Family Mealtimes Matter Saturday Event!   fmm-logoSeptember is National Family Meals Month ™, and we are celebrating in stores throughout upstate New York with our friends from Cornell Cooperative Extension and Eat Smart NY! Information, education and some great recipes will be shared – check out Pizza Hummus for a fun twist on a smart snack! We have fresh, delicious meal solutions all around the store that can help you spend more quality time with your family, and reap the many benefits of family meals. Children who eat more meals with their family have better grades, social skills, talk with their parents more and enjoy better health – that is a pretty powerful package for something we know you already love to do! Join in the fun on Saturday 9/16 at one of the following New York locations from 10 AM to 2 PM, or grab the handout at the Guest Services desk in your store all month long. #FamilyMealtimesMatter #NationalFamilyMealsMonth #eatsmartny #Timebetterspent http://www.eatsmartnewyork.org/ https://www.pricechopper.com/family-mealtimes-matter?q-family-meals-matter= September 2017 Family Mealtimes Matter Event Locations: Ellie Wilson, MS, RDN Family time is precious and rare in our busy lives these days, but there is a big opportunity ensure your family is stronger and your children have the skills they need to navigate in our distracted, over-scheduled world – it is the simple, old-fashioned family meal that can nurture and protect them in very significant ways. We have been highlighting some easy power bowl meals all month to help you with thefmm3 time/budget/#everyonelikesit part – now we have some fun tips on the table talk part. The simple act of chatting around a meal gives your children better social skills, and builds communication connections. Given how busy we all are, it is sometimes hard not to use that time to discuss chores, or grades, or sports. Those conversations are important, but maybe we can inspire you to finish with them rather than start. Help build your children’s confidence and emotional intelligence with some simple questions and conversation starters. Tip – have everyone put whatever phone/device they use on silent, and leave them in a basket in a different room until your mealtime clean-up is done. Play games when they are little, and get different topics going as they get older. Check out these ideas from our  Pinterest board!