Family Dinner: Day 23

Today felt like a Saturday! Our family got some good quality time together, which was much needed!  I made one of our usual weekend breakfasts.  We went to a Easter egg hunt at 10am today, still snow on the ground but it was fun.  Even though I didn't get the treat of brunch I did get to enjoy a yummy coffee (no pic).  
Breakfast:  Everything bagel with egg and cheese and later a coffee
Snacks: 5 little chocolate kisses from the boys Easter eggs and when we got home I had a banana.
Lunch:  Chicken patty, swiss cheese, and a small salad with honey mustard
The other day I had bought a bag of breaded frozen chicken patties for my husband for lunch.  This is not something we usually have in the house but he wanted something quick, easy, and substantial for his lunch so I thought these would do the trick.  They came in handy when we came home today from the egg hunt and wanted something fast.

I mentioned in one of my posts how I'm addicted to family dinner books that are accompanied with recipes.  The one that I've like the most so far is  "The Family Dinner:  Great Ways to Connect with Your Kinds, One Meal at a Time" by Laurie David.

When reading these books I have to ignore the fact that the women writing them are famous/rich for example Laurie David is Larry David's ex-wife and the woman who wrote "Dinner A Love Story" use to be someone high up in the magazine Real Simple.  When they talk about hiring a Danish cook to help them or rave about their simple recipe for rack of lamb, it reminds me that I don't have the means that they have and I shouldn't hold myself up to expectations that I just am not able to meet.  So, I can't have a beautiful gourmet dinner on our family table six nights a week.   But I can aim for three!  The Family Dinner book really inspired me to take the extra step in our family dinners.  We always eat at the dinner table together as a family if we are home.  But the book makes you take it a little farther than that and gives great suggestions on how to make dinner more special esthetically and emotionally.  I just took on a few of David's ideas and our family dinners totally transformed.  We enjoy them more and don't just eat the food I cooked in six minutes and then get up.  Now that my husband is done with dissertation I can get back to our special dinners 3-4 times a week. The pitcher of water is a suggestion by her.  It's amazing how that one gesture can make the dinner seem more special.  My oldest son loves to have the fruit that is in the water for dessert, he thought of this on his own!
Dinner: Sour cream chicken enchiladas (will give recipe next time) and a giant salad.  A beer (no pic)
Dessert: Weight Watchers ice cream cone