Recently, I met up with my friend who has the same kind of feelings about family mealtime that I have. We both believe that sitting down together as a family to share a nice meal not only provides nourishment, but food for the soul of the family as well.

Patti Winker, of RemarkableWrinklies.com, credits the warm and welcoming old fashioned meals of her childhood for her strong attachments to family. As a matter of fact, the memories of big meals shared around the table sparked more than just nostalgic feelings for her… it launched a cookbook!

Patti gathered together the recipes she’s been collecting and put them into a fun “remember when” cookbook called Memory Lane Meals. This cookbook is filled with the kind of food that was served in cozy kitchens during the 50s and 60s. With the subtitle “A Collection Of Recipes Celebrating Cozy Meals From Days Gone By” you get an idea of where her heart lies!

Rather than have me explain what’s in the cookbook, and how it came to be, I thought I’d let Patti tell you in her own words. I like to get to know the people behind the cookbooks, don’t you?

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Hi Peg and friends!

It’s an honor to be invited here to talk about what prompted my ebook, Memory Lane Meals. First, I’ll just tell you a little bit about where I come from. I grew up in a little town in northern Wisconsin back in the “old days” – the 50s and 60s. That makes me a Baby Boomer.

I grew up like many of us Boomers did; in a big family where my Dad worked and my Mom stayed home. We enjoyed a good life, but we were nowhere near rich, nor were we poor. In other words, we were like every other family around us. We had shelter, clothing, and food. Those were the things we kids cared about. Pretty simple.

Our life in the country was full of adventure. We were raised on a river, near a lake, among tall pines, in the maple and birch. I am fourth oldest of 11 children. A big family takes a lot of work. And a lot of food!

When I reminisce about growing up, my thoughts often, not surprisingly, turn to food. Many hours were spent around that big table, so my trips down “Memory Lane” often lead to food. As a matter of fact, when I remember my Mom, the memory usually includes an apron and food. When we got off the school bus and ran into the kitchen, we had to be careful not to disturb the bread in various stages of baking. There was dough rising, bread baking, and loaves cooling on racks everywhere.

Then there were the pots bubbling away on the top of the stove. Maybe it was a whole chicken simmering slowly for stock, or maybe it was potatoes, soup, or something else for dinner. Whatever it was, we knew it would be good, and ready when Dad got home.
Those meals were hearty, but simple. We didn’t have snacks or desserts, unless it was a special occasion. Then, my Mom went all out, especially birthdays! The funny thing is I didn’t realize you could make a cake for anything other than a birthday until I was almost in my teens!

(Yes, that’s me holding that huge birthday cake with the fluffy seven minute frosting.)

And, that leads me to my ebook, Memory Lane Meals. Remembering the kind of meals we shared as a family made me think about how families eat today. Young families are on the run so much, grabbing snacks and quick bites to eat on their way out the door, or in the car. So many of my fond memories of time spent with my family come from those times we sat down and ate together.

I started thinking how sad it is that kids today may not look back on mealtimes with the same cozy warm feelings.This is a problem. Even scientists and researchers have discovered the disconnect that occurs when families don’t sit down together for meals at least a few times each week. Well, I’m no scientist, but I know that my family shares a bond that was created over those times we spent together helping Mom in the kitchen, setting the table, and finally, sitting down together to a hearty meal.

My thought in creating the e-cookbook was to share my notion that old fashioned meals, eating together as a family, is important. Home-cooked meals should be a part of every family’s schedule; not just for the sake of nutrition and financial benefits, but for the sake of making family connections.

When you cook and eat together as a family, you and your kids will start sharing thoughts, dreams, hopes, and fears. You’ll get to know each other.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “Food fills more than empty tummies – food and the act of feeding your family fills hearts.”

Meals together not only create family ties… meals make memories! When we reminisce about food, we remember the moments, the people, and the love. We remember our family.

I hope you’ll take time today to cook and share many meals with your family.

Patti

P.S. I think you’ll find a lot to enjoy in this ebook, Memory Lane Meals – A Collection Of Recipes Celebrating Cozy Meals From Days Gone By.

With over 400 recipes, you are bound to find a hearty dish or two to make for your family. You will even get a few more glimpses into the world growing up in the 50s and 60s.

Order your copy today and start enjoying the kind of old fashioned meals that brought generations together around the kitchen table – and maybe even create your own Memory Lane Meals.

All kids love to snack on fun foods, but many of the pre-made snacks you get at the store are not the healthiest. They’re loaded with sodium, sugar and fat. Of course, this means the store bought snacks are not the way to go.

Instead, with a little planning, you can put together fast and easy snack ideas at home. Here are some favorite fast snack ideas your kids might really like.

Cheese and apple slices
It sounds so so basic but kids love cheese and apple slices together. Add a few whole grain crackers and even some slices of ham and you have a healthy snack idea. It really only a few takes minutes to prepare this, and you can make it a silly snack by using a small cookie cutter to cut the cheese into fun shapes.

Ants on a log
You might remember this one from your childhood. You start with celergy sticks cut into 2 inch lengths. Next spread either peanumt butter or cream cheese down the middle. Now top the logs with raisins to make the ants.

Gorp
Gorp stands for good old raisins and peanuts. However, you can add other things to it depending on your preferences.Try adding:

dried fruit chips
whole grain cereal like Cheerios or Chex
chocolate chips or carob chips

The kids will have a high fiber snack they can munch on when they’re hungry.

Baked chips and salsa
Take wonton wrappers cut into trianges or corn tortillas and brush them with a little sesame oil. Sprinkle with a small amount of salt and place them in the oven at 350 degrees F for approximately ten minutes. Keep an eye on them because when they begin to brown at the edges, it’s time to take them out. They’ll get crispy when you let them sit for a few minutes. Serve as is or with a fruit-based salsa.

Hummus
Hummus is a simple mixture of chickpeas and tahini (sesame paste) and it’s definitely a fast and easy snack idea.  Begin with a can of chickpeas and smash them up. Add one tablespoon of tahini. Next add salt and pepper and garlic seasoning to taste. Cut up some veggies for dipping.

Air-popped popcorn
These days you will air poppers to be inexpensive. The key is to get fresh, high quality popcorn to pop. You can add melted butter to the popped corn, or spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle some salt.

Kids love to eat snacks and now you’ve got some ideas for ones that are fast, easy, and healthy. Keep the ingredients on hand and fix them for your little guys.

As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m big on reading.  As a child, my favorite past time was hunkering down in a comfy chair and spending the afternoon with a good book that took me places on the wings of my imagination.  Books were particularly helpful in my tweens when life became a little more complicated.  I could read to escape for a bit, or read to help me sort through life’s complexities along with the heroine of the books.

There was a special time during my tween years when my friends and I started a mom and daughter book club.  We read quite a few interesting books during this time and it was a great experience.  See, book clubs are not just for Oprah, anyone can start a book club. 

Here’s what your child can do to start a book club:

They find several friends who also like to read.  Keep in mind not everyone can come everytime, so maybe pick a few more people than originally thought of.

Pick a day/evening and time to meet that is the most suitable for everyone.  Decide how often to meet – once every 2 weeks, once a month?

Rotate meeting locations.  Your child can host the first one at your house and he or she gets to pick the book.  I won’t lie, one of the biggest lures of the book club are the snacks, so be sure to have some good ones at hand!

Obviously both parents and kids should read the books and be ready to discuss them.  As the adult, you should be ready to jump into the discussion with some thought-provoking questions if need be, but otherwise allow this to be kid-led.

As far as book choice, they should be age-appropriate, interesting but a little challenging,and worthy of a discussion.  Some kids like to do a series of books but others think it’s fun to pick odd subjects they wouldn’t normally read about.

If your child loves to read, suggest they start a book club.  It gives them a chance to bring their reading to a new level where they can talk about the characters and ideas in the books with their friends – all while eating great snacks.

Pigs In A Blanket

Refrigerated crescent rolls
Package little weiners like Li’l Smokies
1.  Separate the crescent rolls and cut each in half the long way to make 16 smaller pieces.
2.  Add each little weiners to each piece of crescent roll’s bigger end and roll it up.
3.  Put them all on a cookie sheet and bake according to the crescent roll package directions.

 Re: Where are those great family holiday memories?

Are your family holidays all you’d like them to be? 
Are they stressful?
Or are they kind of boring and you don’t feel like you and the family did anything?

Maybe come January you’re left wondering, "Is that all there is?"  You feel let down and also like you’ve let your kids down.

If this sounds familiar, check this out:

It doesn’t have to be that way.
I wrote this Family Holiday Memories ebook just for you!
You can get more information by clicking here.

On a personal note here, my daughter graduated from high school and is ready to leave home for college in two weeks. Have we prepared her for life?  Is she ready to fly?  We’ve done our best and she’s a great kid. Our roles as her parents are changing – now we’re more advisors (when asked) and providers of unconditional love.