When you are having dinner in the evening, who are you having dinner with? Are you eating with you spouse only? You children only? Your whole family or by yourself? I know its hard to get people to have dinner together, especially with everyone having different schedules. However having dinner together as a family is really important, especially for children.
Did you know that teens that frequently participate in family dinners are 3.5 times less likely to abuse drugs? Or that teen girls that have dinner with their families are 1/3 less likely to develop unhealthy eating habits like abusing diet pills or anorexia?
I think the most important thing that comes from having dinner together as a family is connecting with one another and getting to know what is going on in their lives. I have seen so many families that end up being “strangers” to one another because they don’t spend time reconnecting at least once a day. I would NEVER allow that to happen with my family.
I understand that sometimes the family dinner can be “boring”, especially for tweens and teens. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can have a lot of fun at the dinner table. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have cried hysterically from laughter at things that happen at the dinner table. My husband is such a comedian. He’s also a big kid. HE starts food fights sometimes! To be honest with you I look forward to dinner. Not when it comes to the cooking and the dishes but rather I know that its going to be fun. The only time dinner is ever “boring” is if one of the kids is in a “mood” and ruins it for the rest of us. Thankfully those days are few and far between.
What do you do to have fun at the table? Do you tell jokes? Play games? Talk about your day? When our kids were younger we used to ask them to share with s their favorite part of the day, no matter how little it was.
Dinner time can also be a source of headaches when it comes to making something EVERYONE likes to eat. My daughter is super picky when it comes to food. She wants to be a vegetarian but won’t give up nuggets and burgers. I’m pretty sure you have to give those up too. LOL!
Its not uncommon for me to end up making different dinners. Usually my son goes along with whatever I make. My daughter on the other hand fights me tooth and nail if its not mac & cheese, pizza or chicken nuggets.
Speaking of chicken nuggets, have you tried any of the new Perdue Whole Grain Chicken products? My family has tried the whole grain chicken nuggets and cannot – I repeat – CAN NOT get enough fo them. Oh my goodness! My kids would eat them every day if I let them. They like chicken nuggets and will eat whatever kind I buy but the whole grain chicken nuggets are by far their most favorite. My husband’s too.
I like the whole grain chicken nuggets (yes, I tried a couple) because they taste fresher then the ones you find in fast food places. They are also baked, not fried, which is by far much healthier for you. I also like that they contain white meat. The kind you buy from fast food places often have white and dark meats mixed together, as if you are getting the “left over” pieces from other meals formed into a nugget. Ewww!
These nuggets go great with Honey Mustard dipping sauce, BBQ sauce, sweet & sour sauce and the good old standby – ketchup!
One serving of the whole grain chicken nuggets from Perdue (5 nuggets) give you 8 grams of whole grains, 4 grams of fiber and 12 grams of protein. As you know its not easy to get kids to eat enough fiber and protein. I don’t think I have ever met a child that didn’t love chicken nuggets.
The only downside is that I wish they had less calories (210), fat (13 grams – 3 of which are saturated), cholesterol (35 mg) and sodium (480 mg). I’m sure as long as your child doesn’t eat bags of chips and other unhealthy foods during the day then the fat, calories and so forth in the nuggets are fine. Remember you need to count the overall amounts that you eat throughout the day, not just one food. These numbers are fine as long as the rest of your meals are within reason.
Perdue would love to know how you and your family spend your dinner time together. Take a digital photo or have one of your children draw a freehand picture of your family having dinner and submit it to the Perdue Family Fun contest, http://www.PerdueFamilyFun.com. You can enter up to September 30, 2010. The grand prize winner get a family cruise for four people (winner and three guests) valued at $5,000. NICE! The first prize winner will receive a year’s worth of Perdue products. Also NICE! Eight second prize winners will each get an assortment of Crayola products and a free package of Perdue frozen fully cooked chicken.
For more information about Perdue please visit www.Perdue.com. I tried to find a Facbook & Twitter account to share too but I can’t seem to find anything for them.
What a fun contest the whole family can participate in. To get you excited about the contest, and to help you draw your own family meal time memories, I have a special giveaway from Perdue. The first prize winner will get a box of Crayola crayons (96 count with sharpener) and 3 coupons for FREE Perdue products. The second place winner will get two FREE Perdue product coupons and the third place winner will get one FREE Perdue product coupon. Thank you Perdue!
To enter please comment on something funny that happened at the dinner table with you and your family.
For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Please be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done. Extra entries are optional.
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- Use any of the social networking buttons found at the bottom of this post to promote this giveaway and/or the Perdue contest. Be sure to tell me what you did and if possible provide a name and/or URL.
This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on September 20, 2010 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winners will be chosen at random from all eligible entries using a random number generator. The winners will all be contacted via e-mail and will have three days to reply with a name and mailing address (no PO Box) or a new winner will be chosen.
Other great giveaways are found on the right side bar under “Win It”.
Kimberly
*I received free product samples and a box of crayons in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own. Perdue is supplying the crayons and free product coupons.









































