Fostering family time is important. Preparing and eating food together
can create long-lasting relationships.
the covid-19 pandemic allowed time for a lot of family meals.
And it wasn’t just dinner—families were often together for breakfast and lunch, too. All this togetherness around food led to more families realizing the importance of eating together, according to new research from FMI—The Food Industry Association. Several studies have shown family meals are beneficial mentally and nutritionally for children, but research shows parents also get mental health benefits, including greater self-esteem, less stress and lower levels of depressive symptoms. An emphasis on family meals also can be passed down through the generations, as kids who grow up eating most of their evening meals as a family are more likely to continue the tradition of eating together in their own families. Now that normal activities are resuming, families might have to make time to eat meals together, whether it’s dinner, lunch or breakfast. Hy-Vee can help facilitate family meals, even when you don’t have time to cook.
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Kids are more
likely to try new foods when they are served family-style, so they can control what and how much they select.
Parents can keep mealtime focused on quality family interactions by not monitoring too closely what and how
much children
are eating.
Mealtime helps promote language skills in younger children and helps teach manners as well as dexterity when handling serving and eating utensils.
Passing food
around a table is a good opportunity to reinforce common etiquette like saying please and
thank you.
Swee 'N' Spciy
Slow-Cooked Chili
Meatball Pizza
Pot Pie
Coffee-Crusted Steak
with Thyme-Roasted Vegetables
Pressure Cooker
Honey-Garlic
Chicken Tacos
Sweet 'N' Spicy
Slow-Cooked Chili
Italian Skillet
Lasagna
Get Recipe
Italian Skillet
Lasagna
with Theyme-Roasted Vegetables
Coffee-Crusted Steak
Get Recipe
Get Recipe
Pressure Cooker Honey-Garlic
Chicken Tacos
Get Recipe
A Harvard study
found that families who eat together are twice as likely to get their five servings of fruits and vegetables
a day.
Meatball Pizza
Pot Pie
Get Recipe
pro-tips:
Share to care
Studies show the lifelong health benefits of families that share meals together. Eating together as a family is correlated with decreased risk of obesity, higher produce consumption, prosocial behavior, and higher grades and self-esteem. Schedule a free nutrition tour at hy-vee.com/health for simple family meal and snack ideas from your dietitian.”
Amanda Allen, MS, RDN, LD
Hy-Vee Dietitian
Connect with Hy-Vee Dietitian
Learn more
September is family meals month and Hy-Vee makes it easy to plan meals with a digital Family Cooking Guide along with recipe ideas featured on Social media. for more family meal ideas, go to
Dedicated time for meals opens the door for communication among family members, which can create stronger relationships. Mealtime conversation, away from distractions like cell phones and television, teaches children how to listen to others and also allows them to voice their own opinions. Here are some ideas to make conversations fun and something the whole family will look forward to.
conversation starters by age
conversation starters by age
Games to play at the dinner table
ages 4–7
ages 8–12
ages 12+
Mealtime Made Easy
enjoy a meal as a family with ready-
t0-eat, grab-and-go selections from hy-Vee when you don’t have time to cook.
Made fresh daily from 100% sustainably sourced seafood.
sushi
A full menu of great-tasting comfort food favorites.
wahlburgers
A variety of high-quality options for the small fry.
kids Meals
Satisfy almost any food craving from breakfast to dinner with Mealtime To Go; visit Hy-Vee.com/mealtime
and more!
Ally makes life easier by picking up her meal-prepping essentials. Discover all the time-saving techniques she uses to get the most out of her groceries.
Ally’s Easy Prep Grocery HauL
Quick Dinner Tips
Take a few minutes to pull frozen foods out of the freezer and put them in the fridge so they’re ready for cooking that night.
Morning Prep
Keep your pantry—and refrigerator and freezer—
well-stocked with foods your family likes to help make meal planning easier.
Pantry Staples
Order your groceries from your phone when you have a few minutes during the day and then you can pick them up or have them delivered when it’s convenient for you.
Aisles Online
with planning, you can sit down to dinner as a family any night.
Get a free kids’ meal with every purchase of an adult entrée in September at Hy-Vee’s Market Grille Express and Wahlburgers locations or when you order online from Mealtime to go.
Italian Skillet
Lasagna
Table time can
be a good time to
share family stories and history or explain how certain
family traditions
came to be.
Keep talk around
the table positive. If parents need to discipline children for something that happened during the
day, address it away from mealtime.
Let kids help
shop for and prepare the meal. It Teaches math skills, boosts self-confidence and makes for more adventurous
eaters.
click to play
If your teddy bear could talk,
what do you think they would say?
What’s the funniest joke you’ve
ever heard?
If you could have any pet, what animal would you pick?
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
What is your earliest memory?
What is the first thing on your
bucket list?
ages 4–7
If you were a dinosaur, what do you think your name would be?
conversation starters by age
click to play
Games to play at the dinner table
Don’t Say It
Story Starters
How Well Do You Know Me?
Napkin
Choose a common word and make that word off-limits for the entire meal. Here are some ideas to get you started…
Word Ideas
Today
Dinner
Mom
Dad
School
PUnishment Ideas
Wear napkin on head for rest of meal.
Have to use only a butter knife to eat
rest of meal.
Have to speak in a funny voice for rest
of meal.
Tell a story by having one person begin and each person adds
another sentence to the story. It can be silly or realistic.
Here are some ideas to get you started…
“I was at Hy-Vee today buying some groceries and I saw a…”
“A bear was lumbering through the forest when it looked up to find a…”
“The mighty king looked out over his land, smiled, and said…”
Parents and children take turns asking questions. Here are some ideas
to get you started…
What was your 2nd grade teacher’s name?
Questions for parents
Who is your best friend?
Did you have any pets when
you were a kid?
Where do you want to live when you grow up?
What is your favorite thing about where we live?
What are your 3 favorite foods?
Questions for kids
Meatball Pizza
Pot Pie
Coffee-Crusted Steak
with Thyme-Roasted Vegetables
Sweet 'N' Spicy
Slow-Cooked Chili
Pressure Cooker
Honey-Garlic
Chicken Tacos
Italian Skillet
Lasagna
Meatball Pizza
Pot Pie
Coffee-Crusted Steak
with Thyme-Roasted Vegetables
Sweet 'N' Spicy
Slow-Cooked Chili
Pressure Cooker
Honey-Garlic
Chicken Tacos
Italian Skillet
Lasagna
Meatball Pizza
Pot Pie
Coffee-Crusted Steak
with Thyme-Roasted Vegetables
Sweet 'N' Spicy
Slow-Cooked Chili
Pressure Cooker
Honey-Garlic
Chicken Tacos
Italian Skillet
Lasagna
Passing food
around a table is a good opportunity to reinforce common etiquette like saying please and
thank you.
Get Recipe
If we were at Hy-Vee, what would you like to buy?
What’s your favorite game to play?
If you could be any animal what would you be and why?
What’s your favorite cereal? Why?
How many animal noises can you make?
If you could eat one thing from Hy-Vee for the rest of your life, what would it be?
What would you do with a million dollars?
What’s your first childhood memory?
If you could live in any period of history, when would that be and why?
What do you think your first real job will be?
What is the first thing on your
bucket list?
What’s your favorite class right now? Why?
What’s your favorite part of playing the sport you play?
Who is your favorite actor/actress? Why?
What’s your biggest goal for the coming year?
If you could change the world, what would you do?
hy-vee.com/familymeals
Mealtime helps promote language skills in younger children and helps teach manners as well as dexterity when handling serving and eating utensils.
Mealtime helps promote language skills in younger children and helps teach manners as well as dexterity when handling serving and eating utensils.
Mealtime helps promote language skills in younger children and helps teach manners as well as dexterity when handling serving and eating utensils.
If your teddy bear could talk, what do you think they would say?
If we were at Hy-Vee, what would you like to buy?
What’s your favorite game to play?
If you could be any animal what would you be and why?
What’s your favorite cereal? Why?
If you could have any pet, what animal would
you pick?
What’s the funniest joke you’ve ever heard?
What would you do with a million dollars?
If you could eat one thing from Hy-Vee for the rest of your life, what would it be?
What’s your first childhood memory?
What is the first thing on your bucket list?
What’s your favorite class right now? Why?
What’s your favorite part of playing the sport you play?
Who is your favorite actor/actress? Why?
What’s your biggest goal for the coming year?
