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What's For
Dinner?
Reasons Kids and Parents Will Love Family
Dinnertime Questions Frequently Asked of The Food Nanny The Food Nanny's Coaching Clients' Comments
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What’s For
Dinner? “What’s for dinner?” may be a clichéd phrase, but it is still asked by thousands of people across the country every day as they walk in the door, call in or text home on their cell phone, or query via email. Busy families seem to find it a chore to make decisions about what to eat every night. This often leads to catch-as-catch-can grazing, ordering in or eating out. Yet studies show over and over the positive impact of eating family dinners together as often as possible. Liz Edmunds, now known as The Food Nanny, wants to bring more families home to dinner. As the mother of seven children, she and her airline pilot husband were committed over the years to keeping family dinnertime an every-night commitment. What she learned from years of family dinners she now shares in The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner: Easy Family Meals for Every Day of the Week. (palmerpletsch.com/thefoodnannyrescuesdinner.htm, ©2008). Advance planning, Edmunds found, was the key. And to simplify the planning, Edmunds began by choosing a “theme” for each night of the week to make menu planning easier. (e.g. Tuesday=Italian, Saturday=Grill Night) What has worked for her (and now her children’s families) for more than 30 years can work for families everywhere. “I must emphasize that ‘theme night’ does not mean having a ‘party’ every night of the week at dinner,” Edmunds is quick to explain. “The night’s ‘theme’ is merely the starting point for deciding what to have for dinner.” So if Wednesday is Hold the Meat, Edmunds chooses something like Roast Salmon with Tarragon or Vegetable Lasagna or perhaps Blueberry Croissant French Toast and builds the rest of the meal around that. Then on Thursday, which for her is Mexican Night, the options include Mexican Chicken and Black Bean Soup or Texas-Style Beef Tacos. This fun, easy, consistent starting point for meal planning is made easier by grouping her tried-and-true and delicious recipes according to these themes in The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner. The chapters on salads, breads, side dishes and desserts let you fill out any meal. The Food Nanny also shares tips to help cooks get organized, equip the kitchen, supply the pantry, involve every family member in the preparations, and forge family bonds around the dinner table. She understands that life is hectic — especially when you are raising a family. But, with her system of planning along with her terrific collection of recipes, there is no reason not to have a home-cooked meal on the table every night. What about those people who say they don’t know how to cook, or they’re not good at it? What if they don’t feel like cooking or eating a big meal some night? Well, as far as Edmunds is concerned, these are two of the common excuses for not cooking; she has counter arguments for the 10 most common excuses, which she convincingly offers in her chapter “Yes, But....”.
“Nothing makes us happier than the smells coming from the
kitchen enticing us with our favorite foods,” Edmunds states. “I
hope my approach helps you gather your family around the dinner
table where you can then start building family togetherness as
you enjoy good food and share ideas and concerns.” About the Author Liz Edmunds raised seven children with a commitment to a consistent dinnertime with the family, despite her husband’s extensive travels as an airline pilot. Her passion for the importance of family dinnertime led a kitchen-store manager to dub her “the food nanny,” and a business was born. Today Liz serves as part teacher, part counselor, part coach for families in need of organizational help and cooking instruction so they can implement a weekly dinner plan in their own homes. She also teaches cooking classes at Sur La Table in Salt Lake City, focusing on food that is family- and budget-friendly while also tasty and easy to make. Their children now grown with families, Liz and her husband, Stephen, live near Park City, Utah.
Meal Planning “The key to effective meal planning is mapping out your meal schedule a week or two in advance,” Edmunds explains. Here’s what The Food Nanny suggests: 1. Choose your themes for each night of the week. (You can start with what I have used, or choose your family’s preferences.) 2. Get out a calendar. 3. Choose meals (using recipes from The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner or your own recipe file). 4. Write down your chosen meals on the form
provided (in the book and at www.thefoodnanny.com), 5. Check your food supplies and make a grocery list of what you will need for the week’s menus. 6. Go Shopping. Now with the decisions made and the supplies on hand, making dinner each night becomes a no-brainer. “There is hardly anything more lovingly bonding in a family than mealtimes together with good home-cooked food, good conversation, and good moods. The Food Nanny helps families make these important family times yummy! I recommend this book for every family — especially those who think they don’t have the time or talent to cook great dishes.” ~ Dr. Laura Schlessinger, International Radio Talk Host and author of “Stop Whining Start Living” The Food Nanny Rescues
Dinner by Liz Edmunds (“The Food Nanny”) Available at bookstores and cooking stores
nationally and online. The author, Liz Edmunds, is available for interviews and media tour events. To arrange an interview or for additional information, please contact Liz at liz@thefoodnanny.com or call 801-897-4439. Or contact Pati Palmer at 503-294-0696 or patipalmer@aol.com
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Since Liz Edmunds managed to have home-cooked family dinners on the table almost every night while raising seven children and keeping tabs on her airline pilot husband, she knows everybody can do it. But, rather than just saying that and leaving everyone to figure it out for themselves, she is passionate about sharing what worked so well for her, so that more families can gather around the dinner table every night to eat good food and share their day’s news. It was her passion for the importance of family dinnertime that led a kitchen-store manager to dub her “the food nanny,” and a business was born. Today Liz serves as part teacher, part counselor, part coach for families in need of organizational help and cooking instruction so they can implement a weekly dinner plan in their own homes. (See sidebar for some comments from her “students.”) The home-cooked food is only one part of the equation as far as Liz is concerned. Sitting down together once a day is of equal importance. This is how her family stayed abreast of each other’s lives, lending support when needed or challenging ideas or having a good laugh together. So, even when activities would keep one or more of the kids away at dinnertime, her children always knew there would be a plate for them to just heat and eat, and Mom or Dad or whoever else was around to keep them company and fill them in on the family news. She shares her secrets in The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner: Easy Family Meals for Every Day of the Week ($24.95 trade paperback, ISBN: 978-0-935278-77-4, palmerpletsch.com/thefoodnannyrescuesdinner.htm). Liz also teaches cooking classes at Sur La Table in Salt Lake City, focusing on food that is family- and budget-friendly while also tasty and easy to make. The Edmunds’ children are now grown with families of their own. Except when they come “home” for dinner, they enjoy using this same method in their own homes. Liz and her husband, Stephen, live outside Park City, Utah.
Comments from a few recipients of Liz’s “Food Nanny” coaching “…It is so easy to get caught up in all the activities and responsibilities of everyday life. The tools like the grocery list and the helpful advice on planning your weekly meals have given me a great place to start. Not only did you give me wonderful recipes, but you gave me something more valuable—conversations and quality time that I will spend with my family for years to come that I might not have had. I will forever be thankful for your help.” ~ Jennifer Anderson “I want to let you know that I am still cooking. Really, it has totally changed how we do dinner. Thanks so much for your help. I have tried almost all of the recipes you gave me and they are all great.” ~ Lara Maynes, one month after her lesson “I truly appreciate the time you took to come over to my house and teach me how to cook. I also want to thank you for teaching me how to make a menu for my family. I love it and it saves time and money. Thank you.” ~ Claudia Fierro ###
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1. They will always know a delicious dinner is
waiting for them.
1. Meal planning is easy and straightforward. 2. Grocery shopping is easier and more organized. 3. Staying on budget is easier when eating out less. 4. The family will always appreciate the home-cooked meal. 5. Family dinnertime is a great opportunity to get caught up on all the family’s news. 6. Cooking itself becomes a family activity, with everyone helping to cut up vegetables, set the table, and put the different recipes together!”
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1. Why do people call you “The Food Nanny”? 2. Please explain your “theme” nights? What is the benefit of theme nights? 3. What if I don’t like Mexican food? How did you choose your themes? 4. What would you say to a family that has dropped their family dinnertime traditions because of extracurricular activities? 5. Why is family dinnertime so important to you? 6. You had a big family, raising seven kids, so dinnertime became a time for your family to easily come together and hear about each other’s lives. But what about the smaller family with only one child, or a single parent? Is a family dinnertime still as necessary or practical? 7. When did you start cooking? 8. In your book you make it all sound so easy, but I am not sure that I could make homemade noodles or a cream cheese pie. What if I can’t cook? 9. I noticed in your book that after a lot of recipes you have a section called “Conversation Starter.” Why did you choose to include this section? Isn’t it enough to make a family dinner? 10. What if the kids want a snack after school? How do I make sure their snack does not ruin our plans for dinner? 11. What is your answer when a parent says: “I just don’t feel like cooking or eating tonight.” “I am on a diet and can’t be in the kitchen.” “We both work and get home too tired to cook.” “We get home too late to cook.” “My husband and I just aren’t getting along.” “Everybody wants something different to eat.” “The kids ate big snacks and are not hungry.” “There is nothing to eat in the house.” 12. Why is organization so important? ###
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~ Simplified meal planning the
Food Nanny way ~ Preparing a typical Food Nanny
dinner ~ Ideas for dinnertime
conversations
- I don’t know how to cook;
I’m not good at it. ~ 5 reasons family dinnertime is
so important ###
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“…It is so easy to get caught up in all the activities and responsibilities of everyday life. The tools like the grocery list and the helpful advice on planning your weekly meals have given me a great place to start. Not only did you give me wonderful recipes, but you gave me something more valuable—conversations and quality time that I will spend with my family for years to come that I might not have had. I will forever be thankful for your help.” ~ Jennifer Anderson “I want to let you know that I am still cooking. Really, it has totally changed how we do dinner. Thanks so much for your help. I have tried almost all of the recipes you gave me and they are all great.” ~ Lara Maynes, one month after her lesson “I truly appreciate the time you took to come over to my house and teach me how to cook. I also want to thank you for teaching me how to make a menu for my family. I love it and it saves time and money. Thank you.” ~ Claudia Fierro ###
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~ Countering the 5 most common
“Yes, buts…”