why family meal?
I love to cook. I love to eat. I love to feed people. I grew up in a family that talked about lunch over breakfast; dinner over lunch. I learned how to put food together working in the kitchen at my sister's restaurant growing up. I learned what I love to eat in travels to Europe, South America, and Asia. I watched endless cooking shows on TV, tried out recipes on my husband, and hosted our friends for dinner parties whenever I could.
Then I became a Mom. And everything changed - including how we ate and how I cooked. The rhythm and routine of our days and weeks revolved around our little one. Once joyful recipe-finding and experimentation morphed into structured meal planning and prep. And it was a lot. It's a large share of the mental load of providing for a family - the budgeting, shopping, planning, prepping, executing; keeping it healthy for the kids but interesting enough for the parents; stocking the fridge and pantry with staples for rotating menus that will please everyone; avoiding waste whenever possible and trying to not blow the takeout budget on the days when you just don't have time. Like I said, it's a lot.
My kiddo is older now, and a fairly adventurous eater himself. The joy of cooking has returned and a balance has been struck. The structure and schedule remains, but with more room for variety and play. We still love to host - now usually with a slew of littles in attendance. I now especially love cooking for friends during their postpartum recovery and whenever an extra hand is needed to ease the food burden from a hefty parental load. From this love, family meal is born.
Our hope is to bring a little variety, a little joy, and a little structure to your family meal planning - and hopefully slide in between Door Dash and the grocery store as a part of your weekly rotation.
Questions? Requests? Give us a shout!