A Festive Family Feast!

Time to celebrate! Christmas and Chanukah have food traditions that bring us together in so many ways. Revel in this amazing time of year with family favorites and fresh takes on history and heritage. We will help you create some memorable meals!

Keep Monday’s last minute mad dash under control with a simple Chef’s Menu solution – sauté your way to a quick and delicious mix-and-match stir fry meal from the Meat Department. One-pan clean up keeps you on track as you wrap packages and tie ribbons. A fresh veggie platter adds color and crunch to the nibbling and noshing that will go on this week!

On Christmas Eve, put tradition on the table with the Feast of the Seven Fishes! Last week, we shared the history and some recipes and serving suggestions for creating this time-honored and delicious meal – check out the blog to create your version of this wonderful dinner. In addition to the freshest lobster, crab legs, shrimp and scallops, Price Chopper’s Seafood Team has made it so easy with Bacon-Wrapped Scallops and Crab, Shrimp and Salmon Cakes on sale and ready to heat and eat! Finally, make merry with this Crab Legs with Dipping Sauces idea – so special!

Still have room in those stockings? Stuff them with some sweet and healthy treats, like Halo Clementines, Clif, Luna or Kind Bars, and packets of Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa! Your older “kids” might love some Green Mountain Coffee or Kcups, and PICS Holiday Popcorn!

 Four Berry Hazelnut Crisp will light up their faces Christmas Morning! Keep the recipe quantities the same but use any combination of berries you like.

Or, keep it classic with Eggland’s Best Eggs, PICS Bacon and Thomas’s English Muffins. Don’t forget the PICS Egg Nog!

We hope your day is Merry and Bright!

Spending time with friends and family, sharing a family recipe, connecting in ways large and small – all are part of the experience of eating together – these are a few of our favorite things. This is especially true during the holidays – so much fun to be had creating and enjoying special treats and heirloom eats. As the holiday rush gets into full swing, these quick meals and snack ideas will keep you and your family fueled well for all the season’s festivities!

Check out the Family Meals page for solutions and serving suggestions that focus on sale items this week, like One-Pan Garlic Chicken and veggies, easy to make and clean up; family (and office party!) favorite, fresh Corner to Corner pizza; oldie but goodie Tuna Melts and a quick salad kit, and versatile, heat and eat Ham on sale,  paired with fresh green beans and Market 32 Gourmet Potatoes. Yum and Done!

It’s that time again, friends and family are making plans for Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving. But what’s a fun holiday together without delicious food? That’s where our Family Meals Movement comes in. As you look ahead to the holidays, you can relax knowing we will continue to provide yummy snack and meal ideas for you and your loved ones; all season long!

During the holidays, together is better, even before the meal. One of the best ways to gain quality time with family is by preparing the food as a team. It’s a fun way to get the kids involved in the action as well. Check out the “Holiday Helpers” section of the family meals page family meals page for tips and tricks to share the joy of cooking with children of different ages. Matching responsibilities to age and skill level ensures that everyone plays a helpful role in the holiday experience. Plus, it’s a never a bad idea to get an early start learning your way around a kitchen!

Now, onto the food, starting with breakfast! The holidays are super busy; from the moment you wake up life is filled with nonstop action and preparation.  However, it’s essential to save time for breakfast. For a quick, easy start, pick up a pack of 24 count Eggo Waffles from your local store. Top with fresh berries or one of our favorites, frozen Wyman’s Berries, and you’re off on the right foot.

As all of us in the Northeast know, this time of year is COLD! And there’s nothing like a delicious family meal to keep your spirits warm. We’ve put together a few easy options for dinner this week and throughout the holiday season.

 

• Try Market 32 meatloaf mix with PICS frozen veggies, complete with a Kings Hawaiian Dinner Roll on the side.

• Sheet Pan Skinless Market 32 Chicken Thighs or Tenders are also a great option. They’re perfect with a side of Little Potato Company Gourmet Potatoes. Simply oil the pan and dust the chicken and potatoes with garlic powder, onion powder and sweet paprika. Serve with a Fresh Express Salad Blend.

• Sheet Pan Roasted Ham Steak with Apples and Martin Farms Cut Butternut Squash is a satisfying holiday meal for the whole family. If you’re seeking optimal flavor, drizzle with PICS Maple Syrup.

In between meals, it’s important to keep your body moving with some healthy snacks. Give Market 32 Nut Tubs a try, or use Sabra Hummus as a dip for your fresh cut veggie tray. Otherwise, make your own fruit cup with fresh cut fruits.

Finally, we always leave some room for dessert. We love this easy, seasonal recipe for apple dumplings. The best part about this recipe is that even the kids can help! Check out the video below, and if you don’t have time to make dough, pick up a package of Refrigerated Wewalka Pie Crust.

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! Ellie Wilson, MS, RDN Tailgating is a time-honored tradition – in fact, there is real history behind the practice, according to the American Tailgaters Association, starting with spectators “attending” the 1861 Battle of Bull Run in Virginia with food and wine, cheering on their Civil War “teams”. Chuck wagons, those traveling kitchens of the prairie, are also part of lore. The first football game, between Princeton and Rutgers, (145 years ago!), though it pre-dated cars and parking lots, saw the first fans wear team colors and bring picnics, and the modern-day tailgate party tradition began. Now, it may be a professional sport event, or your son’s football games. It can be a iStock_7322188_LARGE.jpgmusic event, or your daughter’s soccer league – tailgating is a great way to enjoy meals and snacks with friends and family. For a delicious gathering that scores big taste, check out these tips and recipes! Make your own playbook with these ideas and more recipes on our Pinterest board. Go Team! #FamilyMealtimesMatter         fmm September is National Family Meals™ month, and we are celebrating with our annual Family Mealtimes Matter campaign! With our community partners, the Times Union and Cornell Cooperative Extension, we will be sharing recipes, blogs, videos, articles, Facebook posts, tweets and other resources about family meals. We are all so busy, for many, meals together have been moved out of family schedules. They should be a time to enjoy and connect! Commit to one more meal together as a family each week – the National Family Meals month goal to bring families together with food. You will enjoy family-building benefits that make this investment a lifetime win for parents and children. Meals don’t have to be perfectly nutritious, or only happen at dinnertime, or even be served on a plate  – just being together and sharing food offers everyone big benefits. Children and teens that have frequent family meals: Join us, and the National Family Meal month movement to Raise Your Mitt and Commit to one more meal per week with your family!raise your mitt Check out our favorite mealtime resources below!