catch up, to get to know and to enjoy food with another’s company. And to me, it felt natural…and after a few weeks, he really began to enjoy dinner together to well.
When I was asked to review Eat, Laugh, Talk for Familius Publishing, I leapt at the chance. Because family dinners is something that I truly believe in.
And, much to my delight, there’s research to back it up.
(As you also may know, I’m going for my PhD in a STEM field, so I love seeing a hefty list of sources in a book).
Having family dinners is associated with so many positive aspects for families that it’s almost shocking. Children who have family dinners – even just a few nights a week – have long-lasting positive impacts upon their lives.
But, it can be difficult to find the right recipes when you are on the go, or your children won’t sit still, or when the picky-eater-plague strikes your family.
That’s when Eat, Laugh, Talk comes in.
Eat, Laugh, Talk provides over 52 dinners worth of food – main dish, side dishes and desert (on occasion) – each one with a different theme.
Sometimes, you can customize every aspect of the meal, sometimes it’s designed to let the children loose in the kitchen and other times the meal is a quick one-pot that can be whipped up in no-time.
With so many recipes, I’ve barely tried out a third of them. BUT, I can assure you…they rock! They absolutely rock. I am so incredibly impressed by the versatility and variety in these meals.
While I don’t have kids now, I do have a picky husband and a will-eat-anything dog. So, I have plenty of practice.
And let me tell you, there are NO complaints in the Reads household. My husband, in particular, loves anything spicy – especially the chicken tacos. I loved the beef stroganoff. And the fun deserts!
And Squamish-the-dog, he loves everything and anything. Especially the food scraps I drop for him as I prepped the meals.
All in all, this one was a huge success!
With thanks to the authors and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Interested in this one? Buy it here: Amazon
Miranda Reads 