SEPTEMBER 25 IS FAMILY DAY – A DAY TO EAT DINNER WITH YOUR CHILDREN

What is Family Day?

Launched by The National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) in 2001, Family Day is a growing national effort to prevent substance abuse in kids and teens by encouraging parental involvement and increased parent-child communication through the             simple act of having dinner together as a family.

When is it?

This year, Family Day takes place on September 25, 2006. But that doesn’t mean you need to stop there – try to schedule as many family dinners as often as you possibly can!

Why Participate?

CASA’s research has consistently shown that the more children eat dinner with their families, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs. Also, teens who eat dinner with their family often are likelier to do well in school and less likely than other             teens to get into fights or be suspended from school. This pattern holds true regardless of a teen’s sex, family structure or socioeconomic level.

7 Tips to Making Family Dinners Work:

·        Start the pattern of family dinners when your children are young.

·        Use Sunday as the day to pick several nights during the upcoming week when the entire family can eat together – and try to stick to this schedule.

·        Encourage your kids to create menu ideas and participate in meal preparation.

·        Turn off the TV, video games, iPods, cell phones and computers and let the answering machine take care the calls while you’re eating.

·        Talk about what happened in everyone’s day: school, work, extracurricular activities or current events.

·        Establish a routine to start and end each meal – eat dessert or play a board game after dinner to continue the conversation and time spent together.

·        Keep the “table talk” positive, respectful and loving – and make sure everyone gets a chance to speak.

Help, I Need an Easy Recipe My Whole Family Will Like!

While the Partnership is made up of communication, health, medical and educational professionals – we’re also a group of parents, friends and good cooks! Maria Perez, administrative assistant to the program management group at the Partnership, has two children at home and understands the importance of a family meal. She’s offered up one of her signature recipes to help you plan your own Family Day.

            Maria’s Spanish-Seasoned Lasagna

            Ingredients:

            3 pounds lean ground beef

            1 large jar tomato sauce (garlic flavored)

            2 boxes lasagna noodles

            1½ pounds shredded mozzarella

            16 ounces container ricotta

            Adobo (Spanish seasoning)

            Sason (Spanish seasoning)

            1 11"x13" aluminum pan

            Directions:

 Preheat oven to 375. Cook noodles according to directions. Season meat with     adobo and sason and cook in a skillet on medium high heat until brown. Drain meat and set aside.  In pan, layer 1/3 of the cooked noodles, 1/3 meat, 1/3 sauce, 1/3 ricotta and 1/3 mozzarella.  Repeat layers twice more.  Bake for 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes, slice into squares and dig in!

  This recipe is more than enough for a big family – with leftovers to enjoy the next day!  

Reprinted from  www.drugfree.org Partnership for a Drug-Free America