How To Get Your Family Back To The Dining Table (NAPSA)—Every parent is a working parent. Between play dates, sports, after-school activities and work,it can be hard for a family to find the time, or the energy, to sit down at the table and eat a meal together. Twothirds of families no longer eat dinner together. It doesn’t have to be that way, say Jeff and Jodie Morgan. Their latest book, “The Working Parents Cookbook” (Chronicle Books, May 2004, $22.95), offers over 200 recipes and a wealth of ideas to ease the stress of providing nutritious and appetizing meals at home for both adults and children alike. Providing food for your family is a welcome reprieve from the rigors of the day. “Mealtime offers emotional as well as nutritional nourishment,” states Jeff Morgan. “As we share a meal, we share quality time together and improve the quality of ourlives.” “The Working Parents Cookbook” helps balance work, family and mealtime with quick, easy and delicious meals. These tips are sure to get even the most stressed-out moms and dads to make the most of mealtime. * The family that cooks together, eats together. Give your children easy and fun tasks to help you out. Have them knead dough or crush tomatoes with their hands. It’s fun, will give you more time to spend with them and they will have a sense of accomplishment. * Slow down. While you may cook fast, you don’t need to eat fast. Dinner is the opportunity to relax and share accounts of the PARENTS) od Tag MEALS @ Foods that are simple to prepare can be a tasty, time-saving way to share meals with the family. day. To slow things down, eat in courses. It also allows the stomach to digest better and prevent overeating. * Keep it simple. Using straightforward recipes that use common ingredients will lead to less time in the kitchen. Also, the less complex, the more appealing the meals will be to your children. If you want to enhance your food, use some fresh herbs. They are easy to chop and can be added at the table based on your own tastes. * Cooking time=free time. Just because a dish has a long cooking time doesn’t mean it takes a long time to prepare. Choosing recipes like soups, stews and roasts, which cook on the stove or in the oven for hours unattended, frees up time to focus somewhereelse, such as a child’s homework or the newspaper.
