Get your family feasting – our top ten tips.

Linda McNeill - 17 Mar 19

Whether you channel Mary Berry and thrive in the kitchen or you are more of a winging it kind of parent, SO MUCH FOOD is required when you have a family. There is always another mealtime around the corner.

It can feel pretty overwhelming.

At the Positive Family Academy our theme this month is FEAST. We have purposely picked what can be a tricky area of family life to focus on because it is such a huge part of every day.

Food offers many positives for family life if we use it to our advantage. Great chats happen when little hands are busy so cooking together is a great way of communicating.

These are our 10 top tips for making food about family and a whole lot more positive:

1.At the weekend or a day that works for you, give everyone some ownership over a meal. Grab a recipe book (or our very own 3 course meal in FEAST) and get your kids to pick a dish.

2.Including the family in the shopping can be a great idea to get them more interested in food. It could be a short trip to Tesco Express just to give them some ownership. This can be a family expedition or adventure in itself.

3. Rolling up everyone’s sleeves and getting them cooking. The mess! The stress! Gah!!!! Yessss …… it might get messy. BUT it can be very cool to watch their imaginations fire and see their interest in food increase. Children are much more likely to eat what they have made. They have a vested interest. They are proud.

4. We live in a very fast-paced world. We often forget the simple pleasure of enjoying food. Have you ever done the ‘mindful raisin’ exercise? Where you pretend you have just dropped in from Mars and never seen a raisin before? Sounds bonkers? Maybe. But it is fun. You can do it with any food. Google it. You won’t be disappointed.

5. Picture Henry VIII. This was a man who liked to FEAST. Oh yes, you did not get a waistline like his without feasting. But if you think of a medieval feast it was also about the experience. People rocked up to a medieval banquet expecting entertainment. Music would feature (lute anyone?!) perhaps a jester or two. It can be a great idea to bring some form of entertainment to the table. We are openly encouraging this with our placemat designs which are part of this month’s bundle. Playing a game at the table can be fun. With younger children, reading them a story while eating can help. Also, having music on can be great. Try popping our playlist on ’10 songs to feast to’ (on Spotify) and see if everyone can stay at table for the whole 10 tracks.

6. Mix up where you eat. In our society sitting at the table is the ‘correct’ place to eat. But sometimes doing it differently is good too. Picnics – indoors or outdoors instantly feel a bit more fun. Involving soft toys and role play are often a winner. Bringing it down to their level onto a smaller table can also be a good move.

7. Sometime graze like a giraffe. If you are happy to have a more relaxed day of eating, fill up little dishes with grazing foods – breadsticks, chopped salad etc and let them dip in and out.

8. A food chart on the wall can be a great idea. We have a really lovely one made by Liz Cook. It is vibrant and shows what you get out of different foods and why they are good for you. Kids often love to know ‘why’ and this is a great way of showing them.

9. Positive not perfect is a phrase which can apply to so many aspects of parenting. Don’t place too much pressure on yourself and your family. Small positive changes are great. Give yourself plenty of time.

10. Make it fun. Our chef hat template is a great aid for this. Take measures to make sure you all get enjoyment out of it, then it can be something which you embed into family life.

Linda McNeill

Mum to 3. Wife to 1. Founder and creator of The Positive Family Academy. Inspiring families to reclaim quality family time and have a whole lot of fun in the process.

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