Do you ever have one of those moments when you think to yourself, "If only I had an extra hour to my day"? When it comes to planning out our schedules, many of us find that we're spending too much time slaving away at the stove and not enough time at the table with the family.
Recently I posted this article, looking for Gather members to review Stouffer's meals. They were very anxious to volunteer because they thought the meals were "quick" and "easy" to make, and "tasted good" too! From the response I got, I realized how busy our members are and how much they value quality family time.
The Gather team challenges you to try making a Stouffers meal for the family to help free up your time and then to answer the following question:
By spending less time at the stove, how do you spend moments that matter with your family?
Share your family meal ideas in Family.gather.com.
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Comments: 239
We'd all sit on the floor (or if really lucky sit somewhere like the lake or the Crane Foundation) and paint what we see - either in our heads or in front of us.
We all have different styles and subjects, and I think that shows Gideon that all art is beautiful. The art daddy makes in fun that isn't very detailed, Gideon's wonderful art, and mine, which is more detail oriented, as I've been drawing and painting for years.
The fun part here is that Gideon does something he loves with his family, but Clint and I learn from this experience as well. We learn what it's like to just paint and to attempt to turn off the inner critic.
A priceless experience for the entire family.
If I had an extra hour in a day I would spend it coloring with my kids. They love to do art projects, play with play-do, make pictures, paint, and after the long day, we usually dont have time to just sit down and let loose..
Either that or we would read and Extra long book!
I don't really mind cooking, and I actually think my family is pretty spoiled, but sometimes even Moms need a night off.
So on the rare occasions that I'm able to spend less time at the stove, I really try the best I can to spend moments with my children that matter... the kind of moments that they'll remember and carry with them.
Throughout the busy day I get lots of different requests from my kids, asking me to do an activity with them, so we started a chart where they can write down the things they want to do. When I have any extra time at all, we pull out the chart and they get to choose which one they want to do first! This makes them feel extra special because they have their own uninterrupted 'Mom time' and they are the ones who are in control of the activity we get to do together.
The activities are usually things like going on a walk, building a lego set, hide & seek, reading a book or letting them read to me or even just watching a movie with them. It doesn't matter to them what we do, as long as we do it together -- and those are the moments that matter to us.
If we didn't spend as much time at the stove, I think we would probably sit outside and talk, listen to the radio, and get some splash time in! We love spending time in the pool, but we never seem to have time to spend that time together!
I like Stouffer's meals too. I just do not take the time to fix anything for myself, so I mostly eat food either from the store deli or something easy like a Stouffer's meal.
In the winter time having the oven being used makes it nice and toasty in the kitchen and house and the aroma makes the whole house smell nice.
This winter, while cooking the stouffer's Lasagna, I will be teaching my 7 year old how to crochet and knit. I may just start out on the looms, but it gives us more time to spend time together.
If i had the extra hour I would finish painting thier bedrooms!
We sometimes buy the family sized Stouffers - they make a great quick meal, especially with the addition of a green salad and a piece of fresh fruit for a well-balanced dinner.
Now that my kids are teenagers, family dinner has to be FAST because there's always someone that needs to be somewhere. Having a quick delicious meal helps us spend some time together even though we're on the go - our kids are willing to wait the time it takes to make a quick meal instead of just grabbing a sandwich and dashing out the door.
We actually get to talk to each other for a while and find out what's going on in their busy lives.
I love to read, exercise and write in my spare time. But with an extra hour, I would play games with my kids.
I think I'd let inspiration lead the way
I'd take my little boy by the hand
and build a fort in the yard, a wonderland
The cardinals could stand sentry
The Squirrels would play free
The pool would be our moat
as we listened to the bull frogs croak
The frogs are really bewitched kings you see
waiting for a lovely maiden to set them free
Our fort would be our castle, the kingdom of the yard we'd rule
A great place to escape and play after a long day at school.
By: Apryl Lipscomb 5-17-08
written on the spur of the moment ;-D
Just today, I was doing laundry and cleaning house and they asked if i could do something fun with them. Of course I can because the laundry can wait! it will still be there when I'm done playing with my kids and making memories with them.
We ended up making pinecone birdfeeders and spent over 2 hours outside! We had a wonderful time and it was so much better than doing laundry! :)
(watch for a photo essay on the pinecone birdfeeders soon)
Make your own lasgna, double the recipe, and freeze the extra pan. It will taste far better, be far healthier, and there's no reason you can't cook as a family - my family did.
There are only 2 of us now, but I am used to cooking for a large family. I still do and save the extra portions in the freezer. Instead of one pie, I bake two. One cake? one casserole, one pie? use the oven just once and bake double....one for now and one to save.....
........and all of the above doesn't mean you have to spend hours everyday in the kitchen. I certainly don't and I earn my living with food!
I would not trade a moment of that sacred kitchen time with my family for anything!
I'm with Dorine, Kevin, and Sonia - and that's pretty good company to be in! If I had extra time, I would spend it in the kitchen playing with the lovely fresh produce that is everywhere at the moment. And my family would be there, too.
I spend extra time on gather.
Other times, quicker meal preparation leads to extra activities. For my family, that means an evening stroll out to the waterfront or along South St. to window shop!
Janet B., Jul 17, 2008, 7:53pm EDT
Them extra few minutes can help me save my childrens lives. So they are very important to me. Normally while dinner is cooking is when we go over things like what to do in a fire, talk about things that are right or wrong, what to do if they ever get lost while we are somewhere. It nice when you dont have to walk away every two or three minutes to check on dinner and finish the whole talk with them. Mine are still young and I personally think that when you walk away even for a minute there little minds get side tracked and its hard to pick back up where you left off. So when you dont have to worry about it and you have that 15-30 minutes while dinner is cooking to talk about them kind of things its nice and it can save your childs life.
Extra time is spent playing with my precocious great granddaughter outside, where we explore the yard, find lizard eggs,cool rocks,Etc. Then Brother and I go for walks,
sometimes with my best neighbor,checking out all the blooming plants in the neighborhood.
Last but not least, spending only 20 minutes to 30 in the kitchen allows me to
read, post, comment on my many gather friends,some of whom are as close as family.
The time we save is often spent enjoying a favorite family movie cuddled up together on the couch... or tossing a baseball back and forth in the yard. But my favorite is when my husband gets out the guitar and we have a family sing-a-long. What can be more fun than that?
Stouffers Lasagna is one of our favorites, too. Actually, I like it better than most homemade.
I eat Stouffer's Lean Cuisine a lot at work.
Thought it takes a while to cook me and my husband take the kids out and go swimming.
Its really hard to find time to do anything I recently started back to work and
though i'm 5 months pregnant and taking night classes. My husband is working 2 jobs and when hes off work he also takes classes. Along with taking care of the animals we find along the roads now and again, along with our garden our time is very limited so the fast quick and easy and also good meals are great. No matter what we are doing or how our lives are stressful we make sure we do not work on Sunday and go to church. We spend the days outside swimming, playing ball or working with our animals.
As of right now we have 2 daughters one on the way, we have had 6 dogs at times, 2 cats, and a horse. ( Right now we have two rescued dogs and 2 rescued cats). And the horse is a pet not to ride on. With me going to have a baby , working, and school its hard so its nice to have something easy to fall back on.
They love mac and cheese and Soutffer's makes it with ease.
Then we could have microwave nights where they choose there meal and we had time to do crafts or go for a nature walk.
I do not currently have family locally, but I try to grab as much phone time as each of our schedules allow.
If I were with my sister and her family, I would be sitting on one of the beds, with any one (or all) of the 3 kids reading to them, being read to, discussing the day\week at school, practice, day camp...whatever. The more time I have with them the better.
I treasure every second with them.
I enjoy doing the little things with my family. Showing that I love them in the small ways is so very important to me.
We would probably spend more time outside in the evening when it cools off. After being in the house where its cool all day the kids love getting out and playing but time goes quickly in the evenings when ya have to spend time cooking dinner and all!
Wow my family it is rather hard to describe. My husband and I live here all the time. My second oldest son is in the process of semi moving out he is 35 and he has two children who are here often as well. I babysit for my daughter who lives 2 miles away but here 6 children or rather oldest five for now are here as often and over night frequently as they are with her. I would love to pack up all my grandkids once a day and drivethe 15 miles to Pines river park and swim for an hour in the sun warmed water and watch the grandkids frolic and play in the water and on the beach. The pool of water is not overly deep nor large but big enough to get in some good swimming. Additonally you can take a trail and a tube and tube down the creek to the pool which is also a lot of fun. It is fun, peaceful and I would get in much needed exercise and to see and hear the delight of the grandkids at play. But we only go about once a week; if that due to tight schedules and so much else to do including cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I didnt especially care for the new recipes of their meatloaf or their potatoes au gratin
unfortunately the original recipes of both these were favorites of mine.
Angel
I don't cook. My husband does.
Rather than helping me spend less time at the stove, Stouffer's meals help me when my husband is too busy too cook. Then I "cook." And he says, "What a great cook you are!" :-)