The Family Dinner {Review & Giveaway}

The Family Dinner by Laurie David is definitely not just a cookbook. The entire principle behind it is motivation. You have to be motivated to want to make these little changes that can help your family relationships. So if you’re motivated you’ll be motivated to read this book :). It’s definitely not just a cookbook you can just flip through and look at the pretty pictures, but is chalked full of great information!

Lots of tips and ideas to make the most out of family dinner time. Including how to keep your family happy during dinner time, providing tips and ideas to make it a fun and rewarding time and get everyone involved in the preparation, eating and clean up. It’s fun, full color photos stuffed full of anecdotes and quotes from celebrities, writers, authors, and child-care experts, games and recipes make this an extremely versatile book for all!

I also really loved the sections with conversation starters that will help your family get talking! Oftentimes in my house with little kids dinnertime can be an extreme struggle. We all make it to the table together but there’s always someone complaining about not wanting to eat something, usually the main part of the meal, so it turns into a fight, so we always try to rush through it and make it as painless as possible. I love that it also includes stories from great chefs about how they get their kids to the table and enjoy being there.

Quite a bit of the book I felt didn’t really apply to our family with such little kids but I loved the section on gearing games and activities at dinner time to younger children. It’s also important to remember that children are better teachable and moldable at such a young age so even if it’s just developing the habit of family dinner time being an important thing it can be extremely beneficial in the years to come!

The recipes are both kid and adult friendly and in my mind making them great family meals. There are definitely a few that I really want to try!

Not just a cookbook or a parent’s How-To guide. It’s a book that celebrates the bond between parent and child, encourages strong family relationships through working and playing together. It’s practical, inspirational, funny and a green- guide to the most important hour of your day.

About the Book (from the website)

The producer of An Inconvenient Truth, Laurie David wants to help America’s overwhelmed families sit down to a Family Dinner, and she provides all the reasons, recipes, and fun tools to do so.

Laurie speaks from her own experience confronting the challenges of raising two teenage girls. Today’s parents have lots to deal with and technology is making their job harder than ever. Research has proven that everything we worry about as parents—from drugs to alcohol, promiscuity, to obesity, academic achievement and just good old nutrition— can all be improved by the simple act of eating and talking together around the table.

The Family Dinner also includes words of wisdom from: Jamie Oliver, Mario Batali, Alice Waters, Mark Bittman, Cat Cora, Rev. Ed Bacon, Pat and Gina Neely, Soledad O’Brien, Tal Ronnen, Michael Pollan, Nora Ephron, Dr. Maya Angelou, Billy Collins, and many others.

There’s a lot more great information at http://thefamilydinnerbook.com/ so be sure to check it out!

Buy It: You can purchase The Family Dinner online at Amazon.com for only $17.99 – this would make a great holiday gift for any family.

Win It: One reader will win a copy of The Family Dinner by Laurie David.

Mandatory Entry: Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect. (Leave a comment saying you follow)

Be sure to leave your email address in each comment so that I have a way to contact you if you win! Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

You must complete the Mandatory Entry before you can complete any additional entries.

Extra Entries:

1. “Like” me on Facebook (1 Entry)

2. Follow me on Twitter @bethwillis01 (1 Entry)

3. Subscribe to my blog via Email (must confirm) (3 Entries)

4. Share on Facebook and/or Twitter and leave the URL (1 Entry each- daily)

5. Put my button on your blog (3 Entries)

6. Follow me via Networked Blogs (1 Entry)

7. Enter another one of my current giveaways (1 Entry per giveaway)

8. Write about this giveaway on your blog and link it back here to this giveaway post, then leave the URL directly to your post in a comment. (3 Entries)

Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Ends November 19th at 10:00 PM (PST). A winner will be chosen using random.org and notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond after contacted by email. If winner does not respond, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: This review is based on my own honest unbiased opinion of The Family Dinner. I was sent product free of charge to review but was not compensated monetarily.